Open meetings? Not in Hamtramck

There appears to be a new rule for anyone who attends a city council meeting.
And that is, if Mayor Amer Ghalib finds you “intimidating,” you have to leave.
In fact, according to the mayor, you are not even allowed in city hall – even if you want to pay a bill or pull a permit, apparently.
In what can only be termed a bizarre action, that was one of the reasons the mayor gave when he insisted that City Manager Max Garbarino, who is on paid administrative leave, be booted out of last week’s council meeting.
Never mind that there is absolutely zero grounds for the mayor to do that, and it’s certainly not listed as a legitimate reason to expel a member of the public from a public meeting in the state’s Open Meetings Act (OMA).
Nor does the OMA allow the expulsion of someone attending a public meeting just because there is a pending investigation into them – which was another lame reason the mayor gave in demanding Garbarino be escorted out by police.
The mayor’s action is clearly a violation of that state law, and it will only serve to add fuel to the fire of Garbarino’s lawsuit he filed against the mayor, city council and police chief for violating the Whistleblowers Protection Act.
In other words, property owners, start saving up extra money in case there is a court judgment down the road, to pay for the folly of your city officials.
We urge the mayor and the council to read the state’s Open Meetings Act, as well as the city charter, to familiarize themselves with the rules of a public meeting as well as the limited roles they play as laid out in the city charter.
We can only wonder: if the mayor is so intimidated by the presence of Garbarino, how in the world will he survive in his role as a U.S. ambassador in Kuwait?
Congratulations Hamtramck, you now have a mayor who thinks he is king of the city, and can make up his own rules.
Posted June 20, 2025