There was some fussing with the audio system prior to the meeting, but the quality of the broadcast was not improved.
Algazali was excused for an absence.
Klein asked for a proclamation of appreciation for Marcia Gebarowski as she is leaving the city for a job with the state as of Friday.
Majewski asked for a resolution of condolence to the family of Bruno Nowicki. Shulgon asked for a letter of condolences to the family of Kathleen Dombrowski, a long time resident and school employee.
Ahmed asked to recognize a new business in town, Royal Kabob, and encouraged people to eat there. Majewski agreed.

Gordon asked to remove meeting minutes and letters from the consent agenda. Majewski said the city manager had informed her that the council needed to make a motion in order to remove items from the consent agenda. The items were removed with a unanimous vote. Klein asked to remove the ZBA minutes of April 2. All voted in favor.
Presentations
Parris Kenney, the site coordinator for the Hamtramck Community Initiative, distributed information. Violent crime was down 10% from 2006 to 2007, and the intent of the group is to reduce assaultive crimes 10% every year for the life of the strategy. The Hamtramck Police Department, ACTS 29, Detroit East Mental Health, the Wayne County Prosecutors office, Central Care Management Organization, and People’s Community Services are some of the partners involved.
There are four subcommittees: Law Enforcement, chaired by Chief Doyle and Sgt Wally Tripp, Community Policing, chaired by Hillary Cherry, Prevention-Intervention-Treatment, chaired by Jeri Fisher of CCMO, and Neighborhood Restoration-Economic Development, chaired by Tom Lieckfelt from city code enforcement. Exceptional progress has been made since February. More than 50% of the steering committee members are residents.
Majewski asked if this was the first full year of funding. Kenney confirmed that the end of the first fiscal year of the grant ends on September 30. The first year grant was for $250,000.
Ahmed asked if the crime statistics were those reported to the FBI. Kenney explained that the came from the Wayne County prosecutor’s office, though the FBI may determine how the statistics were calculated. Gordon asked how accurate the numbers are. Kenney said they are in the process of being verified, and that the law enforcement committee achieved all their target goals for the year last month.
Gordon liked what the PIT committee is doing. She knows the group is working on juvenile offender reentry, but wanted to know what is being done prior because she is concerned with crime prevention. Kenney said there are two events planned for September at the middle and high school. At a teen summit at the high school, the youth will be asked about problems and made part of the solution.
Four sections of the city have been organized into neighborhood watch groups. The first meeting for the area East of Joseph Campau, South of Caniff, North of Holbrook, and east will meet for the first time on August 26 at Bengal Masala. Some block clubs had fallen away, and he will be working to help them be more effective.
The Prevention-Intervention-Treatment committee put together a parent resource guide that is being printed. It will be distributed to people who need assistance.
Gordon said the school board has put together a new code of conduct that includes baggy pants. Kenney wasn’t aware of the new code, but a new anti-gun initiative is underway at Kosciusko. A survey about gun use was taken during the last school year, and he was pleased to find that the students are already against guns. An assembly involving the US Attorneys office might be held where former gang members will talk about what being in a gang is like and what it is like to be shot.
Kenney said the Neighborhood Restoration committee has started working on graffiti and blighted properties with code enforcement.
Majewski asked how people could get involved. Kenney said he is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the former Enterprise, 12101 Joseph Campau. The phone number there is 281-8150, and he believes in returning phone calls. Shulgon reminded everyone that there would be a Weed and Seed Steering Committee meeting that Thursday at noon.
Gordon said that troublemakers from outside the school and drop-outs need to be dealt with as a community. Kenney said there were not strategies along those specific lines, and Chief Doyle’s office would be the place to ask. Prisoner reentry efforts include assistance with license restoration, housing and social services for adults, and services from CCMO for juveniles.
Public comment
Bob Zwolak encouraged the council to adopt an ethics ordinance. It is long overdue, and was stalled a number of times. The majority of the council has taken an anti-ethical posture. People should expect that their elected officials have not been unduly influenced, monetarily or otherwise. In years past, a detective lieutenant at the police department was convicted of extortion of businesses. Elected officials were investigated by the IRS for their fund-raising activities. Rumors of $1000 tickets are being circulated, as well as rumors about $2500 in campaign donations from developers. Ethics ordinances are important.
Zwolak said there shouldn’t be any more free lunches, and Klein smiled. Zwolak remarked, “yeah, it’s funny, it’s funny. That’s a reputation that’s hard to lose around here.” Majewski told him that he should speak to the whole council. Zwolak said that he was “speaking to the whole council, as well as the ones who are smiling over there.”
Zwolak encouraged them to reconsider the housing discrimination ordinance. Majewski said the only item on the agenda was to approve ballot language. Zwolak asked if the letter from the city clerk was not on the agenda. The council should have waited to vote on the ballot language until it had been officially notified by the city clerk. Klein interrupted Zwolak to say that the clerk had given the council certification during the last meeting. Zwolak said it should have been on the agenda.
Zwolak strongly advised them not to go along with vacating the alley behind Shoppers World for Aldi and Curis. The majority of the council has an adversarial attitude toward business in Hamtramck. It is a bread and butter issue, and offensive to the existing businesses.
Rahiel Housey, director of the Holbrook Garden, teacher and resident, asked council to consider the designation of the property as a city park. Permission for the school garden was granted 8 years ago. It is used as an educational extension of the school, recreational space, and the garden clubs meet there. Everyone is welcome at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, and the garden is maintained entirely by unpaid volunteers. One family grows mostly food for themselves, but shares as well. The food is distributed to whoever is there when it is ripe. Sometimes excess is passed out from door to door in the neighborhood. Nothing is sold. People of different ages and ethnicities work together, and it is a community project as well as a school project. She encouraged the council to designate the lots as a city park to preserve it for future generations.
The garden recently received a $5000 grant from Lowe’s for a pergola, which will serve as an outdoor classroom with bench seating for 30 and a lattice roof for shade.
Akm Rahman was glad to see that the city website bear the slogan “A Touch of the World in America”. This slogan has been in use by www.hamtramck.org/ since 2006.
Rahman said that the ordinance giving special rights to homosexuals was overturned by 1000 signatures. They had a rally in front of city hall on July 29 where three individuals in support of the ordinance disrupted the presentations, including Catrina Stackpoole who called the demonstration a “hate rally”.
Klein started shouting over Rahman, encouraging the mayor to stop him from talking because his topic wasn’t on the agenda. Rahman pointed out that it was on the agenda when Bob Zwolak talked about it. Majewski asked the city attorney for an opinion as to whether people could talk about the ordinance when signature certification was the item on the agenda. Allen said that it was not a general discussion of the ordinance.
Gordon tried to say something, but Majewski wouldn’t allow her to speak. Rahman said that was a double standard. Majewski argued that the only thing he could speak about according to the attorney was the certification of signatures.
Rahman said they violated Sec 7-06 of the city charter which states:

