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1 year ago
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Town leaders in Michigan who kicked out their predecessors in a seismic vote over plans to bring a Chinese-linked factory to their rural idyll have blasted claims that the project is a 'done deal' as 'hogwash'.
Last week, Green Charter Township's five incumbent board members were voted out in a recall election after they backed proposals by Chinese-owned firm Gotion for a $2.4billion EV battery plant.
The town's new leaders wasted no time in stamping their authority, changing the locks on the local government building hours after their victory.
The grassroots backlash has been hailed as democracy in action after many of the area's 3,200 residents raised national security and environmental concerns over the project, which lies around 50 miles east of Lake Michigan.
But Gotion and Green Charter's ousted town boss Jim Chapman have both suggested their attempts to fight back are futile.
Jason Kruse, pictured here, led a revolt against the township of Green Charter's local government on Tuesday after they backed China-linked company Gotion
Physical therapist Jeff Thorne, 64, who was elected as a new town trustee, said Gotion's claims that the project is a 'done deal' were 'hogwash'
Kelly Cushway, 68, who was elected as a trustee alongside Thorne, has previously told DailyMail.com that the plant does not belong in the 'quiet and peaceful' community
The site is already under construction and Gotion, which 'pledges allegiance' to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), purchased the 270 acres of land it requires for the project in August.
Gotion recently sent a letter to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) saying they consider the plant 'a done deal' and they're moving forward with many facets of the project.
But Green Charter's new town chief, supervisor Jason Kruse, told DailyMail.com that Gotion 'can be stopped, 100 percent'.
'There's a lot of holes that can be pulled apart and we can dissect this project,' he said.
New township trustee and physical therapist Jeff Thorne, 64, described claims the project was a 'done deal' as 'hogwash'.
'I've had a number of people ask me this locally: 'Don't you think no matter what you do, it's going to happen anyway?' he told DailyMail.com.
'I tell them, 'no'. I wouldn't be in this fight. I wouldn't be involved in this if I thought it was fruitless, if it was a done deal. There are a lot of things that can be done.'
Thorne, 64, who has lived in the area for almost 40 years, pointed out that the project had not yet passed a state environmental review.
Meanwhile, there are also calls from congressional Republicans for the Committee on Foreign Investment to revisit national security concerns over Gotion's ties to the CCP and the location of the plant 100 miles away from a US military camp where the Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan.
In ousting Green Charter's town board, voters in the community also sent a message to President Joe Biden, who has touted EV plants and other clean energy projects as key to his economic growth plans.
Resident Corri Riebow (above), who has no experience in politics, ran for town clerk in the recall election, defeating incumbent Janet Clark
Voters in Green Charter Township, Michigan, on Tuesday recalled all five town board members (circled) over their support of a Chinese-affiliated company's plans for a battery plant
Set to be built on the outskirts of Big Rapids, the planned plant would be set only a few miles from one of the state's National Guard bases
A billboard expresses the feelings of many residents of the 3,200-strong township, who oppose the building of a battery factory in the area by CCO-subsidiary Gotion
Protest placards litter the roads entering the town, around 50 miles east of Lake Michigan
Gotion has broken ground on one large portion of land in Green Charter Township, MI
Residents are worried that a large industrial factory will disrupt the serenity of the community
China is a leader in the global supply chain for advanced batteries and other green technology.
The communist country is now trying to take advantage of tax credits for businesses that manufacture renewable energy products in the US.
Gotion is to be paid $175million in direct taxpayer funding to help it build its battery plant in Michigan.
State Governor Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) has welcomed the investment, which she said would create 2,350 'good-paying jobs'.
But Kruse said the local rebellion showed residents were not powerless to stop top-down edicts.
'We have a big problem in the country right now where they're trying to push down on all these local townships and municipalities and have their way with them,' he added.
'They [the previous board] weren't listening to the people - and the people spoke on a very large margin.'
According to unofficial results from the Mecosta County clerk's office, incumbent supervisor Chapman garnered 498 votes but lost his race to Jason Kruse who received a total of 740 votes, with one additional vote for an unresolved write-in candidate.
Kelly Cushway, 68, who bought his first farm in the township in 1977, was elected as a new trustee alongside Thorne, while Corri Riebow, who has no prior experience in local politics, was elected as the new town clerk.
Green Charter Township incumbent treasurer Denise MacFarlane garnered 582 votes and lost her race to Robert Henderson who received 656 votes, with two votes for unresolved write-in candidates.
After the vote, Chapman insisted the land was zoned properly and his removal would not stop the project going ahead.
'That's not going to affect it at all? All right, the land is sold,' he said. 'The land is zoned properly, it has been for 20 years. There is no decision-making-pull-the-plug decision that can be made in Green Township. There's not... there's nothing legally that can be done.'
China owns 383,935 acres of US farmland as of December 2021, with almost half of it in Texas
Camp Grayling (pictured), a Michigan base used by the US military to conduct training exercises, is around 100 miles away from the land bought by Gotion
The Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan - a territory neighboring China that some security experts say China is preparing to invade
Although it is backed by Volkswagen with operations in Germany, Gotion's parent company is based in China.
Critics of the Michigan project have highlighted a clause in its business filings that states the company 'shall set up a party organization and carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist Party of China'.
The company has publicly denied allegiance to the Communist Party, but China has moved in recent years to enhance the CCP's influence in Chinese firms, where maintaining a party unit is often required under law.
In reaction to the recall vote, Republican Congressman John Moolenaar wrote: 'Now the (Michigan Economic Development Corporation) MEDC and Gotion should announce they are heeding the election results, listening to the will of the people, and ending this deal.'
Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion Inc. – North American Manufacturing, told DailyMail.com: 'All state and local contracts are already finalized and Gotion Inc. will continue to meet all contractual obligations with all its partners, including Green Charter Township.
'We support the statement from the governor's office that the project is locked in and believe the new jobs will be an asset to the community for many years to come.'
He added: 'Congressman Moolenaar's ongoing attempts to derail good-paying jobs for his constituents is disheartening and misguided.'
MEDC spokesperson Kathleen Achtenberg said it 'remains committed to growing prosperity in our state by making Michigan a top state for job growth, income growth and population growth with projects like Gotion which will bring more than 2,300 good jobs to northern Michigan'.
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