State of the City 2008

 

Welcome, everyone. Welcome to Hamtramck’s 2008 State of the City Address. This has been a busy year, full of planned projects and unpredictable events.The coming year promises to be even busier, so I have a lot to say to you. But first let me tell you how much I appreciate your coming out today, on this Father’s Day. Your being here is a testament to your interest in your city, to your understanding that nothng we plan happens in a vacauum, and that nothing we accomplish happens without the hard work, support, and encouragement of many people. 

The life of a city is a life lived communally, the combination of our shared aspirations and our collective spirit. In times like these, when the whole nation is faced with economic challenges unlike any we’ve seen in a generation or more, it’s tempting to give in to discouragement and fear. But I’m here to remind you that, despite the alarming state of the economy, we live in an eternally optimistic nation, buoyed at its foundations by principles that profess our fundamental belief in the human potential for goodness and growth. And here in Hamtramck, where it seems we feel every national downturn more sharply than in other regions, there is good reason to take heart in what we’ve accomplished, in the community we’ve managed to build despite odds that often seem stacked against us, in the knowledge that we have never been afraid of hard work, and that that hard work is paying off in ways that are measurable demographically, culturally, and financially. We are an exciting community, a little cranky sometimes, with a strong will to survive and a strong identity. We have many of the assets other cities are striiving to create: density, walkabiltiy, accessibility to entertainment and cultural opportunities, a sense of place, and a sence of self. We should not sell ourselves short. While the climate around us must caution us toward fiscal prudence, the accomplishments of the past year and plans for the coming year should also give us reason to be proud and hopeful.

 
Perhaps the most noteworthy event of the past year was Governor Granholm’s lifting of our Emergency Financial Status under Act 72. By the time this officially occured in November of 2007, we had already been effectively running our own financial ship for a couple of years, with some continuing state oversite. But it is truly a tribute to our City Manager, Don Crawford, and our Finance Director, Nevrus Nazarko, that after 7 years and many challenges, while other cities in the region are facing deficit spending, the City of Hamtramck has eliminated its budget deficits, passed a balanced budget for 2008/09, and created a modest “rainy day fund” against unforseen emergencies. I’m sure many of you grew up in households like mine, where if you didn’t have the cash in hand for something, you simply didn’t buy it until you’d saved enough for it. We all realize that that isn’t quite the way a city can operate, but I’m sure we also realize the very basic necessity of prudent investment in infrastructure and services, while budgeting for larger projects and saving for future needs. While there is little wiggle room in our budget, we can at last say that our financial situation is stabilized for now and that management practices are on a firm, professional footing.
 
While I’m on the subject of finances, let me add a few details. We’ve managed to pay down our outstanding debt without incurring new obligations, to cut healthcare costs, and to settle some outstanding lawsuits, so I’m pleased to announce that the tax millage rates for 2007 and 2008 are the lowest that the City of Hamtramck has seen in recent memory, and bring us in line with other municipalities. All this, once again, to the credit of our Finance Department.
 
That said, like most cities we face continuing financial challenges because of escalating insurance and and pension costs, particularly police and fire. The irony, of course, is that rising costs to retirees and their dependents hinders us in our efforts to provide protection and services for today’s residents. Furthermore, we face a couple of big unknowns. The city and our local businesses lost thousands of dollars in revenues each week during the 3-month long UAW strike against American Axle. But we’re even more frightened of the long-term effects on the city of the strike, settlement, and resulting scaled down operations, which are estimated to lower our revenues by $300,000 and which could force our first budget deficit in three years. (By the way, our Police Department should also be commended for helping ensure that, despite the tensions on the picket line, the situation never escalated into violence.) And while we greeted the news that the new Chevy Volt would be built in the Detroit/Hamtramck Poletown plant, we’re alarmed by the tax cuts that GM is rumored to be seeking in exchange. These are situations which will no doubt come to the fore in 2008 and 2009 as the auto industry adjusts itself. It is disturbing that the City of Hamtramck is expected to bear so much of the cost of this realignment.
 
