(Editor’s note: Please turn up the volume to hear the questions and response in the video provided below.)
On Wednesday, at a public forum hosted by Lincoln Up, GRPD Chief Joe Trigg was asked a question about GRPD cooperation with ICE.
The question came from Movimiento Cosecha, but was asked by someone else as they had a prior commitment. The questioner clarified that the issue of GRPD cooperation with ICE was particularly in reference to the GRPD role in allowing the transport of an ICE abducted immigrant from the 517 Ottawa ICE office on Tuesday, which GRIID also wrote about.
In the 5:25 video you can hear the question and the Police Chief’s response. I just want to highlight some of what Chief Trigg had to say. Trigg’s response begins at 1:22 into the video. The Chief mentions de-escalation and says that they received a call about a group of protesters who were blocking the alleyway behind the 517 Ottawa ICE office.
Eyewitnesses on the scene told GRIID that the GRPD were there way before anything had happened, which means they were called, most likely by ICE. Chief Trigg later admits they received a 911 call about protesters. Trigg says the GRPD has a duty to respond to that call. He then claims there was a valid violation, so the GRPD moves up and “tell them to move.”
A big part of the problem is this narrative. For the people on the scene they were responding to a GR Rapid Response to ICE call, where ICE had earlier abducted an immigrant in Grand Rapids and brought them to the 517 Ottawa ICE office. Once the abducted immigrant was processed the GEO Group-owned van that was parked inside the 517 Ottawa ICE office would then transport the abducted immigrant to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. The people who were blocking the alleyway were attempting to prevent the GEO Group van from departing because ICE had abducted another immigrant from this community. Those responding would not call what they did a violation, rather they would call what they did their obligation to practice solidarity with immigrants targeted by ICE and to either disrupt or reduce that harm that ICE had committed and the profiting of the GEO Group, which has a contract with ICE to run the detention center in Baldwin.
Towards the end of the initial response from Chief Trigg he says that the GRPD asked them to leave and they left. This is also not true, as you can see from the picture above and the video linked here from Tuesday that the GRPD forcibly removed people, and at one point knock a BIPOC person over who was injured in the process.
Chief Trigg also claims that in his 25 years with the Grand Rapids Police Department he has never seen an ICE agent. I call bullshit on this one, as ICE has had multiple offices in Grand Rapids since 2003. There is no way he can claim to not have seen as ICE agent since 2003 in Grand Rapids, especially since the GRPD has had an ICE liaison for the past two decades.
When questioned about ICE in Grand Rapids Chief Trigg chooses to redirect attention away from the question of GRPD cooperation with ICE and talk about how “Grand Rapids has enough issues of its own.”
The questioner then asked if the GRPD would sign a statement saying that they will not cooperate with ICE. Trigg responds by saying, “we are not collaborating with them (ICE)”, which he says twice. Chief Trigg then continues to talk but completely avoids addressing the issue of GRPD collaboration with ICE, such as the incident with GRPD direct involvement in the ICE abduction of Byron Martinez earlier this year.
On Friday morning there is a trial for 4 defendants who non-violently stood in the Kent County Sheriff’s Office on January 5th to demand an end to ICE holds at the Kent County Jail.
The 4 defendants had jury selection on Wednesday and will now have a Jury Trial on Friday morning beginning at 8:30am at the Kent County Courthouse on the 8th floor in courtroom 8D.
The 4 defendants participated in this action in conjunction with Movimiento Cosecha and their campaign to get Kent County to adopt six sanctuary policies, a campaign which began in early 2025. In addition, the defendants were responding to what they and Cosecha has been hearing for the past two years, which is that immigrants were being held at the Kent County Jail for ICE, then being transported to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan.
What immigrant families had been sharing with Cosecha about ICE holds at the Kent County Jail was recently confirmed with a 2 page document obtained by FOIA that revealed the Kent County Sheriff had signed an agreement that they would engage in detainers for ICE upon request. This documented was signed by the Kent County Sheriff on March 5th of 2025.
