GRPD Podcast is the latest tool in an ongoing effort to control the narrative around policing in Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids Police Department continues to engage in deceptive tactics, meant to convince the public that they ultimately serve them, to distract us, and to make sure that we are not thinking about the real function of policing in Grand Rapids and beyond.
In September of 2021, the GRPD began a new media project called the GRPD Podcast. The language the GRPD uses to describe the show is this:
A behind the scenes look of the Grand Rapids Police Department, its people, how they operate and their experiences serving and protecting the community. The GRPD is dedicated to community engagement, transparency and information sharing with everyone from our media partners to community stakeholders. If you have suggestions for topics to discuss or guests to be interviewed, please contact us at TrustGRPD@grcity.us
What is instructive about the description of the show, is the language they use, such as, “serving and protecting the community”, along with “community engagement, transparency and information sharing.” Since the podcast began they have only produced 5 episodes and only one since the GRPD murdered Patrick Lyoya in April. The most recent podcast, which aired on November 25th, featured Police Chief Eric Winstrom.
Episode 5 of the GRPD Podcast was just over 40 minutes, where the host asked Chief Winstrom softball questions like, “what do you think of Grand Rapids” and “how did you decide to become a police officer.” In fact, most of the show had nothing to do with the supposed transparency that the podcast is supposed to practice. However, there were some comments that Winstrom made that are worth pointing out.
At about 12:10 into the podcast, when talking about the 2020 riot in Chicago (where Winstrom was before he came to GR) Winstrom referred to the riots as “George Floyd riots.” Let’s be painfully clear that the uprising that took place in Chicago, Grand Rapids and all around the world was because of the police murder of George Floyd. It should more accurately be called the Derek Chauvin created riots of 2020, since he is the cop who killed George Floyd. It would be appropriate to refer to the 2020 uprising as the George Floyd uprising, since his murder inspired people to take action. Words matter Chief Winstrom.
At about 15:30 into the podcast, Winstrom talked about how use of force training in Chicago didn’t happen very often. Winstrom then said that Grand Rapids has an amazing culture of police training. So how was that training applied when the GRPD murdered Patrick Lyoya?
At about 26:50 into the podcast, Winstrom makes the claim that, “everything we do is because the community wants it.” What evidence does Winstrom have? The top cop in GR then said that his department people are always asking the community, “How do you want to be policed,” and they overwhelmingly say “we want to see the police.” Again, how about some evidence.
At about 31:50 into the podcast, Winstrom said, “we need more cops.”
At about 34:20 into the podcast, was the first time that Winstrom even bothered to mention the Patrick Lyoya case. However, Chief Winstrom never mentioned Patrick by name, instead he simply called it “an officer involved shooting in April.” Winstrom, the GRPD and City officials DO NOT Want to Say HIs NAME!
This GRPD podcast is nothing more than another tool of propaganda, meant to dumb us down or lull us into thinking that the GRPD really cares about the well being of the public. You can tell it is a tool of propaganda, because of their use of language, what they say and what they don’t say. Their podcast is designed to be part of a larger effort to control the narrative about policing in Grand Rapids, which they have always been about, but have ramped that effort up since the 2020 uprising in Grand Rapids.
MLive article fails to investigate a Christian health care organization and their legal team, which does not want to provide service to the LGBTQ community
On Monday, MLive posted a news story about a Christian health care facility that filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan in September this year. The MLive article from Monday provides a response from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The organization that filed the lawsuit is Christian Healthcare Centers, which has facilities in Grand Rapids and Newaygo. According to the MLive story, the legal team representing Christian Healthcare Centers is arguing:
“Under the guise of stopping discrimination, the law discriminates against religious organizations, requiring them to forfeit their religious character and hire people who do not share their faith.”
The MLive article continues by stating:
The health care provider also claims Michigan law violates its “religious convictions” by potentially forcing the nonprofit to “prescribe cross-sex hormones” and refer to patients by their “stated gender identity, rather than their biological sex.”
This argument, which is a standard strategy for for conservative and far right religious organizations, hides behind their interpretation of Christianity, in order to avoid having to serve members of the public that are living lives they believe are ideologically opposed to the organization’s values.
Now the particulars of the case were reported accurately in the MLive article. However, the MLive story does a disservice to their readers in terms of how they present the legal team representing Christian Healthcare Centers.
