GR Chamber of Commerce Policy Conference event: Some pictures are worth millions

Last week, we posted an article that provided some analysis of the larger vision of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.

We noted in that article that the GR Chamber was emphasizing in their vision, three distinct areas – 1) development projects, which they refer to as “amenities”, 2) responding to the housing crisis by pushing a Neo-Liberal Capitalist model, and 3) embracing the GRPD’s role as a defender of property (but let’s be honest, the property of the wealthiest and their underlings), along with pushing for more cops.

Each of these three vision points were discussed last Wednesday, at what the GR Chamber was calling a Grand Rapids Policy Conference. The conference included business leaders, community leaders, and local thought leaders. To attend the conference people needed to pay $250, unless you were a Chamber member, in which case it was a mere $200. GRIID had sent a request to attend as media, but the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce didn’t even bother to respond. Apparently, they only want media that embraces Capitalism and won’t challenge their role in the Grand Rapids community.

Therefore, I must rely on the pictures that the Chamber posted on their Facebook page, since I was denied the opportunity to independently report on the Policy Conference, and because none of the local commercial news media reported on it.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousands words, but I also believe that pictures can tell us a great deal about people and those in power.

The above image, shows the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce’s President Rick Baker addressing those in attendance. In addition, we see on the conference screen, a list of the corporate sponsors of the event, which also include a few media entities, along with other institutional sponsors. As you can see, WOODTV8 was a conference sponsor, yet they failed to report on the conference. 

In this second image (here on the right), you can see the CEO of Rockford Construction, Mike VanGessel. VanGessel is part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, has been a key partner with the DeVos family in gentrifying the near westside and buying millions of dollars of property in the Boston Square Neighborhood, as part of the AmplifyGR project. In addition, VanGessel was a major player in pushing for the two ordinances that the City of Grand Rapids adopted on July 25th, ordinances that have criminalized the unhoused.

In this next picture above, you can see Josh Lungar,  the chamber’s vice president of government affairs, next to the Grand Rapids Police Chief, Eric Winstrom. Winstrom is no doubt speaking about how the GRPD will protect the interests of the downtown business owners, along with thought about those pesky protestors, the ones who have been challenging the local power structure, Grand Rapids and City officials and the GRPD over policing issues, institutionalized racism, and disrupting business as usual.

In this next picture, shown above, you can see several area elected officials schmoozing with members of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Indeed, as we have reported before, the GR Chamber often make contributions to candidates running for local office, therefore, if candidates or incumbents want to continue to be the beneficiaries of campaign contributions, then attending their events and supporting the Chamber’s vision is critical. Pictured is Mayor Bliss on the left, with City Commissioner Lisa Knight on the right, along with County Commissioner Tony Baker. 

This next picture, we see people with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce created group, Housing Next, speaking during the policy conference. Note the kinds of things that are listed that they want to do. All of those items are a reflection of their commitment to solving the housing crisis through the market. What we don’t see listed are challenging the power of financial institutions that have made the cost of housing so unaffordable, elevating tenants and their fight against exploitation by landlords and property management companies, the issue of how much money the real estate industry and landlord associations contribute to political candidates, or the fact that most companies don’t pay workers livable wages, which is why so many can’t afford to buy a home or pay rent.

Then there is this photo above, which includes Josh Lunger once again on the left, City Manager Mark Washington in the center, and Al Vandenberg, who is the Administrator for Kent County. What is instructive about this picture is that even though we have elected officials at the City and County level, the Grand Rapids City Manager and the Kent County Administrator are more powerful than those elected in both commissions. 

Last, but not least, the picture below is a fun one, with two Chamber staff members standing with Mayor Bliss, City Manager Mark Washington and Lupe Ramos-Montigny. Lupe Ramos-Montigny has been a Democratic Party operative for many years in Kent County. She is also the founder of the Committee to Honor Cesar Chavez, and she campaigned last fall to help get Andrew Robbins elected as a Grand Rapids 1st Ward City Commissioner. Robbins received $10,500 from the GR Chamber of Commerce, $10,500 from the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association and lots of money from several members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, which you can see at this link. I don’t see how someone who founded the Committee to Honor Cesar Chavez can actually believe that they are honoring the legacy of someone who not only organized migrant workers to fight against corporate agribusinesses, but was deeply committed to non-violent direct action.

Thus you can see how a picture can be worth a thousand words, or in the case of the Chamber of Commerce and their collaborators, a picture is worth millions of dollars.