Under the heading of Policy the document states:
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office is committed to upholding all applicable Local, State, and Federal laws regarding immigration enforcement. KCSO works closely with Immigration Enforcement and Removal officials to ensure compliance with these guidelines while maintaining the safety, security, and rights of all individuals in our custody. All interactions with immigration authorities will be conducted in accordance with legal requirements, department policies, and established procedures to ensure transparency, accountability, and due process.
In a recent Press Release put out by Movimiento Cosecha it states: “We always take seriously what the immigrant community tells us, but we wanted confirmation from the Sheriff’s Office,” said Gema Lowe, an organizer with Movimiento Cosecha GR.
Movimiento Cosecha GR has also called on the Kent County Commission to adopt six sanctuary policy demands. According to organizers, county officials have declined to do so, stating that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility rather than a county matter.
“It seems clear to us that Kent County is working directly with ICE, which is why we want the county to adopt the sanctuary policies, reducing the harm ICE is inflicting on immigrant families in Kent County,” said Lowe.
Make no mistake about it, the harm that ICE is inflicting is real in Kent County and has increased in recent months. The Grand Rapids ICE office was given increased funding earlier this year and activists have witnessed increased activity, with immigrants being abducted almost daily in the Grand Rapids area.
Just 10 days ago ICE agents abducted someone who was at their ISAP office appointment at 545 Michigan NE in Grand Rapids.
On Tuesday another immigrant neighbor was abducted by ICE and members of GR Rapid Response to ICE followed the ICE agents to the 517 Ottawa ICE Office. ICE called the GRPD and when the GEO Group van was exiting the ICE office garage GRPD cops forcibly removed people who were attempting to prevent the GEO Group van from taking the ICE abducted immigrant to their detention center in Baldwin, Michigan.
Those on trial, besides leveraging their privilege to stand in solidarity with immigrants are also using the trial to amplify the realities of what ICE is doing in Grand Rapids and Kent County. If you are able to attend the trial and support people here are details for Court Solidarity.
GRPD once again demonstrates their commitment to assisting ICE and those profiting from ICE abductions in Grand Rapids
On Tuesday, around midday, GR Rapid Response to ICE showed up to the 517 Ottawa ICE office. This was because they received a call about ICE abductions and the 517 Ottawa office is where ICE takes people to process while they are locked up in a holding cell ICE has on site.
Movimiento Cosecha was also on site and filmed part of what happened. Here is the video link. The first thing you see in the video is a white van pulling out of the ICE office garage and the white van is a GEO Group-owned vehicle to transport immigrants picked up by ICE to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, which is owned and operated by the GEO Group.
People who have been trained through GR Rapid Response to ICE stood in front of the GEO Group van, since they were transporting someone ICE had abducted. You can GRPD cops on the scene about 1 minute into the video, which means ICE likely contacted the GRPD to assist them, in this case to prevent people from blocking the GEO Group van.
This is just the latest example of how the GRPD has been consistently cooperating with ICE and in this case the GEO Group, which profits from the detention of immigrants that ICE abducts from our community.
The fact that the GRPD assisted ICE/GEO Group by preventing people from trying to stop immigrant family separation completely contradicts what Mayor LaGrand and the GRPD Chief of Police have been saying since January of 2025 when Movimiento Cosecha began their campaign to get the City of Grand Rapids to adopt six sanctuary policies. In fact, from where I sit, this recent GRPD collaboration with ICE/GEO Group signifies to me that Mayor LaGrand and the GRPD Chief have been lying to Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE and the community at large.
At about 1:40 into the video you can see the number of ICE agents present while they stood inside the 517 Ottawa ICE office garage to watch the GRPD assist the GEO Group van make a get away. The harsh reality is that this is happening on a regular basis in Grand Rapids. The sad thing about this is that people would rather spend their energy campaigning for politicians than actively resist ICE from abducting immigrants in this city.
Follow the Money: Campaign Contributions from members of the Grand Rapid Power Structure during the 2026 Election cycle
If you read the GRIID blog on a regular basis you know that I write about the Grand Rapids Power Structure on a fairly regular basis. Hell, I even do a GR Power Analysis workshop that organizations can have me do.
