Ian Perrotta recall, Hamtramck, Michigan (2020-2021)
| Hamtramck City Council recall |
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| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2020 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Councilman Ian Perrotta did not qualify for the ballot in Hamtramck, Michigan. Perrotta later resigned in April 2021.[1]
According to the leader of the recall effort, Councilman Mohammed Hassan, organizers had collected more than the 1,300 required signatures as of November 2020.[2]
Recall organizers alleged that Perrotta acted abusively towards city employees and created a hostile work environment at city hall.[3] In response, Perrotta issued a statement, which can be found here.[4]
Recall supporters
Councilman Mohammed Hassan led the recall effort. The recall organizers alleged that Perrotta acted abusively towards city employees and created a hostile work environment. They also opposed Perrotta's accusations of voter fraud against Hamtramck residents in his statement responding to the recall effort, which can be found here. In a press release, recall organizers said:
| “ | Mr. Perrotta does not represent the diversity of Hamtramck. ... In fact, if you believe him, the only way any Bangla or Yemeni person is elected is through massive voter fraud. He actually said that at the last City Council meeting. Mr. Perrotta gives voice to the darkest corners of American politics, and we have to stand against him.[2][5] | ” |
Councilman Hassan explained his support for the recall effort.
| “ | As a matter of principal, elected officials do not support recalls. [sic] ... But Mr. Perrotta is a special case. He had shown, repeatedly, an inability to contain his anger. This has created an unsafe environment in City Hall and in our community.[3][5] | ” |
Recall opponents
Perrotta posted the following response to the recall effort on his Facebook page on October 13, 2020.[4]
At tonight's Hamtramck City Council meeting I addressed the recall effort against me. This is the text of what I said:
In light of the fact that ballot language to recall me from my position on the Hamtramck City Council was approved last week I am forced to address the issue. I only care to address this once, but with the recall process being the way that it is residents of Hamtramck may have to consider the question twice – once when they see it as a petition attempting to garner enough support to get the recall on the ballot, and if that works then again on the ballot itself.
I’m honestly not worried about the outcome. I know I’m fit for office, and I know I’m a good representative of the city. The reason I’m not worried about the outcome is because I know that it’s not the real question that is on the ballot, and while there is always a possibility that the recall might succeed, it won’t be for any actual merit. Instead, if the recall succeeds, it will be because the real question – are you an independent thinker and voter, or do you just do as you’re told – has been answered in an unfortunate way.
For all of us who have been paying attention, it’s no big secret there is a lot of questionable voting activity that happens in this city. Actually, it’s not even a small secret, or one at all. Absentee votes are essentially harvested by candidates. Someone who has pretended to be important for long enough that others listen to them says that everyone has to vote a certain way, and that’s what happens. Sometimes the ballots are all filled out by the same person and arrive in a stack overnight in the drop box. The activity has become somewhat more clandestine since the arrest of a few participants some years back, but make no mistake it is still happening.
That’s why I’m not worried about the outcome. Because in reality it is so absurd that there is a recall effort against me that the only way it could possibly succeed is due to widespread voter fraud. Those who are behind this effort have proven time and time again to be shady and manipulative, and this is just the latest in a series of attempts going back years to silence my voice, destroy my reputation, and distract the public from the real issues at hand. The reason for the recall is “In the span of 2 years, Ian Perrotta has been censured twice for creating a hostile work enviroment [sic].” This is not an inaccurate statement, but that in and of itself does not validate the censures it refers to. I addressed the first censure at length when it was brought against me, and to reiterate for the record, it was me who was assaulted at that council meeting, and I filed a police report immediately after. The fact that members of the Hamtramck City Council who had a political motivation to attack me by censure ultimately did so by accusing me without evidence of creating a hostile work environment and engaging in abusive and assaultive behavior does not make the allegations true.
As for the latest censure, I have accepted responsibility for my actions and admitted my fault. Earlier in the summer a building project that is necessary for my business to survive during coronavirus restrictions was first approved by the city then denied under pretenses not originally applied, and when I was notified by a phone call and without any cited zoning ordinance I temporarily lost my cool and yelled and swore at the person who told me this. I’m not proud of what I did, but I immediately recognized it was wrong, apologized, and the issue was resolved. It wasn’t until months later that it was brought back up, and ironically it has been the attempt to use the interaction against me that has actually led to a hostile work environment – not the initial interaction itself.
