With all the talk of reinventing our police and fire departments and possibly taking over public safety services in Highland Park, maybe it’s time to revisit another option. A couple of years ago, city officials discussed asking voters to OK a public safety tax. The issue never went anywhere. But we’d like to bring it [...]
The year 2011 might go down in Hamtramck’s history as the last year of a budget surplus. That year ended with $2.7 million in the black, thanks to a settlement with the City of Detroit over a tax dispute involving the GM Poletown plant. At the end of the current fiscal year, which will be [...]
Hamtramck and Highland Park. Like it or not, the fate of these two neighboring cities have apparently become intertwined. At least that’s the impression you get from what some folks have been saying. Earlier in the week, there was a proposal floated out there for Hamtramck to absorb Highland Park Public School students because Highland [...]
Is it fair to ask Hamtramck police officers to bear the brunt of their health insurance? Hamtramck is in a tight space. According to a new state law, pushed through by a majority of Republican lawmakers, there is now a cap on how much a city can spend on public employee health care costs and [...]
Hamtramck’s City Council acted more like the Grinch than Santa at its last meeting for 2011. That’s when councilmembers (except for Cathie Gordon) voted to really sock it to the city’s police force. Police officers are now being forced to pay for almost all of their own health insurance, and for many of them it’s [...]
Well, here it is, the end of the year. Goodbye 2011, and in some ways, good riddance. This was, without a doubt, a tough year to endure. The economy sucked, and there is little indication things will get better. There is less money to go around for everyone, including for city services. Case in point, [...]
This is a week to count our blessings, and Hamtramck certainly has a lot to be thankful for. We are a city that is still surviving, and despite a growing rift in City Hall, our future remains optimistic. But it’s going to take a lot of work in the coming year. We wish the new [...]
What a blow to Hamtramck and the metro region. This week, the folks at the SMART bus service announced a massive cut in services and the laying off of 123 employees, all because of a multi-million dollar budget deficit. Hamtramck’s shuttle service is also included in the cuts, but at least there is a ray [...]
Ha-Ha-Ha! That’s what we’d like to say to executives at American Axle & Manufacturing. But you know what? It really doesn’t give us pleasure. Fact is, what the executives in the company did to their workers, our city and ultimately our country leaves us far too bitter. On Tuesday, the Detroit City Council did what [...]
Could it get any messier? While on the one hand we’re pleased that Hamtramck now has a new police chief on the way, the process in which it happened was messy to say the least. Before we continue, let us say up front that none of this is meant as criticism of Lt. Max Garbarino, [...]
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