Grand Rapids is moving towards a mediaopoly with WOODTV8’s parent company purchase of WZZM 13
The consolidation of media in the US has been a major issue since the 1980s, when Ben Bagdikian first wrote his book, The New Media Monopoly.
Since the early 1980s there are fewer and fewer media companies, which own more and more of of the entertainment and news media. Part of this is has been due to Congressional policies that have also deregulated the media industry, like the Telecom Act of 1996 that was signed into law under President Clinton. The Telecom Act essentially created radio monopolies that gave rise to the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other right wing shock jocks.
Another dynamic with the consolidation of media ownership has been with non-media corporations buying news outlets, along with members of the billionaire class like Jeff Bezos. Check out this source on media ownership consolidation and how few companies control most of the media, specifically the news media.
WOODTV8/Nexstar Buys WZZM 13
According to a recent Crain’s Grand Rapids Business article from March 20th:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted approval for Nexstar Media Group Inc. to complete its $3.5 billion acquisition of TV station operator Tegna Inc., waiving an anti-consolidation rule that would’ve prevented the combination.
The parent company of WOODTV8 is Nextstar and before the purchase of WZZM 13, their Grand Rapids TV market was 43rd in the country. The purchase of channel 13 will likely propel their control of the GR TV market into the top 25 for Nexstar.
Certainly one of the consequences of the consolidation of media ownership will mean less diversity of how news is reported and what sources are used. There will also likely be a downsizing of staff at WZZM 13, which is often the consequence of media consolidation as well. In addition, since Nexstar owns a fair amount of TV news stations across the country it will allow them to share content from other markets, thus making more of the news look and sound homogenous.
Now, this is not to say that the Grand Rapids commercial TV market was great before the buyout. I have been methodically monitoring local news for the past 30 years and have written dozens of reports on topics such as local media coverage of elections, public safety, public education, war coverage, race and gender representation. My last two reports from 2024 (a 12 month study) and 2025 (a 6 month study) both show that there isn’t much difference between the three Grand Rapids commercial TV stations in terms of content and narrative.
One example from my 2024 report is:
Local TV news coverage of local elections was so bad that all of the 21 Kent County Commission races were not covered, nor were candidates for judicial races, the Sheriff, Prosecutor, Clerk, Treasurer, and Drain Commissioner. Local TV news never reported on campaign finances for all local election candidates.
Another example from my 2025 report is:
Despite the fact that the first half of 2025 was one of the hottest on record, in the 9 local news stories that deal with extreme heat and extreme weather, only once were the words “Climate Change” used.
I understand that people will point to Nexstar’s conservative politics, which certainly plays a role in their news output. However, most of the news monitoring I have done over the past few decades has shown that all local TV news favors systems of power, rarely questions dominant narratives and does more to entertain and pacify people than empower them.
From my 2024 study, I also did a comparative study between local news coverage of local elections and contrasted that to the amount of stories on the annual event known as ArtPrize. I looked at the coverage from MLive, WOODTV8, WZZM13, and WXMI 17 between September 8 and September 29. During that 3-week period, I found the following. There were a total of nine stories done about local elections (by local elections, I mean elections happening for seats within Kent County). This graphic below shows the disparity in election coverage compared to stories about ArtPrize.
Therefore, it is unlikely that a major shift in local TV coverage with WOODTV8 and WZZM 13 will differ, it’s just that they will now share more resources and consolidate staffing in order to capture more of the market in West Michigan.
Here is a wonderful animated piece created for Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, which lays out the ways in which media consolidation is bad for the public.
Recent comments from Rep. Scholten further demonstrates her hypocrisy when it comes to war and militarism
Over the past few days Rep. Hillary Scholten has shared her thoughts and opinions on her Facebook page about the US/Israeli war on Iran and how it relates to US domestic realities.
The most recent post includes a meme – here on the right – which included this commentary:
You’re making tough financial choices every day trying to afford groceries, rent, and gas. You shouldn’t be asked to fund another endless war while doing it. We need to get our priorities straight.
I fully agree with these sentiments. However, how in the hell does Rep. Scholten have the audacity to make such a statement without even acknowledging the fact that she supported the same thing when Biden was president?
