Public comment
Zack Greening, here on an internship from University of Sault Ste Marie, moved to Hamtramck 1 week prior to this meeting because Hamtramck seemed safer and cleaner than Detroit. He thought the council should increase taxes because he spends more on beer than the proposed increase, and people have to pay for functional government.
All voted for the consent agenda.
Shadow bar: Cooper said that the owners of Shadow bar want to change formats and have dancing until 4 a.m.. The administration didn’t want to approve the dance permit before certain changes have been made, but the owners were looking for support from the council before making those changes.
Allen said that the city wanted to work with the owners, and the extension of hours is for dancing only. Alcohol sales will not be allowed after 2 a.m.. Approving the changes would show that the city is making an effort to work with the owners if further action is required.
Majewski said that postcards bordering on the obscene have been distributed around the club. Allen said that the format change will change the nature of the handbills. The bar is not responsible for their distribution, but does employ a cleaning crew to clean up around the bar at the end of the night.
Cooper said the city didn’t have a handbill ordinance before, and that the police will enforce it now. Stackpoole disagreed because it has always been illegal to put fliers on cars, and she thought the city should go after the advertisers. Cooper said he would contact them.
Majewski asked if the resolution was a compromise. Cooper said the club owners wanted to have dancing until 4 a.m., and the city agreed to consider it if they return to an old format with fewer problems. Ahmed didn’t understand how the clientele would change with the format. Cooper assured him that the new clients would not mix with the former clients. Gordon directed their attention to the portion of the resolution that says the Shadow will be going back to “Ice”, an LGBT friendly club.
Miah was concerned that it would bring more drunks into town. Gordon said the extra hours would give people a chance to sober up before leaving. Allen said the club will not let drunks in, and the police will enforce drunk driving laws, as always. Ice bar was in business for 3 years, and there evidently few problems then because he didn’t know that the club existed. Ahmed voted against it, but the resolution passed.
The council suspended the rules to let Moe Blackwell speak. He heard that Hamtramck parks need funding, and $75,000 that he gave to Hamtramck in the past for the park was not spent. He had the $75,000 reallocated to Hamtramck for capital improvements to a park. The city needs to submit a park project plan by September 30, 2010.
North American Bangladesh Festival: Cooper said that the committee was in the process of meeting the criteria for festivals, and that businesses and residents would get notices. The resolution approving the festival passed unanimously.
Debt millage: Stackpoole moved the resolution to raise taxes, but there was no second.
Discussion of layoffs: Majewski allowed the council to bicker about the budget and layoffs with no motion on the floor. Stackpoole said there would be more layoffs because the council refused to raise taxes. Jankowski asked how many employees would have to be laid off to balance the budget. Stackpoole didn’t know; Hassan thought it was 2 police officers and 1 firefighter. Cooper said 6 employees would have to be laid off to make up for the $500,000 millage, or 8 additional positions to cover the entire deficit.
Miah said they should be talking about how to get the $1 million from Detroit and GM. Ahmed said that wasn’t on the agenda. Ahmed said he supported the tax increase. Majewski pointed out that he didn’t second Stackpoole’s motion earlier in the meeting.
Labor Day: Miah asked what the city events coordinator had done to help the organizers. Cooper said she had lined up some vendors, suppliers, Channel 7 and some acts, but now says that she can’t make the festival successful because suppliers are nervous about the city finances and would go to Arts Beats and Eats instead.
Stackpoole was still “in shock” that the council didn’t vote to raise taxes, and said she would do everything in her power to cancel the festival. Gordon said the budget presented to council included laying off the events coordinator and others, even if the tax increase had passed.
Hassan wanted the festival to happen, and said a committee would be formed. He offered the help of 30 people who organize the NABF. He offered to give the festival committee $1000 of his own money, plus more from his friends.
Jankowski didn’t remember approving a festival. The city was not reimbursed for $26,000 in expenses last year, and a festival was not in the budget for this year.
Majewski said that the residents should come together and get others involved, and that the city doesn’t have to be responsible. Council members bickered about how the festival could be organized and what limitations they could place on it.
Cooper said budget approval for the festival may require a special meeting of the council. Jankowski suggested that the festival committee follow the same process as the NABF, without city sponsorship.
Hassan suggested that the city form the committee. Majewski said there should be a community meeting. Jankowski said the more council keeps it’s hands off the festival, the better it will be. It was decided that a meeting would be held the following Monday.
