Two Hamtramck City Council members to remain on board despite investigation into residency
Tensions were high at Hamtramck's city council meeting on Tuesday as residents and the city are now working to find out if two council members live in the city and deserve to stay on the council.
At the April 25 Hamtramck City Council meeting, a private investigator, using public records, surveillance, and GPS tracking, revealed that Muhith Mahmood lives in Troy, and Abu Musa lives in Warren.
"We have elected people to represent us who think they're too good to live with us," Russ Gordon from Hamtramck said.
At Tuesday's meeting, both Mahmood and Musa argued that while they do have second homes in those communities, they live in Hamtramck.
"My W-2 since 2011 in Hamtramck address and all other things, my insurance and my car in Hamtramck," Musa said.
However, dozens of residents spoke during public comment about their distrust of Musa and Mahmood and their frustrations with the idea that elected officials might not live in the communities they serve.
"We need to call it what it is, a complete failure of leadership," said Andrea Karpinski from Hamtramck.
"This is a close-knit community, and you already know what that investigation was going to prove, you know where your colleagues live, and it's not here."
Mayor Pro Tem Khalil Refai said there's not enough evidence for any action right now, and the city council voted against removing either Musa or Mahmood. However, both residents and the city council continued to raise the issue that there's no hard definition in Hamtramck of what officially makes someone a resident.
"Tricky subject. There's evidence that shows they're not here 100% of the time, so what constitutes a resident of Hamtramck?" said Diane Frkan from Hamtramck.
As of right now, Mahmood is aiming to become the mayor of Hamtramck, and Musa is running for reelection on the council. Many residents tonight are saying that if they're not kicked out, they'll have to vote them out later this year.
