Hamtramck council names Abu Musa mayor pro tem; approves alley closure and Main Street support

Council members present at a brief Sept. meeting on Sept. 9 appointed Councilman Abu Musa as mayor pro tem and approved a temporary alley closure for an alley activation event and a resolution supporting a Michigan Main Street application.

The council’s action matters because the mayor pro tem fills a chair vacancy noted at the start of the meeting and the two resolutions clear short-term community events and a downtown economic-development application. The Main Street application could make the city eligible for future grant and technical-assistance opportunities; the alley closure allows a neighborhood activation tied to recent public-rights-of-way improvements.

With four council members present, a motion to appoint Abu Musa as mayor pro tem passed without recorded opposition after a second and a short voice vote. The council then approved Resolution 2025-108, authorizing a temporary alley closure between Goodson Street and Veterans Park for a two-hour alley activation on Sept. 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The council also adopted Resolution 2025-109, a letter of support from council for the Hamtramck Downtown Development Authority’s application to become a “Select” community in the Michigan Main Street program. The council discussed outreach to roughly 150 downtown businesses as part of the application effort.

Other routine items on the consent agenda — including approval of minutes and an invoice register dated 09/09/2025 — were approved by voice vote earlier in the meeting.

The meeting record shows brief discussion of the city’s general liability insurance renewal. Staff described the policy renewal with MMRMA as an annual renewal and said the total premium and related self-insured fund contribution were now “over $400,000” (staff cited an approximate figure of $401,000) and characterized the change from recent years as a modest net difference compared with a peak two years earlier of about $700,000. The transcript contains discussion of a roughly 3% year-over-year change; no final council vote on the renewal appears in the provided record.

The council recessed into a closed session later in the meeting; the public record in the transcript does not show subsequent votes from that closed session.

Votes at a glance: - Appointment of Abu Musa as mayor pro tem — motion moved and seconded; voice vote in favor; outcome: approved (unanimous among members present). - Resolution 2025-108 (temporary alley closure, Goodson Street/Veterans Park; alley activation Sept. 30, 5–7 p.m.) — motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. - Resolution 2025-109 (support for Michigan Main Street application) — motion and second recorded; outcome: approved. - Consent agenda (minutes and invoice register dated 09/09/2025) — approved by voice vote.

The meeting was short and procedural; no further formal actions on the insurance renewal or other long-term budget items are recorded in the supplied transcript.