Part two of our ‘Year in Review’

By Charles Sercombe
This week we continue with our look back at the year 2023.

JULY
After a year’s delay in dedicating Hamtramck’s newest park, it finally got done.
But then again, in the case of this park, delays and waiting are a common theme.
We’re talking about the dedication of the Sarah Sims Garrett Park, and the monument to the woman, and others, who were being honored with this park. The dedication ceremony was originally going to be held last year, but that was canceled due to a citywide flooding that happened after heavy rains.
The park and monument are dedicated to a long-gone group of some 200 African-Americans, who had filed a housing discrimination class-action lawsuit against Hamtramck in the early 1970s.
Vera Burk, an African-American who was chairman of the Grand Haven-Dyar-Dequindre Corporation, one of the two corporations set up to mediate a settlement with the city, said the effort to settling the lawsuit “was a struggle.”
“I love my Hamtramck, but it was a struggle,” she added.
Once again, the marijuana dispensary 3Fifteen closed down.
But this time, a sign on its door said it was permanent.
Just a few months ago, the Jos. Campau store, located between Zinow and Pulaski, reopened after being closed temporarily.
This now leaves three operating dispensaries in the city.
Marijuana sales competition in the metro area is stiff, with dozens and dozens of outlets competing for customers. The market has become oversaturated, causing prices for various cannabis products to be greatly reduced in recent months.

The LGTBQ pride flag flew once again on a Jos. Campau flagpole.
But that lasted for just a short while before a city crew, including at least four officers providing security, took it down.
On a recent Sunday, a group of about 20 LGBTQ-rights supporters gathered at 3 p.m., in a demonstration of sorts, and watched Russ Gordon, the chairman of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission, raise the pride flag.
It was a moment of defiance in the aftermath of the city council and mayor backing a ban on flying pride flags on city-owned property.
This latest act, Gordon predicted, would likely result in Mayor Amer Ghalib removing him from the commission he chaired. (That indeed did happen.)
The mayor appoints Human Relations Commission members.

As for why he did it, Gordon read from a prepared statement to those gathered on Sunday.
“For me, the raising of this flag is less about defiance and more about protest, and a plea for tolerance,” he said.
After having missed nine straight city council meetings since January, Councilmember Khalil Refai returned.
His absence was never fully explained, but his colleagues on council agreed to excuse his missed meetings in advance, and with no knowledge as to when he would return.
In response to a recent email from The Review asking why he had been gone, Refai said the reason for his absence was because of “family obligations due to medical issues unfortunately, but everything is well now thanks God.”

For a few weeks, State Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) had hinted at a financial windfall coming to Hamtramck.
And by ‘big,’ he said state funding would be to the tune of millions of dollars.
In a June 29 posting on Facebook, he said that day was a “historic” moment for Detroit and Hamtramck, as the state legislature was wrapping up a budget.
“We secured tens of millions of dollars in funding for our schools, infrastructure, for revenue sharing, and this will be a very historic budget that the governor will be signing soon,” he said.
In about a two-minute message he recorded while in a budget session in Lansing, he added:
“Hamtramck and Detroit are set to get a whole lot of money to start fixing the problems that have plagued (these) communities for so long.”

AUGUST

It’s a clichéd thing to say, but in this case, it can’t be helped:
“Build it, and they will come.”
Yes, it’s that famous quote from the movie “Field of Dreams.”
That quote not only applies to the fictional baseball field of that film, but now also to the very real and new playscape at Veterans Park (which is, coincidentally, located next to a very real, baseball field).
Thanks to a $600,000 grant, the rear portion of Veterans Park was transformed into a massive, 9,000-square-foot playscape.
The project came together physically in less than two weeks, thanks to an army of General Motors volunteers and others.
The non-profit company Kaboom helped with designing and coordinating the building of the playscape.
One of the features in the playscape is a kid-safe zip line. There are also a whole bunch of whimsically designed pieces for kids to climb on.
During one summer evening, dozens of kids were scrambling all over the area, each vying for their next turn on this and that.
The big favorite, without a doubt, was the zip line.
“This is the best” said one grinning 6-year-old girl.