Rep. Hillary Scholten has voted for the massive US military budget every year she has been in Congress starting in 2023.
Rep. Hillary Scholten has voted to provide $3.8 billion in US military aid to Israel each year she has been a member of Congress and she voted in 2024 to provide an additional $15.3 billion is additional US military aid to Israel.
Not once did Rep. Scholten post a meme condemning the Biden Administration for funding war, militarism and genocide, while Americans are struggling to make ends meet. According to the National Priorities Project $2.1 billion in tax dollars la year eaves the 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Scholten’s district, to fund US militarism abroad.
In another recent post on her Facebook page, Rep. Scholten once again engages in Hypocritical commentary. Here Rep. Scholten is talking about the US bombing of the Iranian school that resulted in killing at least Iranian school girls. Rep. Scholten refers to this bombing as unconscionable, which she says twice. Again, I agree with this sentiment, but all throughout the time that Rep. Scholten has unconditionally supported Israel”s genocide not once has she condemned the Israeli military killing of Palestinian children or referred to those deaths as unconscionable. On the 2nd anniversary of the Israeli genocide at least 20,000 Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli military.
The hypocrisy of Rep. Scholten is so evident in her recent posts. When the Trump Administration commits war crimes it is unconscionable. However, when the Biden Administration was doing it supplying weapons to Israel, it was always about “defending our ally in the Middle East.” Only people with partisan blinders are dumb enough to not see this double standard from Rep. Scholten.
Infographic above is from https://visualizingpalestine.org/visual/177-school-buses/.
Aric Nesbitt’s recent political ad for Michigan Governor seat normalizes a far right agenda including the criminalization of immigrants
It’s an election year in Michigan, so we are now beginning to see more and more political ads on TV and online.
I recently saw an ad from State Senate Minority leader Aric Nesbit. Aric Nebitt, who attended the far right Hillsdale College, was first elected to the State House in 2010, representing Van Buren County and part of Allegan County. In 2018, Nesbitt was elected to represented the 20th Senate District in Michigan and he was named Minority Leader of the State Senate to begin 2025.
I want to deconstruct Nesbitt’s most recent political ad, which you can watch here. The narrative in this 30 second ad, which features Nesbitt himself says this:
There are a lot of rich guys running for Governor. Me, I grew up shoveling shit and castrating hogs on the farm.
I’m Aric Nesbit and those dirty jobs prepared me to drain the Lansing Swamp. As your next Governor I’ll:
Eliminated the state property tax
Teach Kids the ABCs, not DEI and gender non-sense
Stand with Trump and put working families first
And deport every criminal illegal
Liberals might squeal, but we’re taking Michigan back!
First, while it is true that there are a lot of rich people running for governor in Michigan, but Nesbitt is one of them, regardless of his attempt to present himself as a working class guy. If you look at Nesbitt’s campaign finance data as a candidate for Governor you can see that he is the top contributor so far, putting $383,965.00 into his campaign. The second largest contributor is Growing Michigan Majority Fund giving $166,500.00. However, it is important to note that Nesbitt is the single largest contributor to that fund. In addition, there are dozens of rich people and companies that are contributing to Nesbitt, so even if he isn’t a rich guy, he will be representing the interests of rich people.
Second, the term draining the swamp is an old political phrase, but it was more recently used by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign in 2016.
Third, Nesbitt lists four main actions he will take as Governor. Eliminating the state property tax – On the surface this might seem appealing to working class people, but what it really means is that as part of the far right plan eliminating property tax reduces state budgets, specifically for funding social safety net projects. Far right politicians always want to undermine social safety nets and push for an increase in the privatization of many existing state government functions.
Teach Kids the ABCs, not DEI and gender non-sense – This statement is also part of the far right playbook to win over parents and community members by suggesting that having diversity/equity/inclusion policies is some socialist plot to propagandize students. Nesbitt’s also uses the phrase gender non-sense as a way of saying that he rigidly supports on male and female gender identities, which ultimately means that he embraces homophobic, transphobic and an anti-queer political framework.
Stand with Trump and put working families first – Of course Nesbitt wants to be identified as a Trump loyalist, so standing with President Trump is paramount. However, the notion that he will put working families first is laughable. For verification of Nesbitt’s claim that he will put working families first simply look at his voting record, particularly on economic matters.