The City is also doing its own realignment. Three years ago, after a change in our city charter, we hired our first City Manager, Mr. Donald Crawford. Don has helped us weather some grave crises and brought us through some extraordinarily difficult times, and as he ends his tenure as manager, the whole City of Hamtramck owes him a debt of gratitude for helping us stabilize on a solid organizational foundation. I’m sure all of you will want to express your thanks to him personally, and wish him well. We are now preparing to welcome our next City Manager, Mr. William Cooper, who brings particular expertise both in finance and in community and economic development, on which we will be focusing much attention in the coming year. I encourage you as well to introduce yourself to Mr. Cooper and his wife, Diana, and help them get to know our unique and diverse community.
 
As the city turns an administrative corner, we are also turning the page on history. The R-31 racial discrimination lawsuit is nearing its close, with the last phase of scattered site home building having kicked off this summer. This has brought us numerous rewards: about 200 new homes, all either rented or sold; new families with all the cultural and economic benefits they provide; new infrastructure in some neighborhoods in connection with the construction boom; new sources of revenue and neighborhood revitalization as the city is now allowed to sell its residential lots; positive publicity that has brought nation-wide attention to Hamtramck as a city determined to fulfill not just to its legal, but its moral, obligations. This has been a long and painful process, but also a hopeful and joyful one. And it could not have happened without our City Manager and without painstaking work by our former Community and Economic Development Director Erik Tungate and his assistant Deb Nevinski, without Marcia Gebarowski of the DDA, our City Attorney Jim Allen, and our Department of Public Works Head Marty Ladd. With the imminent settlement of this lawsuit, we can walk with our heads held high. Underscoring this committment to human rights are Hamtramck’s recently passed anti-profiling and anti-discrimination ordinances. We remain determined to live up to our reputation as the state’s most diverse and inclusive community.
 
Turning our attention to the Department of Public Works, I’d like to reaffirm the city’s committment to the maintenance of our streets and water system. The last two years have seen a 3.2 million dollar investment as first Alice, then Danforth, Nagel, and Dequindre have been or are in the process of being completely rebuilt. This is in addition to Wayne County’s rebuild of Jos. Campau north of Caniff and south of Holbrook, which occured last year. In 2009, we hope to concentrate on Caniff between Jos. Campau and Conant, which has been plagued by frequent water main breaks. At the budgeted rate of one new road and water main rebuild a year, it will be a slow improvement, but a steady one. And it is supplemented by our six-year road improvement program, started in 2006, which calls for annual road maintenance with milling and chip and seal layover. 
 
Although it’s somewhat of an inconvenience for everyone, I’m sure you’re all happy to see MDOT’s bridge repairs at Commor, Dequindre, and Holbrook, which began this summer. The Caniff bridge is next, and we all know how much that work is needed. This project began ahead of its original schedule and is expected to take six months. It will also include landscaping and decorative fencing at Caniff. We want to make sure that people entering Hamtramck from I-75 at what is probably our most utilized interchange are welcomed by a safe and attractive gateway. And we want to make sure that our residents living on the west side of I-75 are connected conveniently and safely to the rest of the city. It will be beautiful when it’s done.
 
Another project which will help make our city more navigable is the ongoing placement and replacement of street signs. This project has taken much longer than we thought it would, but it is back up and running and neighborhood by neighborhood is moving along. I was thrilled to get a street sign at my corner this winter, for the first time in the 10 years I’ve lived on Pulaski Street. If you haven’t gotten your sign yet I know your patience is being sorely tried--mine was--but have faith, your sign is coming! And not just street signs, but all other traffic signs, properly aligned and installed for our public safety. The Department will also be expanding on last year’s bus shelter placement, with a handful of new shelters to be installed this year. To other communities, these may be small things, but in getting them done here at long last, we are demonstrating our determination to step back into viability and normalcy.Nothing else is acceptable.
 
Another public safety and quality of life issue with which we continue to struggle is the problem of abandoned and blighted houses throughout the city. It is little comfort to know that every community in Michigan, and communities around the country for that matter, are facing the same difficulties right now. It remains a stain on our city, a drain on our resources, and painfuly discouraging to our spirits. We need to use every available tool and resource to tackle this problem. One of these is Wayne County’s Nuisance Abatement Program, through which 13 houses were demolished in 2007; over 50 more are scheduled for inclusion in 2008. This program expedites the process by which owners are notified of violations and offers them a limited timeline in which to bring a property up to code before it reverts to the county or city for resale or demolition. The work of the Department of Public Services in handling violations and identifying and following up on problem properties has been facilitated by the hiring of five new code officials.
 