The controversy over whether to display a pride flag on public property spurred a rash of thefts of private pride flags in town.
Former Mayor Karen Majewski had three pride flags torn down from her vintage clothing store Tekla on Jos. Campau.
Former Councilmember Catrina Stackpoole also had a few flags stolen from her house on St. Aubin.
Other residents throughout the city reported similar thefts.
A couple who own a building on Caniff reported that several of their pride flags were stolen.
Hamtramck Police Chief Anne Moise told The Review that several juvenile suspects had been identified in recent pride flag thefts, and one automobile connected to a suspect was impounded.
Moise said detectives are now “working through the cases,” and that “once I have more information to follow-up on, I can let you know.”
(No charges were ever filed in any of the cases.)
The pride flag issue has become a deep dividing point in the community. The division has pitted the conservative Muslim population in the city against liberal progressives.

Hamtramck voters torpedoed the Hamtramck Public School District’s request for the renewal of a “sinking fund” millage at the August Primary Election.
That rejection, by a 2-to-1 margin, was a shocker for some in the school district, although it appears to be a sign of things to come for other millage requests by the city and school district down the road.
The school district said it would try again to gain voter-support in the upcoming general election.
The only other issue on the August primary ballot for Hamtramck voters was the city council candidate race.
All three city council incumbents survived, and would move on to the general election in November where they would have a final faceoff with three challengers.
Hamtramck got news of a huge financial lift from the state’s new 2024 budget.
The state’s new bi-partisan 2024 budget carves out $15 million for the city.
The public school district is also in line to get almost $4 million in additional state financing in this new budget.
The financial breakdown was as follows:
• $5 million for water infrastructure
• $260,000 for sidewalk and alley repairs
• $500,000 for the Yemeni Foundation, located in Hamtramck
• Revenue sharing for fiscal year 2024, totaling $6,462,659
• Hamtramck Public Schools will also receive $3,995,841 in additional revenue, or $1,347 additional per pupil

SEPTEMBER

Although the Hamtramck mayoral election was long-over, the battle between the former and current mayors continued.
And it was all playing out – where else? – on various Hamtramck-centric Facebook pages.
The split has largely been over social-cultural issues, such as LGBTQ rights and, specifically, Ghalib’s support for banning the display of pride flags on public property.
That war of words has now escalated to the point where Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Yemeni-American, is calling former mayor Karen Majewski an “Islamophobe.”
What set that off was when Majewski posted a photo of a flyer or sticker that was found on a city garbage can that had an illustration of Ghalib’s face with the word “Terrorist” printed underneath.
On her Facebook page, she said:
“Found in the trash on JC this morning. I can’t take credit for creating, only for sharing.”
When there was pushback from some Arab-Americans who said Majewski was implying that all Arab-Americans are terrorists, she took down the photo and issued this apology:
“My apologies if anyone saw the photo I posted as an attack on Muslims. I don’t know the intent of the person who created the sticker. I interpreted it as criticism of an opportunistic homophobe who is allowing terrorism against the LGBTQ+ community and its allies to run rampant in Hamtramck, and then blaming the victim. That is my lens.”
Ghalib shot back on his Facebook page, saying:
“Islamophobia at its extreme.
“This is what the whole story is all about. Her true colors are shown. …”
The rift eventually culminated in Mayor Ghalib firing Majewski from her position on the city’s Downtown Development Authority.
The mayor makes appointments to the DDA, and its members are unpaid volunteers.
The reason for the firing, Ghalib said, was because Majewski criticized a number of decisions that he and the city council made during the past several months.
“How can I get along with people who work against me?” Ghalib said.
Once again, the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival gave a weekend to celebrate.
And, judging by the size of the crowds each day, this one appeared to have been the best festival the city has recently experienced.
Old Mother Nature gave us picture-perfect weather, and threw in a scorcher of a Monday.
The bands and entertainers were once again top-notch, and the big act of the weekend, The Dead Milkmen, packed Jos. Campau up and down.
For vintage clothing lovers, there was no shortage of selections to try on. Food lovers also had plenty to choose from.
As for the parade on Monday, it was once again a joyous display of all things Hamtramck. The only downer was that some city councilmembers and the mayor had an issue with the display of pride flags, and threatened to withhold permission of a parade next year.

