Hamtramck city clerk fired for "partisan punching bags" found in office, officials say

Nearly four months after the tightly contested mayoral race, the Hamtramck city clerk is now out of the job. 

On Tuesday, leaders announced former City Clerk Rana Faraj was fired due to what they call "the discovery of partisan punching bags featuring candidates' faces inside the Clerk's office," which violates Michigan state law that requires non-partisan neutrality in city offices.

"We were waiting on legal counsel's advice, and they advised us to proceed forward with the termination," said Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi.

Last November, Faraj spoke before the Wayne County Board of Canvassers about a 37-vote discrepancy following the tabulation of ballots on election night. Faraj testified that she immediately reported the issue to the county, and she was placed on paid leave soon after the uncounted absentee ballots were found.

While officials say this was done as a precaution, her attorney says they plan to move forward with their lawsuit on her behalf.

"They hired a private firm to do an investigation and then came up with a loaded reason to justify terminating her. The decision was already made, clearly, and it's the same old story in Hamtramck," said attorney Jon Marko.

This comes months after Marko's other client, former Hamtramck City Manager Max Garbarino, was fired in connection with an election fraud investigation. Marko says a lawsuit in that case is still pending.

Garbarino was fired after he placed former Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri on leave for alleged misconduct. The council then suspended Garbarino pending an investigation. He was later terminated after a 59-page report from Miller Johnson concluded that he failed to act quickly in suspending Altaheri and another officer after learning of the misconduct allegations.

"This is the same old playbook. Literally, you would think that they would be a little more original," he said.

While the investigation began before his term, Alharbi says his administration passed resolutions to address voter fraud and residency requirements, as they work to find the next person to run the Clerk's office.

"We're doing the best we can to make sure that now, the city is moving in the right direction, in that no such issues happen in the future, and we're very optimistic on that," said Alharbi.