Hamtramck — Hamtramck’s mayor is suing the City Council and asking a judge to reverse the governing body’s decision to fire the city’s manager.
Mayor Adam Alharbi alleged in a lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court on Monday that the council disregarded the city charter, as well as Michigan’s Open Meetings Act laws and the Michigan Constitution, in pushing through a last-minute addition to the June 9 meeting regarding the termination of City Manager Adel Al-Adlani.
The council then voted 4-2 on June 9 to fire Al-Adlani, who was hired in February. The vote followed a lengthy shouting match involving Alharbi and council member Mohammed Hassan, who was the most vocal council member in favor of firing Al-Adlani.
Alharbi filed the suit “save the taxpayers of the City of Hamtramck from having to bear the burden of defending Defendants’ unreasonable conduct,” according to the complaint filed in Circuit Court.
During a Monday afternoon press conference in front of city hall, Alharbi said he still wasn’t sure why the council wanted to fire Al-Adlani and said the two of them had had a good working relationship since the city manager was hired in February.
Alharbi and his attorney, Nabih Ayad, were joined at the press conference by Councilman Nayeem Choudhury, who voted against the firing. Choudhury said he also was unsure exactly why his colleagues wanted Al-Adlani fired. But he suspected it had to do with “personal agendas.”
“They asked for something, and the city manager would not do it because of the city charter, or he followed the rules. (He was fired) for that, maybe,” Choudhury said.
The council members who voted to fire Al-Adlani have declined to provide a direct reason for their action. Councilman Youself Saed said during the meeting that the city manager had racked up numerous violations during his few months working at city hall, but didn’t outline what they were.
Yousef said the council did not illegally bypass the charter, but instead suspended the rules, a relatively common procedural tool used when officials want to take up an item immediately rather than wait for a future meeting or follow the normal agenda process.
“The Council voted to make a change in leadership. It was lawful, it followed our rules of procedure, and it did not need the Mayor’s permission,” Yousef wrote in a social media post.
The mayor is asking a Wayne County judge to void the council’s resolution to terminate Al-Adlani. Failing to do so, he said, would open the city to yet another lawsuit. The city’s former clerk, former city manager, a former police officer and a former council member who lost a contentious mayoral election all have litigation pending against the city.
“We have, already, enough lawsuits on hand,” Alharbi said.
The mayor and his attorney noted that Hassan, the council member who was the most outspoken in pushing through Al-Adlani’s termination, has a trial scheduled for June 29 on felony charges related to election fraud.
“It is appalling to me that an individual that’s already allegedly violated the state laws with voter fraud … has the cajónes to try to violate the law again in the city of Hamtramck,” Ayad said.
The vote to fire the city manager came during the June 9 council meeting, where city leaders bickered about procedural rules and Al-Adlani’s performance, though none of the council members provided a direct reason for his dismissal.
Saed, who voted in favor of termination, said Al-Adlani had racked up more than 20 violations during his five-month tenure, though he did not explain the nature of the violations.
Saed said that “from Day 1,” Al-Adlani showed he was not fit or qualified for the job, according to a video recording of the meeting shared by the Hamtramck Public Library.
“Instead of working with the system, he worked against the system,” Saed said.
Al-Adlani has not responded to requests for comment.
Hassan held up a thick packet of papers during the meeting and said that anyone who wanted to know more about the council’s action could file a Freedom of Information Act request.
Al-Adlani was hired in February following a month-long search that began when former City Manager Max Garbarino was fired in August 2025, following the release of an explosive investigative report that contained alarming findings against then-Police Chief Jameil Altaheri, who was suspended and ultimately resigned.
After Garbarino was terminated, the city’s chief financial officer, Aamir Ahsan, filled in as acting city manager until October, when Alex Lagrou, an assistant city prosecutor, was appointed interim city manager. With the departure of Al-Adlani, Ahsan is again acting manager.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Hamtramck mayor asks judge to reverse council’s firing of city manager
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Max Reinhart, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