The summer-long repaving of Caniff, from Conant to Buffalo, finally came to an end, and it was once again open for traffic.
After a whole summer of tearing out the old pavement and installing new water lines, this portion of Caniff sported pristine white concrete.
The repaving project, estimated to cost a little over $1 million, is part of a three-pronged approach where Caniff will eventually be entirely repaved.
The work began a few years ago with repaving the street from the I-75 service drive up to Jos. Campau.
And then this year, from Conant to Buffalo.
Guess what’s coming next year (2024)?
Yes, the portion from Jos. Campau to Conant. Oh, won’t that be fun for residents and businesses along this busy strip?
A sign of Hamtramck’s past came back into view, on one bright morning, after decades of obscurity. Well, briefly – before it was gotten rid of.
As part of the Hamtramck Historical Museum’s continuing renovations, a decrepit metal sign that ran the length of the building above the front door was removed.
No one was sure how long the sign had been in place, but the years had taken a toll. A coat of paint that had been applied several years ago was crumbling so badly that the city took note and warned the museum that it had to be fixed.
That gave a needed nudge to long-standing plans to renovate the building’s facade, and the Aver Sign Co., of Ferndale, was hired to remove the mammoth, 40-foot long sign.
What it revealed was surprising. The area beneath was in better shape than what had been expected.
“It will be cleaned up and restored,” said Joe Kochut, chairman of the board of directors of the Friends of Historical Hamtramck, the non-profit organization that owns and operates the museum. “It will look beautiful.”
The building, at 9525 Jos. Campau, had been built in about 1925 as the Wisper & Schwartz Department Store.
Hamtramck was about to get greener.
We were not talking green as in financial grants, the creation of more parks, or the worst dread in the world for some here in town: marijuana dispensaries.
Instead, the city was about to get more trees planted throughout its neighborhoods.
How many? About a million bucks’ worth, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forest Program.
City Manager Max Garbarino said the grant would fund the planting of about 1,500 trees, and would also fund further maintenance of the trees that had already been planted or were about to be.
The grant would also, he went on, allow the city to have a tree steward on hand, as well as procure a subscription to a tree management software program.
“I’m incredibly excited. This is huge for us,” Garbarino said.
It’s said that politics can make for “strange bedfellows.”
For those unfamiliar with the phrase, it means “that political alliances in a common cause may bring together those of widely differing views,” according to oxfordreference.com.
And that appeared to be the case with Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Muslim, and Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor for President Trump, a QAnon follower and Christian nationalist.
Consider too, Flynn had once been quoted that “Islam is a cancer,” and that America needs to become a one-religion country — a Christian nation.
Despite these glaring differences, Ghalib apparently found common ground with Flynn, and has met with him twice – most recently at Azal Hall in Hamtramck (on Holbrook) where about 20-30 Yemeni-American community leaders, GOP members, and others were invited.
And just what is this common ground?
Flynn talked for over an hour about the issue of LGBTQ rights and how schools are supposedly indoctrinating children, as well as on “woke” culture, critical race theory, immigration and the catch-all “family values.”
This was the second time that Ghalib has met with Flynn. He had earlier gone to a rally that Flynn was also at in Sterling Heights.
Flynn, 64, a right-wing conservative who has been associated with the Proud Boys, served under Trump for just a few weeks — before being fired for lying to Vice President Pence regarding interactions with Russians.
The former three-star Army general was then convicted of lying to the FBI about those interactions he had with Russia, and that country’s meddling in the 2016 president election.
Trump later pardoned Flynn.
Ghalib started the meeting by saying that he is not a member of any political party, and stressed more than once to “focus on what unites us, and rise above what is trying to divide us.”