Jankowski moved to have the city police department provide security to the festival. Majewski said the city would have the final say on the plans. Ahmed suggested limiting the festival to one day to control overtime costs for police. Jankowski said the vendors won’t come if the festival is shortened. Stackpoole said vendors want thousands of dollars in advance because they are concerned that the city isn’t going to pay the bills. Jankowski withdrew his resolution because the discussion was getting “scarier” all the time. All voted in favor of having a town hall meeting about the festival.
There was no report from the city manager.
Gordon wanted to know why a presentation about the historical museum proposal was postponed. Majewski said they were waiting to get more numbers, and that council gets notices about Cities of Promise meetings.
Gordon wished the city manager luck in talking to Detroit about GM, and asked if MML has a legal fund for cities in our position. Cooper said the city attorney was working on it, Nazarko met with someone at Detroit the previous week, and the mayor met with an assistant of Dave Bing. Detroit is doing a full audit, and the state told them that they over-collected. If the agreement ended, Detroit owes $20 million to Wayne county and the schools. They owe us if the agreement didn’t end.
Public Comment
City Treasurer Michael Wilk said he knew that the city had to cut the budget and offered to continue working for the city for free.
Bob Zwolak thanked Blackwell for the money toward the park. He said the city should reform the parks advisory board to give the council direction. He also said that the tax increase should be put to the voters, along with a change to the charter making the city clerk, treasurer, and director of public safety elected officials again. The charter is being abused, and the only department head who lives in Hamtramck is being eliminated for speaking out. Zwolak also suggested rehiring the events coordinator, though she had “rankled” some on the council by doing PR work for others. Majewski interrupted to say she didn’t know what he was talking about.
Zwolak suggested that the committee organizing the festival should sell raffle tickets through local merchants.
Kathy Kristy worked 60 hours per week when she ran the festival for the Chamber of Commerce, and she was working for a committee that had been doing it for 15 years.
Kristy wanted to talk to the council about the cuts to public safety. She called to get a quote for property insurance, and they told her to forget it if she was in Hamtramck because the city has a very high rate of B&Es and there are too many claims.
Akikul Haque Shamim thanked the council for closing the street for the Bangladesh Festival. It is a tradition to have the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, and that should also be continued. He offered to help them get vendors, and to be personally responsible for organizing it if the city took care of the liquor license and security.
Hassan agreed that BAM would help the festival.
Paul Garza mailed a letter to the council on May 8 regarding a windstorm that dropped a branch on his car. Nine years ago, the city replaced the concrete in front of his house that the same tree damaged, and billed him $600 for it. He complained about the dangerously low hanging branch that fell on his car, but nothing was done. He tried to file a claim with the city’s insurance, but the insurance company says that the branch falling was an act of nature. He felt that he was passed around, and hadn’t received a response to the letter he sent to the city.
Majewski replied that there was a procedure to follow.
Hamtramck Star
Hamtramck, Michigan
wow i have so many comments on this transcript, a bunch of people have revealed where their priorities actually lay, several people have simply made enemies of the whole city, a few people revealed their general ignorance and …well ill get to the comments now.
Part 1:
“Allen said that the city wanted to work with the owners, and the extension of hours is for dancing only. Alcohol sales will not
be allowed after 2 a.m.. Approving the changes would show that the city is making an effort to work with the owners if further
action is required.”
—first since when is Allen the negotiator for the city on matters like this? second, they have absolutely no leverage and a lot
of nerve to think that we need to prove anything to them. third, he sounds like he really likes this club…
“The bar is not responsible for their distribution, but does employ a cleaning crew to clean up around the bar at the end of the
night.”
—oh they are responsible, littering is still not allowed
“Cooper said the city didn’t have a handbill ordinance before, and that the police will enforce it now. Stackpoole disagreed
because it has always been illegal to put fliers on cars, and she thought the city should go after the advertisers. Cooper said he
would contact them.”
—first thing: why does she feel the need to challenge everything? is her life so devoid of respect? second: kudos to mr cooper,
nice dodge on the subject.
“Majewski asked if the resolution was a compromise.”
—hello?! we were thinking of yanking their license and they dont want to go. a compromise would be if they did something to
appease us, not the other way around! lol
“Cooper said the club owners wanted to have dancing until 4 a.m., and the city agreed to consider it if they return to an old
format with fewer problems. Ahmed didn’t understand how the clientele would change with the format. Cooper assured him that the
new clients would not mix with the former clients. Gordon directed their attention to the portion of the resolution that says the
Shadow will be going back to “Ice”, an LGBT friendly club.”