Here is how MLive presented Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group representing the Christian Health Centers, in their November 28th article:
Alliance Defending Freedom has been deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-LGBTQ beliefs. It responded by calling the law center a “radical leftist organization.”
This is a very problematic way to present information about Alliance Defending Freedom. First, there is no verification or further explanation for why the Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed them as a hate group other than “its anti-LGBTQ beliefs.” Here is what the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) writes about Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF):
Founded by some 30 leaders of the Christian Right, the Alliance Defending Freedom is a legal advocacy and training group that has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has contended that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia; and claims that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society. ADF also works to develop “religious liberty” legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion. Since the election of President Trump, ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration’s attack on LGBTQ rights.
The SPLC also lists some concrete examples of why the ADF has a hate group designation:
- Supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and criminalization abroad
- Defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad
- Contended that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia
- Claimed that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society
In addition to the SPLC information, the Center for Media & Democracy has a significant amount of information on Alliance Defending Freedom. GRIID has also posted several articles about groups in West Michigan that have utilized Alliance Defending Freedom in recent years, specifically to defend far right religious ideology. In 2019, we wrote about how Catholic Charities of West Michigan had ADF work on a case to oppose adoption by LGBTQ couples.
The second major problem with the flippant way that MLive presented what the ADF legal firm was with fact that they let ADF refer to the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “radical leftist organization.” The SPLC is hardly a radical organization, since it is impossible for a group to be a non-profit and be radical, at least the way I understand what radical means. It is standard for groups on the far right to refer to groups that oppose them as radical, since such a label is meant to be dismissive and marginalize.
One last problematic aspect of the MLive article is that they don’t explore further the ideological framework of Christian Healthcare Centers. At first glance, there isn’t a great deal of alarming content on the Christian Healthcare Centers website, especially since it primarily about health care related information and services. However, if one looks at who sits on the board of directors, you can get some perspective on why the health care provider is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. A few of their board members are part of the group Samaritan Ministries International. Samaritan Ministries International is also a healthcare entity, which is member-driven. In order to be a member, one must agree to their statement of faith and their membership agreement. The membership agreement limits the type of Christian Churches they find acceptable and they also only believe in heteronormative sex and marriage.
Then there is a board member who is with another Grand Rapids-based group, The Grand Awakening. My read on the Grand Awakening organization is that it is Dominionist, meaning they want Christianity to be the law of the land here in the US. In addition, the leader of The Grand Awakening, Randy Hekman, has written a book that condemns abortion and his blog also condemn abortion on a regular basis. GRIID wrote about a Grand Awakening event that was held in Grand Rapids in 2018, called Cityfest. Cityfest was a Conservative Christian event that was also bankrolled by the DeVos family.
The only daily print newspaper/online news source MLive has once again failed to provide readers with a more critical and investigative understanding on an issue that should be receiving lots of attention from local news sources. LGBTQ rights and safety are under attack in West Michigan and across the US, primarily because of far right Christian groups and the Republican Party. LGBTQ lives are literally at risk, so all news agencies need to step up and report on how they are at risk and which groups are fueling the anti-LGBTQ climate we are currently living in.
The Housing Crisis and Policing in Grand Rapids: What we can expect from the new incoming City Commissioners
Back in October, GRIID posted an article that provided some analysis of the current inequalities and injustices that various social movements in Grand Rapids were attempting to address. We provided several bullet points on the critical issues that these movements were addressing. In that same article, we posted links to the candidates who were running for City Commission, specifically their campaign pages.
Two of the main issues that local movements have been addressing are housing and policing. We now know that Drew Robbins (1st Ward), Lisa Knight (2nd Ward) and Kelsey Perdue (3rd Ward), each were victorious. Here is what each of the candidates who will take office in 2023 had to say about each of these issues during the campaign, at least based on what was on their campaign pages:
Drew Robbins
Robbins did not address housing on his campaign page, but he does say this about policing:
Protecting the community is the number one job of any city. I want to help our new Police Chief, Eric Winstrom, make his changes to the department, to transition from warriors to guardians. Good policing starts with good Commissioners. I want to be your voice on the commission to be helpful, not a hinderance, and to make sure we can all feel we are safe.