OCTOBER

At the beginning of the year, Hamtramck School Board Vice President Salah Hadwan had told teachers and staff that, if they don’t like it here (meaning, working in Hamtramck’s schools), that they could leave.
Apparently, a number of Hamtramck Public School teachers and staffmembers took him up on that offer, and resigned at the next meeting.
And, since January, there had been a steady exodus of teachers, department heads and staff members.
Speaking last February about board decisions, Hamtramck president of the teachers’ union, Toni Coral, said:
“When people leave because of hostile attitudes from elected officials, we will struggle to fill those vacancies. … Why would the school board president and board allies essentially tell district employees that they, you, don’t care about us?”
At an April 26 meeting, Hadwan responded to recent threats of another wave of resignations.
“Nobody’s forcing you to stay here if you do not want to be here for this district and for the students,” Hadwan said. “The door is wide open. We are not going to stand here and continue to tolerate threats of mass exodus.”
Once again, Mayor Ghalib found himself on the receiving end of criticism, this time for appearing on Russian RT television, a media source that the U.S. government considers to be a Kremlin propaganda outlet existing to create divisions among Americans.
Canada, Britain and the EU have all banned RT from being broadcast in their countries. RT is funded by the Russian government.
Ghalib posted a three-minute excerpt of his interview with the Russian network on his Facebook page.
Ghalib trod familiar territory: the issue of displaying pride flags on public property.
Ghalib and the city council banned the display of those flags on public property, which caused a hailstorm of backlash from the LGBTQ community and their supporters.
As for the decision to ban the display of pride flags, Ghalib said:
“The city decided to stay neutral because we have different groups in the city; we have conservatives, we have liberals.”
He went on to say that “we have groups on the opposite side of the spectrum,” although it wasn’t clear what he meant by that.
“We support everyone equally. We cannot side with anyone against another,” he added
On the decision to ban pride flags, Ghalib said “nobody protested against it, except the LGBTQ group because they thought it was tied to them.”
The ban was also taken, he said, “so other groups, extremist groups, racist groups would not come and ask us to fly flags because of the LGTBQ flag. So, you have to either fly all or none.”

The Hamtramck Parks Conservancy (HPC) named a new executive director, and he’s no stranger to the city.
Thomas Habitz, Jr., of Hamtramck, became executive director in September, after a several-month search. He has also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“Our parks are the life-blood of our community in many ways,” Habitz said in a press release. “They are places that bring us together, honor our heritage, and create new memories. It is a privilege to steward these indispensable assets, and it is an exciting time in Hamtramck as we chart our future course together.”
If some state legislators have it their way, students will be able to legally use cannabis products at school.
The state legislature considered a bill that would allow eligible kindergarteners and students through 12th grade to use low-THC medical marijuana products, including edibles and beverages, on school premises.
Democrats in the House of Representatives were backing the bill, which was introduced last September. State Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) told People magazine:
“Most of those students who have autism or have chronic pain or epilepsy have to take time out of the school day, miss instructional hours, and go off campus to take medicine, and then come back.”
If the bill is passed, marijuana products would be administered by school personnel.
There has been a teacher shortage nationwide ever since the covid pandemic started three years ago, and the situation was only getting worse.
The shortage was so bad that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation to allow retired teachers and public school employees to go back to work while continuing to receive full retirement benefits.
“I am proud to sign legislation making it easier for retired teachers and public school employees to get back in the classroom and continue making a difference for our kids while earning the pensions they deserve,” Whitmer said in a recent press release.
In the state’s new budget, additional funding is being provided for such things as:
• $370 million to support teachers, including continued support for the MI Future Educator Program (which provides a tuition-free path for college students to become certified teachers) and funds to retain and develop existing teachers through mentorship programs.
• $76 million to expand “grow your own” programs, helping districts train staff for classroom roles.
• $50 million to strengthen teacher mentoring programs.
• $30 million to recruit, train, and retain early educators, with an additional $15 million specifically for rural areas.

