Small Michigan town ousts entire township board that supported building plant for China-based company

A small town in a rural region of Michigan has just voted to recall five members of its governing board who repeatedly ignored local opposition to building a plant for a Chinese company.

Green Charter Township is a small town of about 3,200 people located in central Michigan, less than an hour north of Grand Rapids. This week, residents of Green Charter voted overwhelmingly for a change in leadership after its township board continually supported building a plant for Gotion Inc.

Gotion makes batteries for electric vehicles. While Gotion is headquartered in Silicon Valley, it also has a parent company in China.

In December 2020, all seven members of the Green Charter Township Board agreed to a $2 billion deal with Gotion, largely because of the prospect of thousands of new jobs. But area residents immediately opposed the plant, expressing concerns about negative effects on the environment and potential communist infiltration.

While the spread of communism may sound far-fetched, corporate documents explicitly require Gotion to "set up a party organization and carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist Party of China" and "ensure necessary conditions for carrying out party activities."

"China is our number-one enemy!" one angry resident yelled at a board meeting last spring.

"My family members fought communism, and you’re bringing it right here," said another.

Over the past several months, Green Charter residents amassed enough signatures to force a recall election for board members, who otherwise would face re-election in 2024.

Tensions between board members and residents reached such a peak this year that two board members, James Peek and Gary Todd, already resigned their positions. On Tuesday, more than 1,000 Green Charter residents showed up to cast their ballots to oust the other five: Trustees Dale Jernstadt and Roger Carroll; Clerk Janet Clark; Treasurer Denise MacFarlane; and Supervisor James Chapman.

Jason Kruse defeated Chapman with a whopping 60% of the vote, and Jeff Thorne defeated Jernstadt with 62%. By comparison, Kelly Cushway's 57% victory over Carroll looks relatively close. Corri Riebow beat Clark for the clerk position with 53%, and Robert Henderson also received 53% to beat MacFarlane for the treasurer spot.

Bill Stanek, the supervisor of nearby Big Rapids Township, also lost a recall vote to challenger Carman Bean.

Many voters told reporters that they were bothered both by the prospect of a CCP-based plant and by board members repeatedly ignoring the people's concerns. "I'm voting because our elected representatives decided they weren't going to represent us and they were going to make decisions on their own wishes, and I think they forget who they represent," said Ross Meads.

Kruse, the supervisor-elect, promised to hit the ground running once he is sworn in, but at least in the quote provided by Big Rapids News, he made no mention of the Gotion plant.

"The first order of business is to make sure that the township is running well and stays operating appropriately with all of its daily functions, and that has to do with taxes and those types of things," Kruse said. "We'll be handling the day-to-day functions at first, and then we will be looking at populating an agenda for the upcoming meeting."

"We are just happy that we were able to reclaim the voice of the people for the township, and our first priorities are going to be getting the finances in order," Riebow added.

Kruse, Riebow, and others either implement the will of the people immediately or, like their predecessors, face the wrath of the voters. All board members will be up for re-election next year.

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