Mohammed Hameeduddin

Mohammed Hameeduddin (born c. 1973) is a former American politician and the Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey.[1][2] He was elected on July 1, 2010, in a 5–2 vote by the non-partisan township council.[3] The son of immigrants from Hyderabad, India,[3] Hameeduddin is the first Muslim-American to be elected mayor in Bergen County, and one of a few Muslims to hold the office of mayor in the United States.[4]

Mohammed Hameeduddin
Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey
In office
July 1, 2016 – July 1, 2020
Preceded byElie Katz
Succeeded byJim Dunleavy
Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey
In office
July 1, 2010 – July 1, 2014
Preceded byKevie Feit
Succeeded byLizette Parker
Personal details
Born1973 (age 47–48)
The Bronx, New York
Spouse(s)Faiza Poshni
ResidenceTeaneck, New Jersey

On July 1, 2016, Hameeduddin was again elected Mayor of Teaneck by the town council following the death of Mayor Lizette Parker in April.[5] His term of service ended July 1, 2020.

Biography

Early life and education

Hameeduddin was born to an Indian Muslim family from Hyderabad in The Bronx, New York City.[6][7] He moved to Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1981 with his family.[7] He attended Emerson Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin Middle School in the Teaneck Public Schools before graduating from Teaneck High School.[7] He then attended Rutgers University for two-and-a-half years.[7]

He owns and operates the HW Title Agency in nearby Hackensack, New Jersey.[7]

Political career

The township's deputy mayor, Adam Gussen, an Orthodox Jew, had attended primary school, Teaneck High School and Rutgers University with Hameeduddin.[8] Hameeduddin told the New Jersey Jewish News the pair first met in middle school, in grade six, when they were both sent to their school's principal's office for different infractions.[9]

His election sparked media attention to the diversity of Teaneck's population.[4][10]

Hameeduddin had been Teaneck's first Muslim councilmember when he was elected to a four-year term on the Township Council in 2008.[11] On May 8, 2012, Hameeduddin was re-elected as Mayor of Teaneck with 4,374 votes.

Scholars and journalists have chosen to quote and comment on Hameeduddin's term as mayor.[12][13][14][15][16]

During the summer of 2010 the conversion of a building in Manhattan to a mosque triggered controversy for some Americans, because it was less than a mile from the site where the World Trade Center towers had been brought down, with great loss of life, by hijacked airliners piloted by Muslim extremists. On August 16, 2010, Gwen Ifill of the PBS Newshour tried to moderate a discussion between Hameeduddin and Rick Lazio a former member of the US Congress and candidate for Governor of New York, over the "Ground Zero Mosque".[12] The discussion grew acrimonious, very acrimonious by PBS standards, and Ifill felt she should write about how the acrimonious discussion escaped her control to moderate the next day.[13]

Australian scholars, comparing how American television and Australian television marked the tenth anniversary of al Qaeda's attack of 9-11, chose to quote Hameeduddin.[14] Hameeduddin's comment was originally broadcast on the Seven Network as a response to anti-Muslim retaliations:

We're Muslim Americans, we're neighbors, we're politicians, we're doctors, we're lawyers. You know we're teachers. We're part of the American fabric. And to single us out and to put out these bills that are unconstitutional, saying you can't practise your religion, and anti-sharia bills and things like that—these Pavlovian triggers that the Islamophobes are very good at putting out there. That's something that our community really, ... I'd say we are hurt by.[14]

Tina Susman, reporting in the Los Angeles Times also chose to quote Hameeduddin, in its coverage of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy.[17] She noted how he described how some politicians focussed on Muslims, when "looking for a wedge issue." She also noted the high regard his Jewish colleagues apparently felt for him, quoting Elie Katz, who joked Hameeduddin encouraged him to be a better Jew, when he knew Katz was missing attending synagogue.