And deport every criminal illegal – Again, Nesbitt wants to align himself with President Trump by taking a hard stand on undocumented immigrants. The image (above) from Nesbitt’s political ad states Deport Illegals, but Nesbitt actually says wants to deport every criminal illegal. Now, the anti-immigrant and xenophobic stance in the US in recent decades has been a bipartisan dynamic, with Democrats using less offense rhetoric, but still funding ICE and deporting millions.
However, what Nesbitt’s political ad does is to normalize how we talk about immigrants, by using the term “illegals” and to normalize the criminalization of immigrants, thus deporting them. This fits with what Nesbitt has laid out in his campaign platform under his Public Safety Agenda, which includes:
Launch “OPERATION TUEBOR”: Faithful to Michigan’s motto Tuebor, meaning “I will defend,” I will stand with President Trump and work with local law enforcement officials to launch the largest I.C.E. deployment in Michigan history, and deport all criminal illegal aliens across Michigan.
Ban sanctuary cities: Sign an executive order on day one to ban all sanctuary cities and other jurisdictions in Michigan, and remove state funding for local governments that refuse to comply.
If Aric Nesbitt gets elected as Governor in Michigan it could result in increased state cooperation with ICE and threats against communities that are adopting sanctuary policies that opposes collaboration with ICE.
GRIID will also look at other candidates in the coming weeks and months, both around campaign finances and the critical issues of the day.
How can there be justice for Da’Quain Johnson when so few people show up to demand justice?
Last night there were less than 100 people who showed to protest the brutal GRPD killing of Da’Quain Johnson.
The mother of Da’Quain Johnson expressed gratitude for the people who did show up last night, but she also wondered out loud where everyone else was. She was also joined by several other mothers who have had their sons taken from them by the police. These Black mothers embraced each other and the best way we can embrace them is to show up for them.
Next Saturday there will likely be several thousand people in Grand Rapids attending yet another No Kings protest. Now, I’m not saying that several thousand people shouldn’t show up to protest against the Trump Administration’s imperialist war against Iran, the ongoing US complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, ICE repression and the ever growing threats to civil liberties and civil rights in this country. But the GRPD killing of Da’Quain Johnson happened right here in Grand Rapids.
Last year a white organizer from Indivisible Greater Grand Rapids asked me how they could get more non-white people to join their protests. I told them that was the wrong question to ask. The question we need to be asking is when are white going to start showing up when Black people are being murdered or thrown in jail for resisting police brutality? When are white people going to practice real solidarity with BIPOC communities and immigrants who are constantly being targeted by state carceral violence?
After the rally that was held at Rosa Parks Circle, people then marched to the GRPD headquarters to demand answers. The protest in front of the police headquarters was lively, included lots of demands at one point people sang along to the words of Fuk Da Police. Speaking of the GRPD, which had limited presence throughout the night and mostly just drove past as people were gathered at Rosa Parks Circle or while we were marching on Division Street. There were some cops present while those demanding justice stood outside of the GRPD headquarters, but they were standing on the roof several floors up monitoring the crowd.
The protest demanding justice for Da’Quain Johnson then marched for another 20 minutes ending up back at Rosa Parks Circle. The demonstration was over, but the GRPD attacks against Black organizers was not. One of the Black organizers involved in demanding justice for Da’Quain Johnson while driving back home was stopped by the GRPD and taken to the Kent County Jail.
Another clear instance of Black organizers going to jail while the GRPD suffers no consequences for killing another Black man in Grand Rapids. When are we going to show up and resist this shit?
Last night about 30 people gathered at St. Dominic’s Church to hold a vigil for Byron Martinez, the young Ecuadorian man who was wrongfully detailed by ICE in February.
Movimiento Cosecha organized the vigil, which has been part of their Free Byron campaign that began in late February, which included a Press Conference. Byron Martinez was stopped by ICE agents on February 3rd in Grand Rapids, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the GRPD.
