Hamtramck Star

thanks for the results

this site is greeeeeeeeeeat

i love it

Why did proposal 4 fail? ...Please don't respond by saying more people voted against it - that's obvious.

Because it was considered a “gay rights” ordinance.

http://hamtramckstar.com/index.php/housing-discrimination-ballot-measure

In a way, this was an example of grassroots organizing. Seemingly no one said a word about it (except occasional comments on blogs) when seemingly out of nowhere Fr Andrew Wesley put together opposition base on the "gay rights" part of the ordinance. Sure, outside organizations were involved, but largely due to opposition from the Bengali community - the proposition failed to pass.

Well it wasn't really out of nowhere.

Unlike our anti-profiling ordinance (which includes protections for GLTBs), this ordinance was deliberately represented as a "gay rights ordinance" by Klein to the media for political gain.

If he'd kept his mouth shut, it'd have likely never been challenged. But Solidarity intended a political firestorm and to involve people from outside Hamtramck.

Seems like Scott Klein has learned somewhat

http://www.hamtramckcitizen.com/news/11-6-08-city-councilmember-scott-klein-answers-his-critics

I don't think Solidarity thought a political firestorm would have been in their best interests though and really seemed to be generally surprised by it. Interesting comments with this site too.

Sorry, someday I'll learn how to make web addresses click able :)

Only we can make links to prevent spam. We try to add them as we see them, but feel free to send me a note if I forget.

[albin, no worries, we don't allow commenters to make links. Too hard for the spammers to resist. I marked it up for ya.]

Solidarity did think it would be in their best interest.

They created the controversy around the call to prayer when none was necessary. No action from council was needed to allow the call, but they seized on it as an opportunity to further their political careers.

This is the same. Create a huge controversy around which to rally new supporters. It's necessary for their political survival since their support is waning.

At the rally in front of city hall, I heard someone from Hamtramck United say "we gave you the call to prayer".

The mosque should have never asked permission and the city should have never tried to regulate religious sounds.

Thanks for responding. Greatly appreciated.