Hameeduddin was included in a list of prominent Muslim office-holders in "Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims".[15] The other six individuals offered as examples were Congressional Representatives or Presidential appointees.

In "Uncle Swamy" Vijay Prashad described the struggles individuals of South Asian ethnic heritage have engaged in to be accepted more fully into the mainstream of American life.[18] He praised Teaneck city council for passing a "far-sighted anti-bias resolution" under Hameeduddin's leadership.

In December 2011 CBS News quoted Hameeduddin in a report about a general problem in New Jersey.[19] Hameeduddin told Levon Putney that in 2008 five deputy fire chiefs retired, telling the city they were each owed a substantial payout for unused sick-pay. He said that the officials had been trusted to keep track of their own sick-pay. Teaneck closed this loophole for its own officials. But in 2011 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called for an end to local officials keeping track of their own sick pay.

In March 2013 Hameedudin was chosen to appear in a panel at the Wilson Center, entitled "American Muslim Local Officials: Challenges and Opportunities".[20]

Hameeduddin participated as one of three Muslim celebrity judges during the "Crescent Foods Cooking Challenge" at the "Sameer's Eats Halal Food Tour" in July 2013. Four cooking teams were challenged to prepare a halal meal with mystery ingredients.[21]

Second tenure as mayor (2016–2020)

Incumbent Mayor Lizette Parker unexpectedly died in office on April 24, 2016. Deputy Mayor Elie Katz assumed the role of acting mayor until Parker's permanent successor could be elected by the town council.[22][23]

On July 1, 2016, the Teaneck town council elected Mohammed Hameeduddin as the new mayor of Teaneck, marking his second tenure as head of the township.[5] He was sworn into office by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop later that same day.[5] His term ended July 1, 2020 as he opted to not run for re-election to the council.