At the vigil Gema Lowe with Movimiento Cosecha provided an update on Byron, since several of their members had recently visited him at the ICE Detention Center in Baldwin, Michigan. They shared that after the community pressured the privately own detention center to provide proper medical care for Byron, his health did improve temporarily. However, after finally receiving antibiotics that reduced swelling in his face, Byron was now experiencing a skin condition which he believes to be the result of insects that are emanating from the sinks/drains in the Northlake Detention Center.
Cosecha organizers also told those in attendance that a judge had recently ruled that Byron was wrongfully detained by ICE. One would think that this would result in his immediate release, but that is not the case. In fact, Byron now goes before a judge on Monday for a bond hearing to determine if he is eligible for being released on bond.
A friend of Byron’s also spoke during the vigil and talked about how important it was for all of us to resist state carceral violence. There was also a member of GR Rapid Response to ICE who talked about their work and why it is vitally important that we resist ICE and do whatever we can to make sure that no one has to go through what Byron has gone through at the hands of ICE.
At one point during the vigil another Cosecha member read the name of people who have died in ICE detention facilities since the beginning of 2025.
People were also invited to write letters on Byron’s behalf, letters that would be delivered to the judge as part of the bond hearing on Monday.
When Cosecha members visited Byron on Thursday, they shared that he expressed immense gratitude for all the solidarity and support people were offering for him and that he was praying for everyone and hoping to be released on Monday.
Reversing the Missionary Position: Learning Solidarity on Mayan Time book/film event last night in Grand Rapids
Roughly 70 people attended the event I hosted last night to watch a film a made a few years ago about the work of accompaniment I did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Chiapas, Mexico, along with my book release.
The conversation was uplifting and the questions I was asked were heartfelt and important. Here are five points I wanted to make about the book:
- Reversing the Missionary Position: Learning Solidarity on Mayan Time is the culmination of the work I have been doing since the mid-1980s, around resisting US economic and military policies in Central America and Mexico, and how those policies are the root causes of people coming to the US as undocumented immigrants.
- What I mean by reversing the missionary position is that we need to both rethink how we show up in the world and how we need to take ownership of the fact that when we go to Guatemala, El Salvador or Mexico – either as tourists, Peace Corps workers or missionaries we are not practicing solidarity, but perpetuating white saviorism.
- Instead of telling undocumented immigrants what they should do, we need to walk with them in solidarity, listening to what they want us to do and then to leverage our privilege to resist state terrorism in the form of ICE.
- My book is also about how the people I worked with in Sanctuary in Grand Rapids and the people I did accompaniment with in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico and how they ultimately became my teachers, my mentors, especially around what solidarity looks like and how we need to show up for affected communities.
- When I was doing accompaniment with people in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, it was to reduce the chances of them being disappeared, tortured or murdered by their own military that the US was funding and training. Now, through GR Rapid Response to ICE we accompany people who fled state terrorism in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico only to be terrorized by the state in the form of ICE here in West Michigan. The reality is that many of the people GR Rapid Response to ICE does accompaniment with here in West Michigan are likely to have been from the same villages, same regions and maybe were even the children or neighbors of people I did accompaniment with in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
I am including the 55 minute documentary here for those who were unable to attend last night.
I am hoping to screen this film again through West Michigan and to use it as a tool to talk about ICE terrorism in our communities. If you are part of community groups or organizations that would be interested in hosting a screening of the film please contact me at sjeff987@gmail.com.
You can also purchase copies of my new book from Schuler Books, you can contact me to obtain hard copies and for those who want it in digital form they can message me for PDF copies.
New Far Right news source tries to trash GRIID, but their article is full of misinformation and errors
There is a new online news source called The Grand Rapids Herald, which began posting articles in early March of 2026.
Not to be confused with the former Grand Rapids Herald that used to exist, which closed it’s doors in 1959, this Grand Rapids Herald is run by Jackson Walker. Walker seems to be the only contributor to the site, which is in its infancy.
I did some digging to find out that Jackson Walker has a history of working for news agencies such as being a digital news writer for Sinclair Broadcasting. Sinclair is regarded has a right wing media conglomerate that owns media outlets across the country. Walker also appears to have a history with Turning Point USA, which was founded by Charlie Kirk. You can check out his writings previous to starting The Grand Rapids Herald by going to this link.
