School board broadcast: Do not adjust your screen

By Charles Sercombe
If you have been watching recent Hamtramck School Board meeting broadcasts, you may think there is something wrong with your screen.
There is no need to adjust your screen, because that blocked out figure you see is Board President Jihan Aiyash, who insists on not having her image shown.
Even though she wears a face covering, Aiyash refuses to be shown, in broadcasts, for safety reasons.
Why?
A few years ago, her brother, State Rep. Abraham Aiyash, was criticized when he allegedly threatened Monica Palmer, one of the Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers. Palmer, and other Republicans on the Board, had initially refused to certify the Michigan 2020 presidential election results that declared Democrat Joe Biden as the winner.
Aiyash denied he made any threats, and the Associated Press backed him up, saying those allegations were false.
But Jihan Aiyash apparently feared she would face backlash, and continues to insist on her image being obscured, and further that no photo of her be published in The Review.
(Until recently, a photo of her had appeared on the school district’s website.)
Some have questioned whether blocking out her image in broadcasts violates the Open Meetings Act (OMA), but attorneys with the Michigan Press Association say there is nothing in the Act that prevents her from taking this action.
The school district recently installed a new camera and audio system that now shows Aiyash and the full board. Previously, the district had only one camera for its board meeting broadcasts, and it was placed behind, and away from, Aiyash.
In other recent board developments, there is now a question as to whether Boardmember Salah Hadwan is still living in the state. He has not attended the past two meetings.
Hadwan responded to an email and told The Review that he is, indeed, still living here, and that the reason for his no-shows is “due to the board’s ongoing blatant violations of the OMA, and lack of inclusion on any district matters.”
Recently, the board proposed stripping Hadwan of his position as vice president of the board, but Hadwan resigned from the position before a vote could be taken.
The board did not explain why it was going to remove Hadwan as vice president. This is the last year of his term, which ends on Dec. 31.
He is not alone in boycotting meetings or having his board position being taken away.
About a year ago, Boardmember Regan Watson was removed as treasurer, after having been just re-appointed to that position. Since then, she has not attended any board meetings.
Her term ends in 2026.
The board does not have a policy on unexcused absences.
Hadwan and Watson haven’t been the only no-shows. Board president Jihan Aiyash spent several months not attending meetings. She never gave an explanation for her absences.
Boardmember Victor Farris has also recently had spotty attendance, having missed the last two meetings, leaving the board with just four members to conduct business.
It takes at least four members to attend a meeting to qualify it as a quorum in order for the board to conduct business.
And, speaking of conducting business, the board has once again canceled it’s one and only meeting for the month of July, again with no explanation.
According to state law, school boards must hold at least one meeting per month. Last year, spread throughout the year, the board failed to meet in three separate months.
That spurred the teachers’ union to hold a protest against the board’s inaction, demanding that they come to work.
Posted May 17, 2024