For homeowners looking for assistance in fixing up their properties, Wayne Metro Community Action Agency is continuing to administer Community Development Block Grant grant money on behalf of the City to those who qualify. Also a help to homeowners, through the Governor’s Cities of Promise Program we held our first Housing Fair this spring, bringing together organizations, businesses, the public schools, and government agencies to showcase services and programs available to homeowners looking for ways to maintain and improve their properties. A handbook outlining these resources was published in 5 languages to serve all segments of our diverse community.
 
The presence of lead paint in so many of our older homes prompted City Council, with the support of the office of Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy, to take a proactive approach by enacting the most stringent lead ordinance in the State of Michigan, and perhaps the country. The abatement of residential lead should soon be facilitated with grant money specifically earmarked for Highland Park and Hamtramck.
 
Another initiative intended to make our city more attractive to visitors and residents alike is the street sweeping program, which began in 2007 and is continuing in 2008. Though I’m sure we’d all like the street we live on to be swept more often than it is, the first priority has to be our main thoroughfares, which create an impression, good or bad, for everyone who enters Hamtramck. So I would once again appeal to everyone to heed the no partking signs when sweeping is scheduled, and to do your part to keep the street in front of your own home or business clean and uncluttered. Maintaining a liveable community is the responsibility not just of the city administration or its residents, but of both in collaboration.
 
An example of that collaboration was the annual Hamtramck Clean Sweep, held in May. Once again, members of the Beautification Commission and other local organizations, City Council, the Department of Public Services and the 31st District Court, our local faith communities, neighborhood organizations, our friends at MDOT and MDIT, and many other folks from around the metro area got together to give the city a spring cleaning.
 
We all know, of course, that regular street sweeping and a city-wide cleanup once or twice a year are important, but must be components of a larger committment to keeping our streets, alleys, and neighborhoods safe and tidy. The city has furthered that committment by strengthening its high grass and noxious weed ordinance, streamlining and strengthening the process by which the city can control overgrowth on private property. In addition, we are continuing to contract out the mowing of city owned lots and are now contracting out for alley cleaning as well. As we freely admit, it’s been difficult for us to keep up with these problems in the past. But one by one we are putting the pieces in place for consistent and workable procedures. I will make it one of the primary directives to our new city manager, with city council approval, to see that an overarching plan for keeping our city clean and well-maintained is one of his first priorities.
 
But it is not the city administration’s responsibility alone. I know I made this appeal last year, and I will keep making it--I know we are all busy people, but it only takes a few minutes to pick some weeds, sweep the curbline, and pick up trash that may have blown into your yard. And this goes for business owners as well, who should realize that attracting customers depends on a clean and inviting place of business, inside and out. That means clean windows, a clean interior, and a clean sidewalk. It means that if you have a flower box on the street in front of your business, it must be kept free of trash. I know you didn’t put the trash there. I didn’t put the potato chip bags in my front lawn, either. But I still have to pick them up. And it’s not acceptable to sweep the trash from the sidewalk into the street, where it continues to create a mess. People! Take some pride! We’ve all heard the stories--and some remember firsthand, when Hamtramck was considered the cleanest city in the state. People tell me all the time with a shake of their head how their neighbors would be out trimming the grass with scissors. How the lady across the street would scrub the steps on her hands and knees. This was one of the ways Hamtramck distinguished itself and expressed its pride of place. We should be no less proud of our city today, and surely we can take a few minutes a day to show that pride. It’s good excercise, a good opportunity for your family to pull together, and it’s contagious. Day by day, yard by yard, house by house and business by business, street by street and neighborhood by neighborhood, our collective efforts add up to a visible, viable, difference. But it truly is an ongoing project in which we all have a necessary part.
 
While we’re on the subject of public safety and quality of life, there are a few other efforts I want to mention. One is Safe Routes to Schools, a federal program that the city has been working on since last year, under the initiative of Mayor Pro Tem Scott Klein and with the encouragement of the Cities of Promise and the administrative assistance of ACCESS, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. Safe Routes to Schools brings together the city, police, Hamtramck Public Schools with the various charter schools, and other agencies to make safer and healthier--for body and spirit--the neighborhoods schoolchildren must traverse. Our application for federal funding under this program will be submitted later this month. On a related note, the city has hired eight school crossing guards to safeguard our children as they go to and from school. And the Police Department has collaborated with the schools in an overtime program to keep after school violence to a minimum.
 