Targeting GRIID
I fully expect to have far right or conservative news sources attack or make fun of the work I have been doing with GRIID since 1998, like an interview I did with a GVSU professor that talked about a student who wanted to censor an art installation on campus last year. That interview was then cited on a far right Christian blog where GRIID was referred to as a Socialist site.
In Walker’s article on GRIID, entitled GRAND RAPIDS ‘MEDIA WATCHDOG’ RALLIES ACTIVISTS AGAINST ICE, he acknowledges that he reached out to me for comment, but failed to include his questions, which were extremely leading:
Can you please address the below questions for our reporting?
1) Why did GRIID leave the Grand Rapids Community Media Center?
2) How is anti-ICE content a part of GRIID’s mission as a media watchdog?
3) How has GRIID’s work led to change in the local media ecosystem?
In Walker’s article, which primarily relies on what I have written on the GRIID site since 2009 when I shifted from being primarily a Media Watchdog and Media Literacy entity to a IndyMedia source or what I prefer to identify as Movement Media. As readers of GRIID will know I focus on two main areas – 1) documenting what the Grand Rapids Power Structure and other systems of power are doing in West Michigan, and 2) documenting the work of social movements in the greater Grand Rapids area.
What follows is a list of examples where Jackson Walker has either wrong information or uses misinformation.
- In the article about GRIID it says – Recently, however, GRIID appears to have pivoted toward promoting political activism rather than media monitoring. The reality is that GRIID has always “promoted political activism”, thus there is no pivoting. Anyone can go back to 2009 when the GRIID blog started and see that political activism – what I call movement work or community organizing – has always been part of the work of GRIID.
- The only author’s byline to appear on the site is Jeff Smith. This is also not true as there have been several people who have written for GRIID over the years. It is true that I have written the bulk of the articles, but I have never been the sole contributor.
- Smith also wrote about how he and a group of protesters swarmed the home of Kent County Commissioner Ben Greene to demand that he agree to not cooperate with ICE, despite publicly saying he would make no such concessions. Commissioner Greene said the protesters startled his young children who were in the house at the time. Here the founder of the Grand Rapids Herald makes several mistakes. First, those protesting outside of Commissioner Greene’s house never “swarmed” anything. People calmly and non-violently gathered outside the commissioner’s home and delivered a letter to him. The article primarily just parrots the interpretation of what Commissioner Greene had to say about what happened, even though the account on GRIID is first hand and a more honest assessment.
- Smith was once a part of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center (GRCMC), a local charity which connects several local media entities. He now operates independently, however, and focuses on power structure analysis that are critical of the philanthropic ecosystem GRCMC depends on. The Grand Rapids Media Center is not a charity, but a non-profit media entity that provides an array of non-commercial avenues for people to produce their own media. GRIID has also not critiqued the “philanthropic ecosystem” that involves the GRCMC. Instead, GRIID has regularly written articles how private foundations run by the DeVos, Van Andel and other powerful families.
- Among Smith’s other projects is Koinonia House, a housing collective which declared itself a sanctuary for Central American refugees. Smith also runs Catalyst Radio, a “public affairs program” run by GRCMC, and teaches workshops at Grand Valley State University. It is true that I was part of the Koinonia House for 27 years, but Walker’s description of the K-House is oversimplified and does not reflect the complete history of that community house. GRIID was involved in the founding of Catalyst Radio in 2004, but when GRIID left the GRCMC at the end of 2006, I was no longer a part of that radio project that aired on WYCE.
- Smith received a large speaking fee for hosting a book talk and signing event for “A People’s History of Grand Rapids” at the Grand Rapids African American Museum in 2024. This is laughable. If you go to the link that The Grand Rapids Herald includes. It lists that I was part of doing a presentation at the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA), along with other projects and says that $40,000 in grant money was used. The fact is that GRAAMA paid me $100 to do a People’s History talk on White Supremacy and the Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, which is chapter two of my book. If the Grand Rapids Herald writer thinks that getting $100 to do a 90 minute presentation is sizable, then he has no idea how those of us who do community organizing are compensated in the real world.