Mayor Amer Ghalib had some harsh words for President Biden.
Ghalib took issue with Biden’s comments about the murder of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Chicago. The boy was stabbed to death by an elderly white male in what was described as a hate crime.
Biden said, on social media, in part:
“This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.”
Ghalib, a Muslim Yemeni immigrant, said on his Facebook page that Biden had himself to blame for this murder.
“You fueled (these) kind of hate crimes and Islamophobia by spreading false information and lies (e.g. beheaded babies and raped women),” Ghalib said, in reference to numerous media and government reports about the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7 in which about 1,400 Israelis died.
Ghalib continued: “You make us feel unsafe by trying to justify your support for the criminal and unethical attack on the civilians of Gaza using lies and made up stories.”
“Be a man and apologize for your moral and historic downfall, otherwise the blood of thousands of children and innocent people will be a curse that will follow you to your grave.”
According to the prosecutor in the Chicago murder case, the suspect was motivated to kill the boy after listening to conservative talk radio broadcasts.

One of Hamtramck’s oldest businesses took its first step in expanding its footprint into the southend.
And that will eventually mean more jobs – and income taxes –coming into the city.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Metropolitan Bakery on Lumpkin, where several lots will be transformed into a staging area for trucks, and much more.
The addition to the plant will mean less truck traffic on Lumpkin, which instead will be diverted one block west onto St. Aubin.
Company president George Kordas said the expansion is a “commitment” to Hamtramck.
The only company older than Metropolitan in Hamtramck is Kowalski Sausage on Holbrook, which was founded 103 years ago.
Metropolitan Bakery is well-known for the variety of baked goods it produces, many of which are distributed nationally. Chances are, if you eat a slice of bread at a restaurant, it came from Metropolitan.
Or, as a company press agent said, “the hotdog bun you eat in Yankee Stadium came from here.”
The expansion is scheduled to finish next June, and it will add 30,000 developed square feet to the company’s 20-acre site.
The development will also include new state-of-the-art bun and roll lines, which will add 30 to 40 percent extra capacity, and will also allow for increases in refrigeration and freezer capabilities.
On top of that, the company will be adding at least 25 jobs — and likely more, eventually — to the current workforce of 100, according to the company’s press release.
According to the company, the expansion will cost about $15 million.
For 56 years, Richard Dobek served with the Hamtramck Police Reserves.
He was the reserve officer with the white hair, and you would see him at just about every event, no matter how big or small, in Hamtramck, often through foul weather.
Mr. Dobek died on Oct. 21, at the age of 78.
Mr. Dobek served in the Army, leaving military service in 1967. He soon after joined the Hamtramck Police Reserves. He also worked for various cable companies, and strung up most of the cable lines in Hamtramck, starting in the 1980s.