—sounds rather assuming about each group having a “stereotype” i.e. trouble maker versus “lets all get along” mind you a lgbt
club would do the city good because i know some people in that crowd and theyve said that the area needs more clubs for them.
“Miah was concerned that it would bring more drunks into town.”
—so you’re saying the lgbt group is all drunks?? think before you speak man. i mean you could classify anyone who goes to a bar
to drink alcoholic beverages as a drunk, doesnt mean its a bad thing, it means they spend money and support the city dude. 20
years ago “drunks” made this city a worldwide landmark we were proud of.
“Allen said the club will not let drunks in, and the police will enforce drunk driving laws, as always.”
—there’s allen again speaking for the city…now help me out here, how can you tell someone is a drunk when they walk into your
establishment? are you going to check alcohol levels and criminal history? plus that whole sentence points again to how much he
seems to like the owners of that bar. Plus, if you turn away drunks there’s half you business revenue going to other taverns, bad
business practice. but then if you make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year you can afford to be picky.
“The council suspended the rules to let Moe Blackwell speak. He heard that Hamtramck parks need funding, and $75,000 that he gave
to Hamtramck in the past for the park was not spent.”
—shows that people still bow down to money in this here city…
“North American Bangladesh Festival: Cooper said that the committee was in the process of meeting the criteria for festivals, and
that businesses and residents would get notices. The resolution approving the festival passed unanimously.”
—-first its this disregard for protocols that keeps getting us in trouble. when they have their ducks in a row, THEN we give
them a permit.
“Stackpoole said there would be more layoffs because the council refused to raise taxes.” “Cooper said 6 employees would have to
be laid off to make up for the $500,000 millage, or 8 additional positions to cover the entire deficit.”
—wow we pay good! thats over $60,000 an employee or about $30 an hour! where do i sign up!
“Miah said they should be talking about how to get the $1 million from Detroit and GM. Ahmed said that wasn’t on the agenda.”
–too freaking bad! he made a suggestion, maybe we should follow it?
“Ahmed said he supported the tax increase. Majewski pointed out that he didn’t second Stackpoole’s motion earlier in the meeting.”
—was he in the bathroom?
Part 2:
“Labor Day: Miah asked what the city events coordinator had done to help the organizers. Cooper said she had lined up some vendors, suppliers, Channel 7 and some acts, but now says that she can’t make the festival successful because suppliers are nervous about the city finances and would go to Arts Beats and Eats instead.”
—-This is a prime example of logical thinking, if we dont make the vendors happy they go elsewhere, that would be bad ray. people need to realize this.
“Stackpoole was still “in shock” that the council didn’t vote to raise taxes, and said she would do everything in her power to
cancel the festival.”
—once again, wasted oxygen in my humble opinion. “hmm nobody has spoken to me in 5 minutes i better make sure they know i’m still here” if you cancel this festival you will be like the school principal who cancelled prom nights because he never got to go as a kid. think of the city not yourself.
“Hassan wanted the festival to happen, and said a committee would be formed. He offered the help of 30 people who organize the
NABF. He offered to give the festival committee $1000 of his own money, plus more from his friends.”
—way to go! you are a real team player, hope you run again next time cause you just proved you are someone who gets things done!
“Jankowski didn’t remember approving a festival. The city was not reimbursed for $26,000 in expenses last year, and a festival was
not in the budget for this year.”
—who was supposed to reimburse us? the vendors? the caterers? if there’s money due, go get it you have a million dollar legal group at your command, hop to it!
“Majewski said that the residents should come together and get others involved, and that the city doesn’t have to be responsible.
Council members bickered about how the festival could be organized and what limitations they could place on it.”
—good idea, in fact if we did the tiny tax increase we wouldnt have a reason to bicker…oh wait thats what we do isnt it?
“
“Jankowski said the more council keeps it’s hands off the festival, the better it will be.”
—true but they still need to adhere to general limitations like any festival.
“Ahmed suggested limiting the festival to one day to control overtime costs for police. Jankowski said the
vendors won’t come if the festival is shortened.”
—very true very true! there may be hope yet.
“Stackpoole said vendors want thousands of dollars in advance because they are concerned that the city isn’t going to pay the bills.”
—ooh nice jab, still trying to foil the festival i see. create dissention in the ranks, classic tactic. not a problem, we pay them in advance (we have the money) and replace it later (we DO have a history of not replacing money,hmmm…)
“Jankowski withdrew his resolution because the discussion was getting “scarier” all the time.”
—waah! im no longer in control of this so i dont want to play anymore…
Part 3: oh what fun!
