State financial board nixes forensic exam of former CM’s computer

Former City Manager Katrina Powell

By Charles Sercombe
The public will never know what was on the work computer of former City Manager Katrina Powell.
At the urging of City Councilmember Ian Perrotta, the state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board rejected a council resolution to pay for a forensic examination of Powell’s work computer.
The computer became an issue for the city when Powell took the computer with her when she left her job at the end of June, which is when her employment contract expired.
After Powell left, the city administration refused to deposit her check for $1,200 and demanded that she return the computer. Powell appealed to the RTAB, saying she had the authority to buy the computer as well as permission to do so.
However, the city attorney never signed off on the deal, which was required. In Powell’s appeal to the RTAB to purchase the computer, an Apple desktop, she said that all the information on the computer had been transferred by the city IT contractor and then wiped clean.
The RTAB declined to act on her request, saying it was not in its authority.
Powell eventually returned the computer.
But then a majority of the council –Anam Miah, Mohammed Hassan, Saad Almasmari and Abu Musa — insisted on having a forensic examination performed on the computer.
It was expected that procedure would cost $2,000 to $3,000. The resolution called for not spending more than $5,000.
Councilmember Andrea Karpinski and Perrotta voted against the resolution, saying there was no reason for it, and that it would be a waste of money. Both of them had been supporters of Powell, and wanted to extend her contract.
But their council colleagues, who all voted against extending Powell’s contract, and were critical of her, insisted that her taking the computer cast a cloud of suspicion.
Their thinking was that Powell had something erased that was improper. That was just a small example of the bad blood between Powell and the four councilmembers.
Also questioning the financial wisdom of paying for a forensic examination of the computer was RTAB member, and Hamtramck resident, Mark Stema.
At last Tuesday’s RTAB meeting, he questioned why the examination was needed.
He called it a “waste of money.”
Acting City Manager Kathy Angerer said it was the wish of the council majority to “clear doubt.”
Stema was also a strong supporter of Powell, and at one point questioned if there was a way for the RTAB to step around the council and extend Powell’s employment contract.
At the beginning of the meeting, Perrotta spoke against allowing the resolution to go ahead, saying he and Karpinski “were not given adequate information” on why to conduct an examination.
He stressed that he was not doing this to “protect anyone.” Instead, he said, it was “not prudent to spend money in this matter.”
A majority of the RTAB rejected the council resolution. RTAB member Al Bogdan was the sole vote in support of the council resolution, and RTAB member Peter McInerney was absent.
Later in the day, when told about the RTAB’s action, Councilmember Almasmari said whoever was against examining the computer “has something to hide.”
“Why did she take it (the computer)? It was suspicious,” he said. “Even my son said so.”
Almasmari also confronted Stema at Tuesday’s council meeting over his decision. Stema said the matter was a “witch hunt.”

Published October 27, 2017