City officials seek a pay raise

By Charles Sercombe
Once again, the city council and mayor are seeking a salary increase, along with two other changes in the city charter regarding their positions.
Several months ago, the council took an initial step in getting voter approval for the three charter changes, but then withdrew their proposal to fine-tune the wording of the ballot proposals.
With the help of the state’s Attorney General’s Office, the revised language has now been sent to Lansing for final approval from the attorney general.
If all goes as planned, Hamtramck voters will vote the following changes thumbs up or down in the November General Election:
Councilmembers are seeking pay raises, from $3,186 a year to $7,965.
The mayor pro tem’s increase would go from $4,779 to $9,558 per year. Councilmember Mohammed Hassan is the current mayor pro tem, whose duty is to chair council meetings when the mayor is absent, as well as to fill in in other ways for the mayor, as needed.
And for the mayor, the current salary of $6,372 a year would go to $11,151.
The total increased cost for five council members, the mayor pro tem and the mayor would be $60,534 per year.
The yearly salaries are currently based on a percentage of the governor’s salary: for councilmembers, it’s currently set at 2 percent; for the mayor pro tem, it’s at 3 percent; and for the mayor, 4 percent.
The amendment, if approved, would change that to 5, 6, and 7 percent respectively.
Another change in the charter would remove the restriction of making councilmembers or the mayor wait at least two years before being able to be appointed as city manager here.
And the third would-be charter change would strike down the requirement for a councilmember who wants to run for mayor, to firsthave to resign from council no later than 60 days prior to the filing deadline to run for mayor.
The same would apply to a mayor who wants to run for council while still in office.
In both instances, no resignation would be required in order to seek another city position.
Posted July 28, 2023