My GR Power Analysis workshop covers numerous aspects of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, which includes looking at their wealth/assets, their involvement with organizations that have similar ideological interests, how they use their foundation funds, how they tend to embrace deeply conservative religious beliefs, their interest in shaping social and economic realities, how they infiltrate and use non-profits, and how they use their wealth to influence elections. For this post I want to focus on how the members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure use their wealth to influence elections.
I am limiting the scope to just Michigan in terms of how the GR Power Structure uses their wealth to influence elections. Using data from https://www.transparencyusa.org/mi/contributors, which includes data on the 2026 election cycle through 3/31/2026, here are the names and the dollar amounts that members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure have contributed so far.
- Daniel DeVos – $2,962,075
- Pamella DeVos – $2,508,325
- JC Huizenga – $748,300
- John Kennedy III – $421,275
- Maria and Doug DeVos – $287,500
- Suzanne Cheryl DeVos – $287,500
- Michael Jandernoa – $271,075
- Daniel Hibma – $264,850
- Richard Haworth – $255,950
- Hendrik Meijer – $250,000
- Matthew Haworth – $249,950
- Nancy Kennedy – $203,825
- Richard M DeVos Sr. – $173,875
- Ethel Haworth – $157,400
- Mark Meijer – $144,000
- Betsy DeVos – $125,000
- Jennifer Haworth – $106,075
- Sidney Jansma III – $88,825
The 18 listings here are not only members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, but they are all in the top 100 largest contributors in the 2026 election cycle in Michigan. Their contributions collectively are roughly $8.5 million as of 3/31/2026. $8.5 million is a huge amount of influence, which is just one of the ways they use their money to protect and expand their wealth.
Follow the Money: Campaign Contributions and Endorsements from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce has a long history of endorsing and providing campaign contributions to candidates in the greater Grand Rapids area.
Endorsements from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce have also involved non-partisan political races, such as Grand Rapids Mayor and Grand Rapids City Commission Candidates. For example, in 2022 the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce gave 1st Ward Candidate Andrew Robbins $10,500.
In the 2024 Election here is a list of candidates that received campaign contributions from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. All of the candidates listed here won their election, except for Dean Pacific and Tommy Brann.
- Dean Pacific: 1st Ward Grand Rapids City Commission – $7075.00
- Tommy Brann: 83rd District State Representative – $2500.00
- Richard Williamson: GRPS Board of Education – $1000.00
- David LaGrand: Mayor of Grand Rapids – $1000.00
- Aric Nesbitt: 20th District State Senate – $1,000.00
- Arick Davis: GRPS Board of Education – $1000.00
- House Republican Campaign Committee – $1000.00
- Posthumus Majority Fund – $500.00
- Carol Glanville: 84th State Representative – $250.00
- Dan Burrill: 8th District Kent County Commission – $250.00
In a recent GR Chamber online post they listed candidates whom they are endorsing for the 2026 Election:
MICHIGAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
- District 44: Steve Frisbie (R)
- District 81: Stephen Wooden (D)
- District 83: John Fitzgerald (D)
- District 84: Drew Robbins (R)
- District 85: Bradley Slagh (R)
- District 86: Nancy DeBoer (R)
- District 87: Will Snyder (D)
- District 88: Greg VanWoerkom (R)
- District 90: Lynn Afendoulis (R)
- District 91: Pat Outman (R)
- District 101: Jaxon Deur (R)
- District 102: Curt VanderWall (R)
MICHIGAN STATE SENATE
- District 18: Thomas Albert (R)
- District 20: Chris Moraitis (R)
- District 30: Mark Huizenga (R)
- District 32: Kim Cole (R)
- District 33: Gina Johnsen (R) & Katie DeBoer (R)
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- District 2: John Moolenaar (R)
- District 4: Bill Huizenga (R)
Now, most of the candidates listed here are Republican candidates. However, there are three Democrats that are being endorsed by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, which begs the question – Why would Democrats take money from a PAC that specifically works to expand the wealth of the Capitalist Class?
