Councilman files a lawsuit against the mayor

By Charles Sercombe
Councilmember Mohammed Alsomiri once again filed a lawsuit against a city official.
This time, he is suing Mayor Adam Alharbi in Wayne County Circuit Court for having taxpayers foot the bill over his private legal case to prevent 37 uncounted ballots from last November’s election from being counted.
Alsomiri is also taking issue with Alharbi filing a lawsuit against the city and his mayoral challenger, Muhith Mahmood. Alharbi has accused Mahmood of not being a resident in the city, and thus being ineligible to hold office here.
Mahmood insists he is a resident but visits his family in Troy. He says he is not separated from his wife.
In both matters, Alsomiri said the mayor is acting as a private individual and is, in fact, acting as a plaintiff – not a defendant.
Alsomiri is also accusing Alharbi of violating the city’s ethics ordinance by “knowingly us(ing) his or her office or position to secure personal benefit, gain or profit, or us(ing) his or her position to secure special privileges or exceptions for himself, herself, or for the benefit, gain or profit of any other persons.”
Mayor Alharbi told The Review that “This lawsuit is entirely without legal or factual merit. As mayor, my role is to serve the best interests of all Hamtramck residents, and ensure that city business is handled transparently and fairly.”
In August, a bare majority of three councilmembers, Nayeem Choudhury, Abu Musa and Muhtasin Sadman, passed a resolution to have the city cover Alharbi’s legal fees. The mayor said the total bill could amount to perhaps $200,000, but did not provide any invoices to back up that claim.
Alharbi said the invoices will be submitted now that the city agreed to pay his legal fees.
He has since submitted a bill for about $135,000 for taxpayers to pay. It’s unclear if that bill has been paid yet by the city.
Alsomiri is attempting to stop the payments, and also possibly get Alharbi kicked out of office.
In his lawsuit, filed by Troy-based attorney Mark Wasvary, Alsomiri says Alharbi‘s “participation in each of the Alharbi lawsuit and Mahmood lawsuit was the product of his own voluntary and affirmative acts, undertaken through privately retained counsel, and was not the result of his having been sued or named as a defendant in his capacity as mayor in either matter.”
The lawsuit is the latest development of an ever-widening rift between councilmembers, also including with the mayor.
Councilmembers have been calling for censuring others, and then repealing those decisions, and also filing ethics violation claims.
Alsomiri and Councilmember Yousuf Saed are also suing Councilmembers Muhtasin Sadman and Abu Musa for voting to approve the sale of the city-owned properties.
Saed and Alsomiri accuse the pair of being related to one of the buyers, and also of failing to disclose their conflicts of interest.
The councilmembers are seeking to prevent the transfer of the properties, and they are also accusing Sadman and Musa of violating the city’s ethics ordinance.
Despite this friction, Mayor Alharbi told The Review: “I remain fully focused on moving our city forward, delivering on our priorities, and working every day to serve the people of Hamtramck.”
(In a late-breaking development, a Hamtramck resident has also filed an ethics violation and lawsuit against Mayor Alharbi over his legal bill. We’ll have more information next week.)
Posted Sept. 25, 2026