References
  1. Peter Applehome (2010-07-07). "Brotherhood and Politics, Consorting!". New York Times. Teaneck, NJ. p. A18. Archived from the original on 2014-03-24. And, on balance, that's probably the bottom line: a Muslim, who first got involved in local politics when his mosque was planning to expand, was picked by his fellow town council members, 5-to-2, as the town's new mayor on July 1.
  2. Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin's page on Teaneck, New Jersey's website
  3. Applebome, Peter (7 July 2010). "Our Towns: Brotherhood and Politics, Consorting!". New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  4. Ax, Joseph. "Teaneck's diversity showcased in new council makeup", The Record (Bergen County), July 6, 2010. Accessed September 12, 2011. "And no one denies that Hameeduddin and Gussen — who became friends as middle school students and graduated from Teaneck High School together in the class of 1991 — share a number of political positions, including a reputation for being budget hawks. ... Hameeduddin's election to the mayoral post — he is the first Muslim mayor in Bergen County and one of only a handful in the state's history — has energized the town's growing Muslim community."
  5. Alfaro, Alyana (2016-07-01). "Hameeduddin Sworn in as New Teaneck Mayor". New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  6. http://www.newsindiatimes.com/muslim-mayor
  7. Prosnitz, Howard (2012-04-26). "Meet Council candidates running for a seat". Teaneack Suburbanite. Teaneck Public Library. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  8. Dwyer, Devin (6 July 2010). "N.J. Town Picks Muslim for Mayor, Orthodox Jew as Deputy". ABC News. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  9. Debra Rubin (2011-09-19). "Rutgers event stresses ties among Muslims, Jews". New Jersey Jewish News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2014-03-22. Gussen said the idea of a Muslim and Orthodox Jew in the top leadership roles is not seen as quite the phenomenon in ethnically and religiously diverse Teaneck as it might be in other parts of the country. "Family and friends are important to both of us," he said. "All the meaningful things we have in common. The things we differ on are really the meaningless things."
  10. Lipowsky, Josh. "Muslim mayor and Jewish deputy highlight Teaneck’s diversity", Jewish Standard, July 9, 2010. Accessed September 12, 2011.
  11. Ax, Joe. "Teaneck's council get first ever Muslim member", The Record (Bergen County), July 1, 2008. Accessed September 12, 2011. "Mohammed Hameeduddin, a Bronx native who grew up in Teaneck, was sworn in as the council's first Muslim member Tuesday, in what could be a seminal moment in the history of the town's Muslim community."
  12. Valerie Elverton Dixon (2012). Just Peace Theory Book One: Spiritual Morality, Radical Love, and the Public Conversation. iUniverse. ISBN 9781475952629. Retrieved 2014-03-21. New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, a former congressmember, appeared on the August 16 edition of PBS Newshour along with Teaneck, New Jersey Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin to discuss the mosque and community center.
  13. Gwen Ifill (2010-08-19). "An Unplanned Aberration: A peek behind the curtain at the PBS NewsHour". PBS Newshour. Retrieved 2014-03-21. The second guest was Mohammed Hameeduddin, the mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey. A Democrat and a Muslim, he actually attended the Ramadan dinner where the President made his first remarks. He, too, had been quoted on the topic and was supportive of the President and the project.
  14. Jacqui Ewart; Halim Rane (2013). "The framing of 9/11 and Australian television's framing of the tenth anniversary" (PDF). Communications, Politics and Culture. p. 13. Retrieved 2014-03-21. The story was framed so as to elicit some degree of identification, sympathy and understanding from audiences. In this regard, Teaneck, New Jersey, Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin (a Muslim) was featured stating:
  15. Marc Schneier, Imam Shamsi Ali, Bill Clinton, Samuel G. Freedman (2013). Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807033081. Retrieved 2014-03-21. We have two Muslim members of Congress, Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andre Carson of Indiana. In Teaneck, New Jersey there is a Muslim mayor and an Orthodox Jewish vice mayor, Adam Gussein, who have been friends for many years. kCS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Anne Norton (2013). On the Muslim Question. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691157047. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  17. Tina Susman (2010-09-09). "Muslim mayor focuses on bread-and-butter issues". Los Angeles Times. Teaneck, NJ. Retrieved 2014-03-21. Everybody's looking for someone to blame," said Hameeduddin, who blames a fear of the future for some Americans' current obsession with trouncing Islam. "You have an economy in very bad shape. You have an oil well that we couldn't cap for months. Everyone is looking for a wedge issue.
  18. Vijay Prashad (5 April 2013). "Uncle Swamy". HarperCollins Publishers India. ISBN 9789350299067. Retrieved 2014-03-21. In the summer for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, SAALT conducted an 'America for All of Us' campaign that resulted in the passage in Teaneck, New Jersey, of a far-sighted anti-bias resolution by the city council, under the leadership of its mayor, Mohammed Hameeduddin.
  19. Levon Putney (2011-12-08). "Gov. Christie Calls For End To Unused Sick Time Payouts". CBS News. Retrieved 2014-03-23. When Teaneck mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin was on the township council in 2008, he says five fire deputy chiefs retired and turned in papers for payouts for unused sick time. That's when he says others told him, "'Now we have to do an emergency appropriation for a half a million dollars.'."
  20. "American Muslim Local Officials: Challenges and Opportunities". Wilson Center. 2013-03-13. Archived from the original on 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  21. "Crescent Foods Cooking Challenge: New York/New Jersey". Crescent Foods. 2013-06-28. Archived from the original on 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2014-03-23. Our celebrity judges include Sameer S. Sarmast, Executive Producer of Sameer's Eats, Ibtihaj Muhammad, member of the US Fencing Team and the first Muslim woman to represent the US in international competition, and Mohammed Hameeduddin, Mayor of Teaneck, NJ.
  22. Ma, Myles (2016-03-29). "Lizette Parker, groundbreaking mayor of Teaneck, dies at 44". NJ.com. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  23. Ma, Myles (2016-04-25). "Teaneck mourns sudden death of 44-year-old mayor". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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