Now, as with all political contributions there is never one simple answer. One reason why the GR Chamber of Commerce might chose to give to Democrats is because the district they are running for almost always is won by a Democrat, so why not give money to gain greater access to a political candidate. Others might say it is mostly about access, since candidates that are elected will more likely give individuals or entities more time to talk than they would regular folk.
However, there is a third reason, which is that most elected Democrats also have a deep commitment to the economic system of capitalism and defending business interests. All one has to do is look at how Democratic politicians have collaborated and cooperated with business interests, especially since the Democrats have fully embraced Neo-Liberal economic policies, most definitely since the Clinton Administration.
Lastly, I believe it is important for people to push back on any candidate, but especially Democrats that take money from the likes of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. More and more groups across the US are saying that they will not endorse or vote for candidates that take money from PACs that are specifically designed to expand the wealth of the Capitalist Class.
In Part I the focus was on how the Grand Rapids Power Structure provided roughly $100,000 in campaign finances to Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. The Sheriff wasn’t even being challenged in her bid to win re-election in 2024, but those with the most political and economic power in Kent County want to make sure that the Kent County Sheriff would protect their interests, which includes the Kent County Sheriff’s Office cooperation with ICE, specifically by engaging in ICE detainers at the Kent County Jail.
In today’s post I want to focus on Kent County Commissioners that are receiving campaign contributions from the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
The decisions regarding cooperation with ICE in Kent County not only comes from the Sheriff’s Office, but other Kent County officials, like the Kent County Commission.
The GR Power Structure and Kent County Commissioners
Like the Kent County Sheriff, many of the Kent County Commissioners have been bought and paid for by members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure. What follows is a list of Kent County Commissioners that have received campaign funds from members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure during the 2024 election.
Kent County Board Chair Ben Greene
- Doug DeVos – $1,225
- Dick DeVos – $1,225
- Daniel DeVos – $1,225
Commissioner Elizabeth Morse
- Maintain Our Majority (Charlie Secchia) – $4,000
- Friends of West Michigan Business PAC ( GR Chamber of Commerce) – $500
Commissioner Jennifer Merchant
- Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $500
Commissioner Dave Hildenbrand
- Dan DeVos $1225
- Doug DeVos $1225
- Richard DeVos $1225
- Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $500
Commissioner Stan Stek
- Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $7000
- Betsy DeVos $1225
- Daniel DeVos $1225
- Doug DeVos $1225
- Maria DeVos $1225
Commissioner Stan Ponstein
- Maintain Our Majority PAC (Charlie Secchia) – $5000
- TGIF Victory Fund (Dan Hibma) – $2,500
- Kent County Republican Committee – $1000
Commissioner Dan Burrill
- TGIF Victory Fund (Dan Hibma) – $12,250
- The Friends of West Michigan Business PAC – $7000
- Mark Bissell -$1225
- Betsy DeVos – $1225
Commissioner Robin Halsted
- Maintain Our Majority (Charlie Secchia) – $10,000
- John/Nancy Kennedy – $2450
- Grand Rapids Chamber PAC – $2000
- Mark/Mary Bissell – $1225
- Betsy DeVos – $1225
Commissioner Lindsey Thiel
- TGIF Victory Fund – $12,250
- Maintain Our Majority PAC (Charlie Secchia) – $10,000
- Sidney Jansma Jr – $2450
- Grand Rapids Chamber PAC- $1500
- Mark Bissell – $1225
In exchange for the thousands of campaign contributions to the above Kent County Commissioners the Grand Rapids Power Structure expects the Kent County Commission to vote in their interests. For example, in 2024, the Kent County Commission voted nearly unanimous to put the Hotel Tax on the August Primary Ballot, which would provide even more funding for the Amphitheater and other entertainment venues. The GR Power Structure spent nearly half a million dollars to convince voters to adopt this ballot initiative.