New personnel and new task forces have also expanded the Police Department’s ability to respond to crime. Besides hiring five new officers, a special assignment “street crimes officer” answers our anonymous tip lline, and a Special Response Team has been trained to conduct high risk drug raids and respond professionally to school or civil disturbances. In addition, all police vehicles are now equipped with state of the art video cameras.The Weed and Seed program has continued to bring monies and technological resources to our city to combat crime and build community, and the department continues to work closely with Weed and Seed to establish and educate block clubs throughout Hamtramck. With auto theft remaining a problem, the auto theft officers have established a program whereby residents can purchase a “club” theft protection device at cost. The department has also taken a no holds barred aproach to narcotics, conducting over a dozen raids that resulted in numerous arrests and the seizure of money, vehicles, and property. The Weed and Seed grant will run for several more years, and the department is also investigating the possibility of working in conjunction with federal agencies to sweep Hamtramck and surrounding areas of all violent wanted offenders. These collaborations strengthen our department and make our community safer. The message has to be sent that if you do the crime in Hamtramck, someone will be watching, someone will report you, and you will be caught and prosecuted. The message has to be that people in Hamtramck watch out for their community and for each other, and that we’re not complacent or intimidated. This is a goal that it is the our responsibility of all of us to build on and reinforce every day.
 
Regarding Public Safety, the Fire Department has also been rebuilding: 4 new firefighters have been added in the past year, bringing the total to 14 new hires since the last union contract for a total of 30 firefighters, 1 chief, and 1 fire marshal. The fire house roof has been repaired and new furnaces and air conditioning units installed , while breathing equipment for firefirghters was also updated. And finally, a new fire pumper has been budgeted.
 
The city’s informational infrastructure has also been revamped in the past year, with more improvements coming. This has resulted in a new web site that, while still a work in progress, is now functioning and provides a foundation on which to build. The city’s computer networking and email systems have all been reconfigured--this is the short version, because the actual improvements to the computer and phone networks take up pages--so that we are at last creating the logical and functional system that we should have had years ago. As we continue building this system, the goal is for our web site to be a real portal to our community, its people, history, activities, and municipal services, and include the ability to pay bills electronically. Hamtramck is sometimes perceived as a throwback to an earlier time in America, but that perception should result from our traditional downtown and neighborhoods, not our technological backwardness.
 
The Hamtramck Downtown Development Authority has also been hard at work on the initiatives outlined in its development plan. At long last, the watering system in the Jos. Campau planter boxes has been fixed, and the DDA is continuing with a plan for planter box maintenance and trash and grafitti removal. Several businesses will be sprucing up their storefronts in the next year with the help of the DDA’s facade improvement grants. And the Business Assistance Team, consisting of professionals in marketing, finance, and local government is slated to begin meeting free of charge with businesses in search of expert advice. The DDA will continue to expand its efforts to decorate Jos. Campau for the holidays, and also be taking a more active role in expanding events associated with that premier Hamtramck holiday, Paczki Day. So be prepared to party in February 2009. It will only get bigger.
 
The Hamtramck Economic Development Corporation, which was formed in 2007 for the purpose of facilitating intergovernmental, interagency, and business cooperation for economic growth, has been  meeting regularly and this year will complete its strategic planning process, outlining future initiatives. The overlapping Hamtramck Brownfield Redevelopment Authority allows developers to come directly to the city for review and approval of their brownfield plans, rather than go through Wayne County. It has already reviewed three plans, and promises to be even more active beginning this fall, when the city receives  $400,000 in brownfield assessment grant funds from the Environmental Protection Agency. This money will allow the HBRA to conduct environmental assessments, which will be a great incentive for developers looking at some of our most troubled properties.
 
On a related note, in conjunction with the DDA’s participation in the National Brownfield Conference, held in May, a busload of participants from around the country toured Hamtramck with special emphasis on several of our environmentally compromised properties, particularly the BASF site at Caniff and I-75. By being proactive and engaged in a larger professional discourse throughout the year, city officials and administrators are making sure that Hamtramck’s issues are not overlooked. We are always at the table, we are always building relationships, and we are always ready to advocate for our city, whether with other elected and appointed officials, with representatives of organizations and agencies, or with business owners and potential developers.
 
