HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (WXYZ) — Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi filed a lawsuit Monday against the entirety of the Hamtramck City Council at Wayne County Circuit Court, claiming the council's firing of City Manager Abdel Al-Adlani last week was invalid.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report:
The mayor is seeking an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to reverse the council's decision on the termination.
The firing happened during a contentious city council meeting last Wednesday, when Mayor Pro Tem Mohammad Hassan attempted to add a new item to the agenda to remove Al-Adlani. The board voted 4 to 2 to fire the city manager, who was only hired in February. The termination marks the fourth turnover in the position in under a year.
Business owner Shannon Lowell was at the meeting last week for official business and had to wait as the arguing dragged on.
"It was like watching a classroom full of kids going crazy cause the teacher wasn't in the room," Lowell said.
At a press conference in front of city hall on Monday, Alharbi and his attorney, Nabih Ayad, announced the lawsuit, claiming violations of the city charter, the state constitution, and the Open Meetings Act over the firing.
FULL NEWS CONFERENCE: Hamtramck Mayor suing city council over city manager firing
"We are here today to say enough is enough. You cannot continue to violate the rules," Ayad said. "How many lawsuits does it take for them to understand there’s rules and regulations that you must follow?”
Mayor Alharbi claims the decision was not added to the agenda in time and that the council is not following proper legal procedure.
"You cannot have elected officials not follow our city charter and bypass our city charter," Alharbi said at Monday's press conference.
We asked the mayor what reason the council gave for wanting to fire the city manager. He said he was not given one.
"Right now we are in the dark and that's why we're making sure that we do file what we filed today to make sure we put a stop to that," Alharbi said.
Hamtramck resident Diane Frkan also has questions about why the city manager was fired.
"It's not fair, it's disappointing, and we're embarrassed," Frkan said.
She says the drama and the growing list of legal and leadership troubles facing the city are taking attention away from the issues that matter most to residents.
“We have other problems happening in this city, like our infrastructure's crumbling, many of us residents, including me, we have flooding in our basements," she said. “Hamtramck deserves better. We deserve better.”
Meanwhile, Ayad called on state and federal authorities to look into the council's conduct.
"This isn't the Wild West. They need to understand there are rules and regulations here, and we welcome any kind of investigation by the state or federal [government] for this conduct, it's absolutely outrageous," Ayad said.
FULL COMPLAINT:
Complaint by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit
APPLICATION FOR TRO:
Emergency Motion for TRO by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit
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