Then there is the matter of funding the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts. Last year, the Kent County Commission voted 16 – 4 in favor of the FY2026 budget, which was $668 million. 43% of the county’s budget – just over $300 million – goes towards Kent County Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts. Abolitionists like Angela Davis have been referring to this system as the Prison Industrial Complex.
What is instructive is that all 9 of the Democratic members of the Kent County Commission voted for the $668 million FY2026 Annual Budget, while 7 Republican members of the County Commission also voted for the budget. Four Republican Kent County members voted no, but not because too much money was allocated towards the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County. The four dissenting Republican members (Merchant, DeBoer, Burrill, and Bujak) voted no because they think the Kent County government is too big and their constituents are over taxed.
Despite some GOP member opposition, the majority of the Kent County Commissioners voted for the massive amount of funds that go towards the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County – the Sheriff’s Department, the jail, the court system and the prosecuting attorney’s office. Voting for the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County means they voted for the arrest and jailing of a disproportionate number of BIPOC residents and residents who live in poverty.
This also clearly demonstrates how the Kent County Commission annual approval of the county’s budget supports ICE, since the Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts all have a hand in cooperating with ICE and at the very least are complicit with ICE violence by doing and saying nothing to end immigrant family separation in Kent County. This is what the Grand Rapids Power Structure is paying for when they contribute campaign dollars to Kent County elected officials.
For the candidates who are on the August 4 Primary ballot, the public will have one week to access campaign finance information, especially since the local commercial news media tends to not report on campaign financing, especially for many of the local races, which GRIID noted in our Media Monitoring report during the last election cycle in 2024.
There are three candidates running for the open seat for the 1st Ward on the Grand Rapids City Commission. Those three candidates are as listed on the Kent County Clerk’s August 4th Primary Ballot:
- Jordoun Eatman
- Lindsey Perez-Plescher
- Steve Tibbe
What I will list is the amount each candidate has raised, what they have spent so far and the top donors.
Jordoun Eatman
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Jordoun Eatman raised $8,475.55 and has spent a total of $3,599.84.
https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25111.PDF
https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25736.pdf
Top donors:
- Brandy McCallum-Martin (Director Experience GR) – $1,300
- Floria Bates – $1,225
- Craig Thompson (Global Human Resources Business Partner at Amway) – $1,225
- Mercedes Barragan – $1,200
- Tasha Blackmon – $500
- Katherine Hoffman (ED Garfield Park Neighborhood Association) – $400
- Charlie Dubose – $350
- Senita Lenear – $250
- Joe Jones – $250
- Stephanie Brown – $250
- Shaquanda Gordon – $250
- Lakessa Davis – $200
- Michelle Singleton – $200
Lindsey Perez-Plescher
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Lindsey Perez-Plescher has raised $13,330 and has spent a total of $5,434.65.
https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25113.PDF
Top donors:
- Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters PAC – $5,000
- Kent County Democratic Party – $3,250
- Tami Vandenberg – $1,000
- West Michigan Plumbers, Fitters and Services Trades Local – $500
- Brittany Plescher – $500
- Steve Pestka – $300
- Carmen Vacaguzman (Tech Executive at Amway) – $300
- Lucas Gilles – $300
- Kurt Reppart – $200
- George Heartwell – $200
Steve Tibbe
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Steve Tibbe raised $5,960.47 and has spent a total of $1,783.93.
https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25115.PDF
https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25717.PDF
Top donors:
- The Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors (GRAR) – $2,500
- Tim Maclam – $1,000
- Steve Tibbe – $1,000
- Claire Razmus – $333.72
- Bing Goei – $250
- Marcus Ringnalda – $206
- Paul Soltziak – $150
- Mark Murray – $100
- Dean Pacific – $100
- Andy DeVries – $100
Now, campaign finances alone should not decide how one will vote, people should consider what candidate platforms are, how embedded they are in communities – particularly affected communities, and voting records if they are incumbents. Each of the three First Ward candidates have questionable contributors: Eatman has the ED of Experience GR, a top executive at Amway and the ED of a neighborhood association; Perez-Plescher has a PAC, the local Democratic Party (even though this is a non-partisan position), and an executive from Amway; and Tibbe has realtor organization in a city facing a housing crisis (realtor groups are about making money not making sure everyone has a safe place to live), a member of the GR Power Structure (Mark Murray) and a former First Ward candidate that was connected to a dark money group that attacked his opponent in 2024 (Dean Pacific).