“City Treasurer Michael Wilk said he knew that the city had to cut the budget and offered to continue working for the city for
free.”
—you sir are a trooper and an inspration to us all I salute you!
“Zwolak suggested that the committee organizing the festival should sell raffle tickets through local merchants.”
—i concur. life may resume
“Kathy Kristy worked 60 hours per week when she ran the festival for the Chamber of Commerce, and she was working for a committee
that had been doing it for 15 years.”
—i vote her for festival organizer
—overall quite an amusing show. we saw some bright stars, some lonely people and some true natures being revealed. may the universe have merrcy on this city.
*sigh* I am always surprised at how little it seems that many people understand about basic compensation for employees. Just because an employee costs an employer $60,000/year to employ does not mean that the employee is earning $60k/year. In fact, almost certainly, the employee is earning significantly less. But employers must pay additional funds (taxes, worker’s comp insurance premiums, various benefits, training, equipment for the employee to use, and HR people to coordinate it all) beyond just that employee’s salary. I’d say that normally, less than 80% of an employee’s compensation costs are salary. Maybe as little as 60%.
Have I mentioned how much I love this city? i mean it all joking aside. where else can you get full blown politics and interaction with local business owners on such an intimate level and yet still be a big city with big city amenities? I mean I’ve met probably a dozen local business owners and know them by name, i recognize people on the street, and I do care for what is happening in local politics. I can only hope that when I’m on council that i can show how much i do care.
Any clues as to why Ms. Stackpoole is so hell-bent on raising our taxes? What the hell?
Probably because she does not own one.
They own the house they live in.
http://www.waynecountylandrecords.com/
rh: If the things she argued to keep in the budget are any indication, she wants to raise taxes to have city workers set up her “International Bazaar” and run recycling instead of volunteers, and to employ a city events coordinator that the city never needed needed before.
This is the press release that Bob Zwolak referred to:
Wow, ‘mayor pro tem’ seems to be quite the coveted position for that chair in council chambers.
Some small portion of cuts in public safety could be recovered if the cops or the court would start issuing actual fines for violations instead of courteously requesting compliance.
Can anyone check if Wilk pays property taxes on the building located at: 2396 Caniff where he operates his business?
Seems our treasurer lost his property at
1980 Evaline
Instrument #: 2010130603
Multi Seq: 0
Status:
Parcel Type: Platted
Dated Date: 03/24/2010
Reception Date: 04/01/2010
Entry Date: 04/01/2010
Document Type: CERTIFICATE OF FORFEITURE OF REAL PROPERTY
Liber: 48451
Page: 236
Consideration: $0.00
Remarks:
# Pages in Image: 1
Image:
Related Document(s)
Grantor Name(s)
1 WILK MICHAEL A JR
Grantee Name(s)
1 WAYNE COUNTY TREASURER
Returnee
Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Legal Description(s)
Legal # 1, Type: Platted
Tax ID: 41003030247000 Municipality: HAMTRAMCK
Street #: 1980 Street Name: EVALINE
Plat Liber: 25 Plat Page: 77 Subdivision: WHITNEYS
Lot From: 247 To: 247 Alpha: Block: 3 SPI:
Remarks:
Anyone can look it up. Taxes on the funeral home, both personal and property taxes, are current.
https://is.bsasoftware.com/BSA.IS/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fbsa.is%2fdefault.aspx
Do you have evidence that “Michael Wilk Jr” is the same Michael Wilk?
I heard that they’re getting rid of Treasurer Michael Wilk because he refused to sign checks that were being issued in violation of the purchasing ordinance. The administration (the people who issued the checks) maintain that the treasurer reports to the finance director, which was not what was intended by the charter commission. Cooper plans to install one of the finance director’s underlings in Wilk’s place who will do what they say, even when there is a charter violation involved.
I heard a rumor that he has it under a non profit organization name.
You were misinformed. It’s registered to “WILK, MICHAEL & CHRISTINE”, and they pay about $3600 per year, not counting income taxes.
I don’t know why the city is even entertaining the idea of having a festival with the budget crisis that is going on. Unless the festival ends up making a profit then fine spend the money but year after year more is lost. I highly doubt that 2010 is going to be the year we post a profit.
The party going on tonight at shadow bar does not look like a gay party at all.
They have tricked the city.
Please define “does not look like a gay party at all.” What did you see? I haven’t heard anything about Shadow lately. Did hear there was a shooting at Carbon Friday before last, no details.
Like, omg, that is so not gay!