HAMTRAMCK — In 2015, Hamtramck became the first city in the United States to elect a Muslim majority to its city council. While many right wing pundits charged that the council would enact Sharia (Islamic law) at its first opportunity, the contrary occurred.
When Acting City Manager Katrina Powell’s two and a half year contract expired on June 30, the six-member City Council had its first opportunity to appoint its own city manager since the city was put under emergency management in 2013. They interviewed various candidates and ultimately selected Kathy Angerer, director of Community Development and a former state legislator from rural Dundee, on Tuesday, July 11.
The four Muslim members of the City Council voted in favor of appointing Angerer, a White Christian, while the remaining members, both Christians, opposed her.
Angerer joined the city as an economic development specialist in 2012 and has played a variety of important roles in the interim.
Saad Almasmari, a three-year Council member who immigrated from Yemen in 2009, called the appointment a “historic moment.”
However, the Council was split over the decision to appoint Angerer.
The disputes within the Council began after Hamtramck was placed under emergency management in June 2013. Gov. Snyder appointed Cathy Square as emergency manager. When Square declared the financial emergency over, she chose Powell to replace her as acting city manager.
But she also left a list of 12 orders, one of which was that the City Council could not fire Powell.
Powell was expected to present the Council with the name of a hiring firm that would choose a replacement, subject to the board’s approval, but four months before her term was over, she appealed for an extension of her contract to the city attorney’s office. However, the City Council refused the negotiation proposal.
“Powell didn’t work as expected for the city,” Almasmari said.
At a June 14 emergency meeting, the Council chose Kyle Tertzag, a former city manager. However, the state rejected Tertzag’s appointment based on his qualifications, so the Council subsequently appointed Treasurer John Gabor as the acting city manager.
The acting city manager runs the city’s daily managerial functions and searches for a full time city manager on June 27.
Gabor took office on June 29, but on that same night, Powell — whose contract was still in limbo and who was granted the authority by the state to appoint a city manager — chose Hamtramck Police Chief Anne Moise as the acting city manager.
Powell’s pick won over, but Moise only spent a week on the job before the City Council, which had final approval, revoked her appointment.
Instead, they voted to appoint Angerer.
“She’s professional and she’s doing great,” Almasmari said, adding that she is the oldest department director in Hamtramck.
6 Comments
Karen Majewski
July 16, 2017 at 7:38 amThis article has some inaccuracies that need to be corrected. Katrina Powell was not the ACTING City Manager; she was the City Manager. The City Manager has the authority to appoint a current Hamtramck employee (usually a department head) as Acting City Manager to fill in when he or she is out of the office for any length of time. City Manager Katrina Powell appointed Police Chief Ann Moise as Acting City Manager when Powell left office, subject to city council approval. At the last city council meeting councilmembers Miah, Almasmari, Hassan, and Musa REJECTED the appointment of Police Chief Moise (obviously, a woman) and instead appointed Kathy Angerer (also a woman). Yes, they appointed a woman as Acting City Manager (NOT City Manager). But they also REJECTED a woman (Ann Moise) as Acting City Manager. Their decision must be reviewed by the Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) and may be accepted or overturned. In the meantime, Angerer and Moise are both cooperating to run the city day to day, since the RTAB has not yet met to make a decision. Council members Karpinski and Perrotta can speak for themselves, but as publicly stated at the meeting they favored accepting Powell’s appointment of Chief Moise. Former Treasurer John Gabor was NEVER appointed as Acting City Manager.
Karen Majewski
July 16, 2017 at 7:42 amThis article has some inaccuracies that need to be corrected. Katrina Powell was not the ACTING City Manager; she was the City Manager. Kathy Angerer is not the City Manager, but the Acting City Manager. The City Manager has the authority to appoint a current Hamtramck employee (usually a department head) as Acting City Manager to fill in when he or she is out of the office for any length of time. City Manager Katrina Powell appointed Police Chief Ann Moise as Acting City Manager when Powell left office, subject to city council approval. At the last city council meeting councilmembers Miah, Almasmari, Hassan, and Musa REJECTED the appointment of Police Chief Moise (obviously, a woman) and instead appointed Kathy Angerer (also a woman). Yes, they appointed a woman as Acting City Manager (NOT City Manager). But they also REJECTED a woman (Ann Moise) as Acting City Manager. Their decision must be reviewed by the Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) and may be accepted or overturned. In the meantime, Angerer and Moise are both cooperating to run the city day to day, since the RTAB has not yet met to make a decision. Council members Karpinski and Perrotta can speak for themselves, but as publicly stated at the meeting they favored accepting Powell’s appointment of Chief Moise. Former Treasurer John Gabor was NEVER appointed as Acting City Manager.
Additionally, City Manager Powell DID go through the RFP process to hire a search firm to find a new city manager. However, Councilmembers Miah, Almasmari, Hassan, and Musa voted to REJECT hiring the search firm. So for now there is no search underway for a permanent city manager.
Scott KLEIN
July 16, 2017 at 4:44 pmFactually this article is garbage.
The council did not interview any one, because two members were excluded, and those interviews were not in public.
The power to name an acting city manager is a power given in the city charter to the city manager, subject to the approval of council. This power was not given by the state to Powell.
Powell was not an acting city manager, she was city manager.
The council was limited, by charter, on who it could appoint acting city manager, which is a title angerer holds until the council finds a city manager.
Ian Perrotta
July 17, 2017 at 7:40 pmPlease see my comment on the Arab American News regarding this article, I am unable to cut-and-paste my original response which was typed in Word.
https://www.facebook.com/TheAANews/posts/1073203756149820?comment_id=1073682942768568¬if_t=share_reply¬if_id=1500225095712747
Sarah
July 17, 2017 at 10:27 pmSo you interviewed the two supposed Christan council members? You have verified their actual religious beliefs?
Johnson Murphy
July 18, 2017 at 8:30 amTotal lack of fact checking and integrity with this story. What does your organization do?