Next Friday four of us who engaged in civil disobedience at the Kent County Sheriff’s Office last January will have a jury trial for that action.
We engaged in that action to draw attention to the Sheriff’s Office complicity with ICE by doing ICE holds, often referred to as ICE detainers. Those who participated in civil disobedience also were drawing attention to Movimiento Cosecha’s six sanctuary policy demands that the immigrant-led group began in February of 2025.
According to a report from the Prison Policy Initiative county jails play a critical role in the Trump Administration’s mass deportation plan:
Local jails and police departments are key to the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda because they facilitate ICE arrests of people who are already in police custody. In the first year of Trump’s second term, the administration has intensified the criminalization of asylum seekers and immigrants, pushed immigrant detention to all-time highs, and indiscriminately raided city after city.
In counties and states that have no ICE detainer policies, the number of ICE arrests at jails is lower, as is reflected in this infographic from the Prison Policy Initiative.
The Grand Rapids Power Structure and ICE in Kent County
The decisions regarding cooperation with ICE in Kent County comes from the Sheriff’s Office and other Kent County officials. In Part I of this series I want to look at the relationship between the Grand Rapids Power Structure and elected positions in Kent County that are only every four years.
Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young had raised a total of $131,531.39 in the 2024 election. She ran unopposed. Her top contributors were a who’s who of the Grand Rapids Power Structure:
- TGIF Victory Fund – $10,000
- Cheri DeVos – $8,325
- Steve Ehmann – $8,325
- Doug DeVos – $8,325
- Maria DeVos – $8,325
- Dick DeVos – $8,325
- Betsy DeVos – $8,325
- Daniel DeVos – $8,325
- Pamela DeVos – $8,325
- Joan Secchia – $4,000
- David Van Andel – $2,500
- Carol Van Andel – $2,500
- Charlie Secchia – $2,000
- John Kennedy – $2,000
- Jim Williams – $2,000
- Mike Ellis – $1,000
- Mark Murray – $1,000
- Tom Bylenga – $1,000
- Mark Bissell – $1,000
In the 2020 election Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young was also backed by a lot of the same members of the GR Power Structure, such as:
- Dan Hibma – $2000
- Maria DeVos – $2000
- Cheri DeVos – $2000
- Steve Ehmann – $2000
- Pamela DeVos – $2000
- Dan DeVos – $2000
- Richard DeVos – $2000
Although the amounts were less from this group in 2020, they were still the largest contributors to the Kent County Sheriff. The reasons why they contributed is hard to determine as these wealthy individuals don’t practice transparency, but I believe that they have backed Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young the past two election cycles because she has demonstrated a commitment to protecting order and the status quo, which is primarily beneficial to the wealthiest members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
More importantly Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young has also cooperated with ICE since she became Sheriff in late 2018 after Larry Stelma took an early retirement. The Grand Rapids Power Structure is aware of this dynamic and supports it, since it creates a climate of fear in Kent County, and fear motivates people to not rock the boat or question the most powerful families in Kent County. Thus the Grand Rapids Power Structure has been rewarding Michelle LaJoye-Young for her commitment to protecting their interests.
For several years now GRIID has been looking at the housing issue in Grand Rapids, Kent County and in Michigan. I have been arguing that the market-based policies for housing, even so-called affordable housing are false solutions.
On Wednesday, Michigan State Senator Winnie Brinks posted the following statement on her Facebook page:
Since day one, Michigan Senate Democrats have been tackling the housing crisis head-on — investing record state funding in affordable housing projects, expanding the brownfield redevelopment program, and now creating the Michigan Housing Opportunity Credit and banning large corporate investors from buying up single family homes. Together, our efforts will bring more homes, more opportunity, and more stability to Michigan families for generations to come.