I am personally used to these types of attacks, which comes with the work of doing community organizing, especially when you confront/expose systems of power. The article that attempts to trash GRIID primarily relies on copying and pasting quotes from GRIID articles without any real analysis or critique. It’s as if the writer is wanting to say to his audience of far right MAGA friends – look at how GRIID is promoting anti-ICE messaging and even promoting anti-ICE activism. No shit, that is what those articles are intended to do, since ICE is just one component of the larger carceral state and a system of power and oppression.
If you are going to come after me please make it interesting.
AI and data centers are not a problem if God is involved, says Doug DeVos and his fellow believers
Last month I wrote a piece about how the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce has publicly endorsed Data Centers. I cited a recent report from Data Center Watch there has been $64 billion of data center projects that have been blocked because communities have become organized.
Last week I wrote a piece about the GR Chamber of Commerce annual Policy Conference, where they hosted a panel of pro-data center apologists.
Just yesterday I received my weekly Email from Believe! – the online journal put out by Doug DeVos. The featured topic for the most recent Believe Journal centers on AI and data centers, with the cover story entitled, God from the Machine.
Early on in the article from DeVos he states:
It’s certainly easy to get carried away by the AI wave. The technology is surely the most amazing invention in human history. But make no mistake: Artificial intelligence hasn’t destroyed humanity’s desperate need for God. And if we let AI further separate us from faith, this technology will quickly spin out of control, doing untold damage to the family, to community, and to the very fabric of our society.
Here DeVos seeks to reframe the debate around AI, not what it will do to eco-systems or how it will perpetuate the wealth gap by putting more money in the pockets of the tech industry, rather he fears that without a God-centered AI it will destroy us all.
DeVos continues in this same vein by writing:
And so we believe that God is necessary to save us from AI gone wrong. It’s deeply concerning that many—perhaps most—of AI’s developers don’t seem to understand or appreciate Christianity. Silicon Valley isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of faith. While there are certainly good Christians working in the AI industry, the ecosystem is steeped in secularism, shaping AI in ways that can undermine human flourishing.
So, secularism is the real culprit. AI won’t be a problem if God and specifically the Christian version of God is guiding society’s hand around AI and data centers. DeVos eventually acknowledges that AI could create problems for society, but in the end he uses the same arguments that AI/Data Center apologists are using when he says:
We absolutely need more people of faith and virtue building AI companies and tools, with the goal of expanding opportunity and uplifting the human experience. We can’t leave this brave new world of innovation solely to non-believers. By the same token, as families and citizens, we need to demand the moral and virtuous use of AI. In some cases, that means pressuring companies to avoid evil. In other cases, it could mean supporting laws to keep AI on the straight on narrow.
Make no mistake, Doug DeVos truly believes that AI/Data Centers can expand opportunity and uplift the human experience. His only caveat is to make sure that those making the decisions about AI/Data Centers are Christians, like DeVos and his family. Just to be clear DeVos and his family of Christians donated to and helped elect Donald Trump, have worked to undermine labor unions for decades, fought against public education, have opposed same sex marriage and trans rights, and have been the single largest political donor to the Republican Party in Michigan since 1990.
The DeVos family is worth $5.4 billion and is always seeking to expand their wealth, as good Christians, while there are thousands of families in Kent County that are struggling to survive. Despite their massive wealth, the DeVos family also uses hundreds of millions of dollars of public money to subsidize projects like the Amphitheater, Soccer Stadium, the Three Towers Project and possibly another proposed hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. Therefore, when Doug DeVos says that he wants good Christians to run and manage AI and Data Centers – not secularists – we should be looking at what the DeVos family of Christians has been doing for decades and discern whether or not they have a moral leg to stand on in regards to making sure that Christians are in charge of AI and Data Centers.
In his concluding remarks Doug DeVos says, “This will be a challenge, not least because so many Americans have fallen away from faith. But that should only stiffen our spines to fight for AI done right.” Like the billionaires behind the recent data center push in West Michigan, we need to recognize the DeVos family has more in common with the tech billionaires than they do with working class families that will struggle to survive in greater number when AI/Data Centers come to dominate more of our economy and our lives.
If Rep. Scholten really wanted a just housing system she would need to do three things
Last week Representative Hillary Scholten hosted a forum on the issue of housing at the downtown campus of GVSU.