And speaking of development, I know you all have many questions, especially about the Shoppers World site. As you know, the store has stood empty for several years now, a scar on our business district. For some time the city and the state have been working with the only developer who has seriously pursued this site, and we are at long last nearlng completion of the steps necessary for its redevelopment. The entire block is slated for demolition, funded by a grant from MSHDA--the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and an attractive new building is planned with an Aldi’s grocery store and 3 smaller storefronts on the first level, and 3 stories of affordable housing for seniors above. This development conforms to the urban nature of our community. It anchors this vital property with a stable, internationally-successful company while also providing opportunities for smaller-scale retail or service-based businesses. In addition, the housing component will put more residents in our downtown and more eyes on our street, which  will contribute to our economic stability and be a deterent to crime. I am convinced that this is a positive project for Hamtramck: that it will fulfill the needs of our residents for quality, affordable food without competing with the specialty shops for which Hamtramck is known, and that it will enhance the appearance and viability of our business district and spur new business.
 
You may also have heard rumors about the redevelopment of the Woody Pontiac building. Negotiations are in progress with a potential user of this site, about which you will be hearing more concrete information as plans solidify. The project as it stands now would also involved demolition and reconstruction, and we are especially hopeful about this project because it would help with the revitalization of the north end of Jos. Campau, which must also be a priority to which we direct our attention in the year ahead.
 
Part of this revitalization on the north end will no doubt be the long-awaited construction of the Polonaise Manor Townhouses on Mitchell Street. Construction will begin August 1, 2008, on seven three-story attached townhouses. While some have already been sold, several are still available, and it would be good to remember that there are special tax incentives for first-time homebuyers in Hamtramck who are recent college graduates. Please pass that word along to the young people you know who might qualify.
 
Last year we saw the renovation of an old social hall on the south end into the Unique Urban Space Live/Work Lofts. I’d like to plug that project again for potential homebuyers, and let you know about another lloft project that will begin this year. Plans are still in the early stages for the mixed-use renovation of the 5-story building on the corner of Belmont and Jos. Campau, with first-floor retail, including a restaurant, and living space above and in a new conjoined building across the alley. You will be hearing much more about this project as the summer goes on.
 
And I should mention a beautiful new building I’m sure you all watched go up on the important corner of Gallagher and Caniff, where 7 new storefronts, part of the Maine Street Plaza, are just now or will soon be opening for business. This project is also significant for its conformity to the urban flavor of our city, which is one of the qualities that will continue to make us attractive to newcomers. That area of Caniff is becoming more and more attractive, with Bozek’s butcher shop and grocery store reopening bigger and better than ever after a fire a couple of years ago, and with the expansion of the Al-Haramin fruit and vegetable market and the opening of another new fruit and vegetable market just down the block. But if I start singling out new businesses, I’m sure to leave some out, so I’ll just say that, while vacant storefronts are painfully noticeable, we are still managing, in this difficult economy, to provide opportunities for entrepreneurs. And no wonder: we have a viable business district, a growing population (and, I might stress, a population with a preference for shopping locally), several niche markets, and the highest residential density in the State of Michigan. We may not be as financially well-off as our neighbors in other suburbs, but there are a lot of us here, we attract a lot of visitors from other areas, and we are loyal to our local merchants.
 
While I’m on the subject of local businesses, though, I do need to remind you that two of our newest businesses have taken advantage of the opportunity we afforded in 2007 of sidewalk dining, so you can now sit outside and enjoy a beer at Celina’s or an enchilada at Maria’s Comida. I hope you’ll do both--remember that voting with your dollars is the best way to ensure that the kinds of businesses you want are able to thrive here. And I hope their initiative will inspire other bars and restaurants to open sidewalk cafe areas as well. Then I hope it gets a little cooler so we can actually stand to sit outside and enjoy them...
 
I’ve mentioned the Governor’s Cities of Promise program several times, and I’d like to outline a few other initiatives we’re pursuing through that program. One is the Hamtramck International Bazaar, held in the city parking lot at Caniff and McDougall on the fourth Saturday of the month, May through September. Tables are free to residents and local businesses, who can sell anytihing except cooked food. (I’m in the process of clearing stuff out of my basement, so you’ll see me with a table again on June 28.) The last Bazaar of the year, in September, will feature ethnic entertainment and special activities. This is a good chance for Hamtramckans to pick up a bargain, or make a few bucks, right here in our own back yard.
 
