Post election: Let’s build on teamwork
We have a feeling that folks who are into Hamtramck politics will be talking about last week’s election results for years to come.
Last week we called it a “stunning” victory for Mayor Karen Majewski, who won her fourth term in office, and her slate of city council candidates.
The entire slate was voted in, which includes council incumbents Andrea Karpinski and Ian Perrotta and newcomer Fadel Al-Marsoumi.
A hearty congratulation goes out to the candidates along with our wish that they will continue to work together in making improvements to Hamtramck. We have had a rough last couple of years on city council for a variety of reasons.
We’re not finger-pointing here, just noting that there has been a serious division among councilmembers and the former administration.
This political discord has not helped transition the city from the control of a state-appointed financial advisory board back to local control.
This should be the ultimate goal in the coming two years.
The election results on Tuesday reflect that our ethnic communities can reach across political boundaries. This was a show of unity among voters, who rose above petty partisan politics and selected the best to represent Hamtramck.
Our elected leaders need to capitalize on this spirit and prove to the voters they made a wise choice.
There is a lot of good will being expressed, let’s not squander this chance.
Published November 17, 2017
2 Responses to Post election: Let’s build on teamwork
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Stan Zelmanski
November 18, 2017 at 1:50 pm
“This was a show of unity among voters, who rose above petty partisan politics and selected the best to represent Hamtramck.”
There are still over 300 absentee ballots that were distributed by the City Clerk Augie Gitschlag that were never reported to be returned completed – an unheard of sum compared with prior elections.
Given the fact that less than 1% of the City Council vote separated winners Fadel Al-Marsoumi and Ian Perrotta from the three general election losers, it is likely that those 300 ballots could have made a difference in the outcome as there is talk that many Bengali-American and Yemeni-American absentee voters refused to cast their absentee ballots over fear of being entangled in the Michigan State Police vote fraud investigation announced only two weeks before the election.
It is now widely viewed in Hamtramck that the vote fraud investigation was some type of contrived sideshow to sway voters away from Bengali-American and Yemeni-American candidates – and it appears that it may have worked if this is the case.
Remember the August 2013 primary election day where hundreds of Hamtramck residents had their water shutoff at the behest of the City Manager’s office? Another example of a “coincidence” that the city administration attempted to deny with a straight face.
reese
January 29, 2018 at 1:16 am
any raises expected for hamt. fire and police depts… I keep asking never get an answer…