Sec. 7-06 Resolutions, majority vote; mayor’s voting rights Unless otherwise provided in this charter, a majority yea and nay vote of a quorum of council-elect excluding the mayor shall be required for the passage and final adoption of any resolution.

Majewski shouted over him that it wasn’t on the agenda, and the resolution pertained to an ordinance, which the mayor does vote on. Rahman said he didn’t have anything to say about the numbers from the city clerk, but thanked them for giving him his freedom of speech.
Gordon asked why it was okay to talk about the website, but comments about other subjects were stopped by claims that they weren’t on the agenda. Gordon said that the rules should be enforced evenly or not enforced at all. Members of the audience clapped. Majewski shouted over everyone that she would instruct them all to leave.
Rachel Hewitt, a resident, is a volunteer at the Holbrook Garden. The garden is a community gathering space. She is not involved with the school, but helps in the garden on Tuesday nights with the children and during the ladies gardening club on Thursdays. Sometimes there are 40 to 50 people there. It is an intergenerational project and it needs to be maintained as a public space. Designation as a public park will help to secure future funding and grants.
Beatrice Woods was born on Joseph Campau and spoke to the vacation of the Joseph Campau and Evaline alley. It was different when merchants had living quarters above their stores. Joseph Campau hasn’t been a residential area since The Depression, and it doesn’t seem right. Making Joseph Campau a residential area takes away from the merchants. The store used to be Federals, and it would be better to have a store there because it would lower people’s taxes. Business people call her to ask why it is so expensive to do business in Hamtramck, and with as many stores closed on Joseph Campau as we have, we should be glad to get people to come here.
Woods asked if the city was going to be responsible for tearing the property down. Majewski replied that the city has a grant from the state to do that. Woods asked if they had a grant to tear down a building so that someone could buy it. Other people have to pay their own way, and the council is obligating the taxpayers. Majewski said that the demolition is completely state funded. Woods pointed out that state funding is still our tax money. Majewski said that wherever the money is coming from, it’s coming to us, and then continued to argue with Mrs. Woods.
Woods said that with all the houses that were built for the R-31, there wasn’t one Black contractor involved. When she was in Washington for a funeral, a man asked her how Hamtramck was coming along because Hamtramck was getting a lot of grants. She told him that the city wasn’t following the guidelines, and he said he would have someone look into that. A grand jury might be coming to town because the council is doing a lot of things that they aren’t supposed to do.
Consent agenda
All voted for the consent agenda.