Our endorsements for council

You might not know it, but there is indeed an election coming up here in Hamtramck, on Aug. 2.

This has been one of the weirdest campaign seasons we’ve seen in ages. For some reason, most of the candidates have done little campaigning. There are just a few signs around town.

Even worse, four of the City Council candidates boycotted a “Meet the Candidates Night,” sponsored by this newspaper and the Hamtramck Block Club Association, and also refused to fill out a questionnaire on local issues.

From what we can tell, these candidates, Abu Mahfuz, Abdul Algazali, Showkat Chowdhury and Dilshad Chowdhury, do not want to let the public know where they stand on issues.

Unfortunately, this dismal campaign season may lead to a low voter turnout, which would be a shame because this election is pivotal in shaping Hamtramck’s future.

But despite the negativity hanging in the air, there are several candidates who are worthy of holding office. Voters can vote for no more than three candidates in the Primary Election. The top six vote-getters will move on to the General Election where the final three candidates will be selected.

In our opinion, and we stress, of course, it is just our opinion, the following candidates deserve your support: STEVE SHAYA, CATHIE GORDON and IAN PERROTTA.

It should be said upfront that Ian Perrotta is a former reporter here at The Review and continues to help us out as copy editor.

If you think this is a conflict of interest, so be it. But it is through our association with Perrotta that we know he is well-versed in the issues facing the city and is qualified to represent the community.

We also think candidates Robert Zwolak and Roger Lamm deserve consideration as well, but remember you can only vote for no more than three candidates.

You can see where these candidates stand on issues in the past two papers and in next week’s issue. You can read our paper online at: thehamtramckreview.com.