I want to take issue with Senator Brinks on this statement, but first I want to say something about the picture above, which was included in her Facebook post from Wednesday, July 22nd. Gov. Whitmer is signing the transformational brownfield plan program that provides tax incentives for developers. This program did provide $1.6 billion for developers, but that amount has been doubled to $3.2 billion. Signing this bill will green light the DeVos/Van Andel Three Towers project, which will provide $565 million in public subsidies for the billionaire families.
Also included in the picture – on the far right – is Josh Lunger, the governmental affairs staff for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Lunger was behind the push to criminalize the unhoused in Grand Rapids and plays a major role in pushing pro-Chamber of Commerce policies at the state level.
As for the claims made by Senator Brinks, we should not be fooled by the wording, such as affordable housing, banning large corporate investors from buying up single family home, and more stability to Michigan families for generations to come. None of these things are true. First, the state investment for affordable hosing is for developers, not for working class families who can’t afford housing in Michigan. Second, the Governor signing the transformational brownfield plan program benefits large projects like the DeVos/Van Andel Three Towers project, not families who are housing insecure.
Third, on the matter of banning large corporate investors from buying up single family home, this simply isn’t true. House Bill 6074 defines a large institutional investor as an investment fund, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, association or other for-profit entity that directly or indirectly has investment control of more than 100 single-family homes in the state and manages or has a net value of $375 million or more. So, a large investor, corporation or LLC could continue to own up to 100 single family homes. However, if the large investor, corporation or LLC would add new housing stock, substantially rehabilitate an existing home or is part of a program to create a pathway to ownership for a renter, then the cap on controlling 100 single family homes doesn’t apply. The House version of this bill passed with a vote of 102-3 in favor. Thus the language Senator Brinks uses is misleading.
Fourth, when Sen. Brinks says that Michigan Democrats have been tackling the housing crisis head-on, this is also a false statement. When Michigan Democrats had the trifecta of Governor, State Senate and State House, they failed to adopt numerous hosing policies that would benefit working class families, policies that the statewide coalition known as the Rent is Too Damn High were pushing in 2024. See list of bills above. It is also worth noting that this list does not include Rent Control, which tenants have been fighting to win for years.
The Grand Rapids AreaTenant Union presented the list of renter rights bill to Senator Brinks at her home in November of 2024, yet as the Senate Majority leader she failed to get most of these bills passed.
Lastly, it is worth noting that Michigan Democrats have failed to make the minimum wage $25, which would give people a chance to afford the cost of rent in Michigan. The current minimum wage in Michigan is a paltry $13.73 per hour. Michigan Democrats do not fight for working families in Michigan.
Monday, July 20th was the deadline for when political candidates could accept funds for their campaigns.
The statements that candidates have to submit regarding campaign finances is due by 5pm on Monday, July 27. Every day after July 27 candidates will be fined for not filing their campaign finance reports.
This means that for the candidates who are on the August 4 Primary ballot, the public will have one week to access this information, especially since the local commercial news media tends to not report on campaign financing, especially for many of the local races, which GRIID noted in our Media Monitoring report during the last election cycle in 2024.
Campaign financing is a critical component during elections, since you can determine which wealthy individuals, powerful PACs and corporations are contributing to candidates, especially at the local level.
GRIID has been monitoring campaign finance data for years and I am always amazed at how much money goes to local candidates from groups like the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association PAC, the Michigan Realtors PAC and members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, like the DeVos family.
GRIID will be posting campaign finance data for the candidates that appear on the August 4 Primary Election starting this coming weekend.
In addition, if you want to learn how to track campaign finance data please attend the UCC Power Fund workshop Follow the Money: Exploring Candidate’s Campaign Funding on Tuesday, July 28th from 6 – 7:30pm at 413 Hall St. SE, Suite #1 in Grand Rapids. UCC is asking people to RSVP for this event.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 