NOVEMBER
A city council candidate’s comment about the Holocaust drew local and national media attention.
Candidate Nasr Hussain has been no stranger to making controversial comments on a variety of subjects, especially on anything LGBTQ-related.
His latest comment to raise eyebrows suggested that the Jews, who were persecuted during the Holocaust, were advance-suffering for how Israel is treating Palestinians now.
In a comment he made on the Facebook page Hamtramck Square — which was posted underneath a photo of the Auschwitz death camp –Hussain, a Muslim and immigrant from Yemen, said:
“Was the Holocaust God’s advance punishment of the ‘Chosen People’ for the savagery they’re committing today against the innocent Palestinians children and civilians? A heinous act, proving that they’re as savage and cruel as the Nazis themselves, or even worse.”
The Detroit News was one of the first media outlets to pick up on the issue.
Hussain, who owns Amana Graphics on Holbrook, was confronted about that media attention by former City Councilmember, Joe Strzalka:
“Not the kind of article one should be proud of.”
In response, Hussain doubled down:
“Joe Strzalka That’s your opinion. I am very happy that my message is getting amplified and able to reach thousands more through people who oppose it. God does wonders.”
As it turned out, Hussain didn’t win a seat on city council.
Hamtramck’s mayor and city council demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and they had a stern warning to President Joe Biden about his re-election chances next year.
At a recent city council meeting, the councilmembers and mayor, who are all Muslim, adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
On Oct. 7, Hamas, which this country has labeled a terrorist organization, crossed into Israel and slaughtered about 1,400 people. That attack set off a counter-offensive by the Israeli military, which now includes a ground invasion into Gaza. This onslaught has claimed the lives of an estimated 20,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire.
Councilmember Mohammed Hassan was the first to then focus on Biden’s role in supporting Israel.
He warned that Muslim Americans in Michigan have the political power to ruin his re-election chances, saying that Muslims in the Detroit area represent 30,000 votes.
“We can change Michigan,” Hassan said, “including the governor.”
(Gov. Whitmer will be termed out at the end of her current term.)
Councilmember Refai also criticized Biden.
“I’m sick of our current administration. … Sleepy Joe, I think he hasn’t woke up from his sleep,” Refai said.
Republican frontrunner for the presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump, is also a supporter of Israel and has warned that, if elected, he would deport any immigrant who supports Hamas, and would also reinstate a ban on allowing Muslims to travel to the U.S.
On a recent Saturday, Hamtramck joined a number of other cities across the U.S. in rallying in support of Palestinians and demanding a ceasefire in Israel’s military war in Gaza.
About 1,000 people, a number of them from outside the city, gathered at Veterans Park and then marched through town, ending up in front of city hall, where Mayor Ghalib spoke.
Punctuated throughout the rally were various chants and slogans, including the familiar, and controversial, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
President Biden also came under attack, and it was again suggested that he may pay a political price for his support of Israel. Occasionally, some yelled out “Genocide Joe has got to go,” in reference to Biden.
One speaker, Khaled Turanni, an American-Palestinian activist, said that, unless Biden reverses course, Arab voters and others opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestine will “swing Michigan,” noting that “We have options.”
The U.S. has been pressuring Israel to back off from its aggressive incursion.
Two former mayoral appointees filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the mayor and the city council after being fired for raising a pride flag on a city flagpole.
Russ Gordon, former chairman of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission, and Commission member Catrina Stackpoole say their First Amendment and civil rights were violated, and also allege the mayor and city council’s ban on displaying pride flags on city property was driven by religious belief.
The two are seeking to get their appointments re-instated, as well as asking for financial reimbursement for their legal fees, and other compensatory costs.
Mayor Ghalib had this response, in part:
“This was expected. Another unnecessary distraction by the former power structure that doesn’t like to see the city moving forward. Good things are happening for the first time in decades such as budget surplus and infrastructure repair.
“This exposes the former egregious leadership failure, therefore they want to constantly create obstacles on our way. The neutrality resolution is legal and constitutional. The city doesn’t discriminate, or give any preferential treatment to any group. …”

Hamtramck Public School teachers say they come to work every day, and they demanded school board members come to their jobs as well.
At a rally held outside the district’s administrative office, about 40 members of the Hamtramck Federation of Teachers (HFT) met to protest the board’s absenteeism.
The board had scheduled its regular meeting for November, but that meeting had previously been canceled without explanation.
The HPS Board of Education has canceled four of their regular monthly meetings this year, and six of their monthly Committee of the Whole meetings.
“Tonight, they will not face the public,” said HFT President Toni Coral. “They are not doing their job. We want the board of education to remember we show up when they don’t show up.”

DECEMBER

Sean Bier started the month off with a comprehensive look at the effort to restore “Hamtramck Disneyland,” which was originally created by Dmytro Szylak on Klinger St.
Local artists have spent the past few years painstakingly restoring Szylak’s playful whirligigs perched on top of his two garages.
(Szylak died in 2015 at the age of 92.)