So, who am I beyond these two censures? What actions have I done that should speak louder than the words of others? At heart I am just a guy trying to make it in the world while doing the right thing. When I first came to Hamtramck it was because I was attracted to the international diversity the city had to offer and amazed at the affordability. I attempted to start a non-profit to rehab houses and give them away, and when that didn’t work in 2010 I turned my attention to fixing up Historic Hamtramck Stadium. This decade-long-effort has garnered worldwide attention to the site and city and the result will truly be one of the crowning achievements of public-private partnerships and will serve as a bellwether for projects to come. During the first part of the last decade I purchased and rehabbed over a dozen houses in my neighborhood, and ultimately I sold them to the people who were renting them for no money down and a payment that was equal to the monthly rental amount. I also bought property for other people in the neighborhood so it wouldn’t get scooped up by speculators, and in one instance purchased a house for a complete stranger because I saw it in the tax auction and didn’t want him to lose his house of 20 years.
If it was up to me that part of my life would probably still be going on. However, the same sense of duty that compelled me to join the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department while in college came back, only it involved helping family instead of strangers. Though she was young and would ultimately never reach 60, my mom had Alzheimer’s disease and after years of it getting progressively worse by 2014 I gave up everything that I worked for in order to move back in with my parents to help with her care indefinitely. Her health declined over the next year, and as it became apparent that the end was near I started looking toward the next horizon.
That horizon ended up being back in Hamtramck, and the proceeds from the houses I sol allowed my brother and I to purchase what would become Trixie’s Bar, named in honor of my mom’s memory. Around the same time I was also appointed to the Hamtramck City Council (I had the next highest amount of votes in the previous election), and a few months later I was accepted to law school with a full scholarship.
And that is basically what I did for the last five years. I built a business that offered a low-cost way for people to enjoy themselves and experience a wide range of live entertainment. I went through three years of law school, passed the bar, and have taken steps to begin practice. I am just four credits away from graduating Level 3 of the Michigan Municipal League’s Elected Officials Academy and during my time in office I have made every effort to make things better for our residents. To that end, I have brought transparency to the office of city council and the activities we conduct, held corporations and contractors accountable – like DTE when they left our sidewalks torn up for months – and made sure progress is being made on major infrastructure projects like the Sewer Relief Program. I list these accomplishments not to brag, but to remind voters of the person they would lose if this recall effort goes through. Make no mistake, either way I will land on my feet. I am hard working, capable, and despite what the people trying to recall me would have you think, an overall decent person. I don’t know that the same can be said for the members of the Hamtramck City Council that would remain or who would potentially replace me should I leave.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. I’m not going to campaign against this recall effort. I’m not going to beg for your support. It’s not my dignity on the ballot, it’s yours. But know this: the decision you make today will have consequences tomorrow. I’m not the only person that’s qualified to represent this city, but if a recall like this goes through I might be the last person who is qualified for the job that actually signs up to do it. And we have all seen what the person elected to the highest office in the land is capable of doing when they aren’t qualified for the job and they go unchecked. Do you really think some worthless politician holding local office isn’t capable of the same type of despicable behavior? The choice is up to you.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Organizers were required to collect signatures "equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the last general election in the electoral district of the official sought to be recalled."[3] According to Councilman Mohammed Hassan, organizers had collected more than the 1,300 required signatures as of November 2020.[2]
The recall election did not qualify for the ballot; Perrotta later resigned in April 2021.[1]
See also
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2020
- City council recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Hamtramck Review, "Councilman resigns in a fit of anger," April 16, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Arab American News, "Enough signatures gathered for recall election of Hamtramck Councilman Ian Perrotta," October 30, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Arab American News, "Hamtramck Council petition aims to recall Councilman Ian Perrotta," September 22, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Facebook, "Ian Perrotta," October 13, 2020
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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