It was over two years ago now that I announced plans for a Hamtramck Historical Museum, which will form our Signature Project under the Cities of Promise initiative. While you may not have heard much about the museum plans lately, be assured that we are working harder than ever to make them a reality. We’ve met with representatives of community groups to refine our expectations and requirements, developed building speciifications, and scouted out several buildings in town as potential sites. We have now turned to the State for assistance in acquiring our building of choice. You will be hearing much more about this project soon, as we continue planning and begin fundraising. As you know, the Hamtramck Historical Museum is a cause to which I am committed heart and soul. Not only as an historian, but as someone convinced of the positive economic impact a museum is sure to bring. It will provide a destination for individual visitors and for tours--of which we already have many--and will be concrete evidence of our city’s unique and colorful history, a history that is a bellwether of America’s own continuing industrial, cultural, and social development.
 
Finally, one of the most important of the City of Promises initiatives in the long term is state funding of a new city Master Plan, which will include an Arts and Culture Plan that is proposed as a model for other communities. While we will be beginning work on the overall Master Plan and its several components later this year, the Arts and Culture Plan is starting to take shape with a committee of residents currently mapping our city’s cultural assets.
 
One of our most recognizable cultural assets is the Pope John Paul II statue at Belmont and Jos. Campau. For several years now, we have heard reports that the base of the statue is in disrepair. Several groups have proposed different solutions to the problem, with wildly different price tags, and some have collected funds for repair. But it’s been difficult to sort out the divergent assessments of the statue’s stability and to create a viable plan of action. That will soon change. In a few days I’ll be bringing together City officials, representatives of community groups who have already been working on this problem, and members of the Priests’ Council for Polish Affairs, which is a committee of the Archdiocese of Detroit, to assess the condition of the monument, develop a plan, and coordinate our collective effort to get the necessary work done. Our goal is to repair the statue by winter 2008. Ambitious, necessary, and do-able with everyone pulling together. As ambitious as the plans of HATCH, the Hamtramck Art Collective, which with their own musclepower are beginning their renovation of the old police headquarters, which they will be turning into an art incubator with gallery and studio space.
 
That IS the story of Hamtramck, isn’t it. We are a city of people who aren’t afraid to tackle hard jobs, who aren’t afraid to remake themselves--this is the real immigrant legacy, after all--who aren’t afraid of adversity on the path to a greater goal. And we ARE working on greater goals. While in the minds of some Hamtramck is stuck in a time warp--and some would prefer to keep it that way--the activities, programs, and projects I’ve only been able to briefly touch on today demonsrate that our eyes are focused clearly ahead, on a future Hamtramck that we believe in and are committed to building. On a Hamtramck that we’re not afraid to stand up for. But it will take more than a city council or a mayor or a city manager, more than a police force or a fire department, more than our city department staff, and appointed commissions; more even than the county or the state and their dollars to make a stand for Hamtramck. It will also take business; it will take faith communities; it will take media and educational institutions; it will take social service and cultural and political organizations; it will take your neighbors and your friends, and it will take you.
 
There is plenty of work to be done as we continue the difficult but gratifying work of building and maintaining our community. But I believe there are many willing spirits out there who want good for the city. I see it on my block every time someone sets flowers on their porch, and I see it all around the state every time someone’s eyes light up when I tell them I’m from Hamtramck. So what work can YOU set your hands and spirit to?
 
Here are some simple suggestions, not too troublesome and even fun: Plant some flowers--better yet, plant a tree; our streets will look a lot more beautiful and your house will stay cooler in the summer. Grow some tomatoes and share them with your neighbor. Sweep the street in front of your house once a week. Once a week, check out one local store or restaurant that you’ve never been to before, and buy something there, however small. Spend your money locally whenever possible. Leave your car at home and walk up to Campau. Check a book out of the Hamtramck Public Libary. Sit on your front porch one hour a week, and say hello to everyone who walks by. Learn to say hello in the language of your next door neighbor. Join your local block club. Go to a community event like the Taste of Hamtramck or a school band concert or a Hatch art opening. Attend a city council meeting. Vote.
 
These things sound almost too simple, almost simplistic. But they form the fabric of human community. They are the simple things that create societies, and civilization. They are what we build upon to make a liveable world. And for some of you I hope they will lead to other things--we are always looking for new community activists, for people to serve on our city commissions and committees and become public office holders. We are looking for YOU. And we are looking toward an exciting 2008 for OUR City of Hamtramck.