Rep. Scholten was joined by people who provide housing support to families struggling to afford the high cost of owning or renting a place to live in the Grand Rapids area. The event only lasted an hour and the majority of that time was taken up by those on the stage.
Rep. Scholten did use data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition on the cost of rent for those living in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming. The current cost of rent would require people to earn at least $26.33 an hour to afford the average cost of rent in this area.
What was not a part of this conversation and is usually omitted from conversations around housing are three important points. First, there was no discussion about how housing is subject to the market as opposed to housing being a right for everyone. Housing is just another commodity in the economic system of Capitalism. The housing market is primarily a for profit system, which includes a small percentage of non-profit housing that relies on public subsidies to build new housing. If we believe that housing is a right for everyone, then we need to remove housing from the system of Capitalism.
A second critical point that was omitted from the forum on housing hosted by Rep. Scholten was the the issue that so many people don’t make enough money to afford a home or even the cost of rent. In a post in December, Rep. Scholten was cheering about the fact that Michigan’s minimum wage would increase to $13.73 an hour. This is grossly inadequate and it seems a bit out of touch to acknowledge that people need to earn at least $26.33 an hour to afford the average cost of rent in this area, without calling for a living wage in Michigan and around the country.
The third vitally important part point that was omitted during the conversation at the housing forum that Rep. Scholten hosted was on the issue of spending priorities. In January, Rep. Scholten voted for the US military budget ($840 Billion), which demonstrates that militarism is a priority, but not housing.
According to the National Priorities Project $2.01 billion in taxes leaves the 3rd Congressional district every year to fund US militarism. Imagine if that money was spent on meeting the needs of people in Rep. Scholten’s District. Unfortunately, voting for the $840 billion military budget demonstrates that Rep. Scholten is more committed to US imperialism than she is to making sure that people in her district have their basic needs met.
Until the issues of removing housing from the system of Capitalism, paying people a livable wage and prioritizing meeting people’s basic needs over US militarism are addressed we will always have millions of families in this country who can’t afford a place to live.
A new hotel is being discussed for downtown Grand Rapids, specifically for tourists and those attending convention center events. According to an article in Crain’s Grand Rapids Business:
The 2024 study conducted by Hotel Valuation Services found that DeVos Place loses out on 58 events annually because of inadequate event space and low hotel supply downtown.
The study was done by Loveland, Colo.-based consulting firm Hotel Valuation Services (HVS). HVS is the only global consulting firm focused exclusively on the hospitality industry, with 300 employees at 50 offices throughout the world.
The Crain’s Grand Rapids Business article also stated that the following groups are involved in the discussion – the Convention Arena Authority (CAA) board, hotel executives, Experience Grand Rapids, the city and county, and Grand Action 2.0 to discuss the results and decide whether to develop a project.
It is worth noting that each of the entities that will be involved in deciding that a new hotel would be necessary for Grand Rapids all have DeVos family involvement. Grand Action 2.0 was co-founded by the DeVos family. The DeVos family has representation on the CAA board and Experience Grand Rapids. The DeVos family controls most of the hotels in downtown, thus they also would represent most of the hotel executives. In addition, the DeVos family contributes more money to City and County officials than any other group or family. Therefore, the recommendation coming from this meeting will be to build a new convention center hotel.
According to the Crain’s Grand Rapids Business article, the proposed 600 room convention center hotel would cost $355 million. We are constantly hearing about the shortage of housing in Kent County, specifically affordable housing, so image if $355 million was spent on new affordable housing. If we estimate that a modest home could be built for $250,000, then $355 million could be used to pay for 1420 new and affordable homes for families. If we were looking at rental costs for a family and put monthly rental costs at $2000, then the $355 million cost of the proposed hotel could cover the rental fees over 1 year for 14,791 families.
It is clear that bringing tourists and people for the convention center is more important than meeting the basic needs of the thousands of residents in the greater Gran Rapids area that are economically struggling. City and County officials always seem to find money (public money) for projects that expand the wealth of members of the GR Power Structure, but never for the people who do the actual work in this city.
Add in the fact that the DeVos family will have the most say in the proposed convention center hotel, which ultimately means it’s a done deal. When are we going to build a movement to resist this dynamic and demand that funding should be used to support working class families?
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 