Hamtramck Public Schools suffered a financial blow.
Not only did the district have to grapple with the loss of $750,000 a year for building maintenance from the consistent defeat of a school millage renewal, but there will be less money coming to the district due to the decrease of enrolled students.
State funding is, in part, predicated on the number of students in a district.
According to the district, there are about 109 fewer students enrolled in the city’s public schools compared to last year — which means a loss of about $9,600 per student of state financial support.
That will amount to a financial hit of a little over $1 million.
According to the district’s head count, there are 2,953 students enrolled this year, compared to 3,062 last year, which is according to state figures.
It is unknown, at this point, what the district plans to do to beef up enrollment for next year. Unlike in previous years, there was little effort by the district to attract students this school year.
There were more troubling developments for the HPS Board of Education.
It appeared the board violated its own policy – and possibly state law – by not holding any meetings for two separate months this year.
The HPS Board of Education canceled four of their regular monthly meetings this year, and six of their monthly committee of the whole meetings.
On two of those months, July and November, the board failed to meet at all.
That appears to violate the board’s own policy for holding “regular” meetings (section 0164.1), which states:
“The Board shall hold a meeting once each month on a date and at a time and place determined annually by a resolution of the Board.”
The Michigan Department of Education told The Review that, according to state law (MCL 380.11a(6)), school boards must follow this requirement:
“Regular meetings of the board shall be held at least once each month, at the time and place fixed by the bylaws.
“Special meetings may be called and held in the manner and for the purposes specified in the bylaws. Board procedures, bylaws, and policies in effect on the effective date of this section shall continue in effect until changed by action of the board.”
Also, according to state law (MCL 380.1804), there are consequences for not holding a monthly meeting:
“Except as otherwise provided in this act, a school official or member of a school board or intermediate school board or other person who neglects or refuses to do or perform an act required by (the Revised School Code), or who violates or knowingly permits or consents to a violation of (the Revised School Code), is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not more than $500, or imprisonment for not more than 3 months, or both.”
The board also failed to meet in the month of December.

Hamtramck author Greg Kowalski once again took a stroll down the “Memory Lane” of the city.
But, this time, it was a little different.
In his latest book, “Hamtramck through the Years,” he has put himself inside the heads of folks through the decades, talking about their experiences living in Hamtramck.
Here’s what Kowalski had to say about his latest book:
“In ‘Through the Years,’ I wanted to give readers a close look at what life was like in Hamtramck at specific different periods. It employs extreme detail — what sounds people heard, what odors they smelled in the air, what type of trees lined the streets at those times. It also was designed to show what issues concerned the residents and how they coped with the special challenges of each era.”

Allegations of wrongdoing kept piling up at Wayne County’s Dickerson Jail here in Hamtramck.
In the latest development, two former nurse employees, Tanzy Huddleston and Shermanstine Morrow, filed a whistleblower’s lawsuit claiming that the facility allowed outdated prescription drugs to be given to juveniles, and also noted:
• blatant violations of HIPAA laws
• broken medical devices
• insufficient resources
• inadequate medical supplies
• glaring security issues, with medications left unsecured
• the defying of basic safety protocols
According to the lawsuit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, “the nurses assert that the management’s lax oversight opened the floodgates to fraudulent practices, theft, and the increased vulnerability of the already at-risk youth.”

In an act of solidarity with the people of Palestine, the Hamtramck City Council voted to rename Hamtramck’s portion of Holbrook as “Palestine Avenue.”
The resolution was prompted by the Oct. 7 attack, by Hamas, on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent response by force on the Gaza Strip.
In the original attack, Hamas killed nearly 1,400 people, and took over 200 more as hostages.
Since then, Israel has retaliated by invading Gaza and, according to media reports, the Israeli military has (so far) killed about 20,000 people, including about 8,000 children.
Mayor Ghalib said that, at first, he was undecided about this proposal, “but the more I think about it, this is the last country in the world that’s occupied. It’s the hottest and most pressing topic that’s going on now.”
Ghalib said that passing the resolution “will not hurt us. It will hurt us if we reject this resolution within our community. I am not worried about what’s going to happen outside of our community.”

The Grinch paid a visit to Hamtramck.
Hamtramck police are seeking information about a bank robbery that happened on Tuesday (Dec. 19) at PNC Bank.
The robbery was reported at about 4 p.m. and, so far, the police department is being tight-lipped about the details as to what happened.
According to a press release, the suspect, who had fled from the scene before officers arrived, is described as a light-skinned black male, somewhere between 5-foot, 10-inches tall, and 6-foot, 3-inches tall.
The suspect was wearing black clothing, a surgical mask and gloves.
Police did not say whether a gun was involved, but did say that no one was injured.
Once again, we come to the close of 2023. We at The Review wish you all a “Happy New Year.” From the way things are shaping up, 2024 will be another busy new year as well.
Posted Dec. 29, 2023