Robbins was endorsed by the Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association and received $10,000 from the cop union, funding which played a significant role in his win. This is completely opposite of what the Grand Rapids movements have been demanding at least since June 2020.
Lisa Knight
Knight addressed, both policing and housing on her campaign page. On the matter of policing, this is what she said:
Helping our communities feel safer, through continued work with our local Safety departments, State and Community legislators, to help create policies that will impact our community members positively.
While the language used in talking about policing is more humane, there are no clear policy matters addressed, certainly nothing like what the larger movement around policing has been demanding.
On housing, this is what Knight had to say:
I will work with our City and local organizations to address the lack of housing and be strategic in helping homeowners. I plan to expand housing options and engage our community in the efforts for change.
Again, the rhetoric is positive, but also vague and noncommittal, especially around affordable housing, gentrification, the cost of rent, and the issue of the unhoused, all of which are main issues that the housing justice movement has been addressing.
Kelsey Perdue
Perdue does not address housing issues specifically, but here is what was under her heading on public safety:
There is a lot that makes a community safe and unsafe: affordable housing, hazard-free environments, physical and mental health, trusting police-community relationships, green spaces and inclusive development to name a few. Kelsey will bring transparency and curiosity when reviewing and making public safety investments.
The language that Perdue uses is closer to what some of the movement demands have been, specifically the idea that the more resources that are used for community, the safer they are, thus are less reliant on cops.
Last week, there was a news story that provided some updates on where Robbins, Knight and Perdue stand on the issues of housing and policing, in an article entitled, Housing, public safety are top concerns for 3 new Grand Rapids city commissioners.
Unfortunately, the article frames the issues around policing and housing by relying on information from the GRPD on the matter of policing and crime, and on the matter of housing they rely on data from the City of Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Frey Foundation, K-Connect and Housing Next. In both matters of housing and policing, the reporter limits the narrative and scope of both of these issues. For example, on housing they article deals primarily with the number of housing units needed, but fails to address real affordability, the proliferation of Property Management companies, gentrification and how displacement is taking place in several areas of the city.
The reporter then asks each of the new City Commissioners to get further insight into what they might do to address policing and housing. Lisa Knight had this to say about housing:
“Right now we know that on top of everything else we have to be even more creative in the face of inflation in how we support those who cannot afford quality housing. There are a number of different things that went through my mind, such as: E.g. zoning, tiny houses, container houses – I hope we are all ready to come around the table to find ways to address this.”
On the matter of policing, Knight said, “I want to find more ways that they can work with the community to build a stronger bond of trust than we have right now.”
Knight does at least list some possible housing alternatives, but never addresses the issue of affordability, the massive wealth gap in this city or the lack of a real living wage, which is key to what people can afford. On the matter of policing, Knight accepts the notion that the police can be reformed and that the goal is to build trust, both of which ignore what the real function of policing in this community has always been about, which is the protect systems of power and oppression.
On the issue of housing, Perdue states: “Obviously we have a housing crisis, so we definitely have to be part of the leadership and decision making of how we get out of it,” Perdue said. “We know that lack of supply is a big part of the problem, so it’s really important to ensure what’s within the city’s power to facilitate the construction and renovation of homes at all price points. We know that we need more living space in every price range.”
Again, the issue of income, the lack of a living wage, or that housing is a fundamental human right are absent from her comments, which sees housing within a market framework.
On the matter of policing, Perdue states: “What we’ve heard from the community and local police is that safety and crime prevention is about more than the police. People need resources, opportunities and stability, and housing is also part of that infrastructure and access to care.”
While the language around the lack of resources going to real community needs is important, nothing is addressed around what the function of policing is in this community, how there is a disproportionate policing of communities experiencing poverty, particularly Black and Brown communities.
The response from Robbins is not surprising, considering his open support of the cops and their financial backing of his candidacy. Robbins says: “The most important thing is safety. Police response times and crime have also increased. We still need a police department that is fully staffed and highly trained to respond to calls when they arise.” These comments are essentially talking point that the GRPD and the police union have been using since the demand to defund the GRPD has been raised in June of 2020.
On the matter of housing, Robbins make it about himself, stating, “It’s a very complicated subject and there are a lot of things involved, but I’m a creative thinker and I like to think outside the box.” Robbins also talks about zoning issues, housing density and the housing regulations, which have been concerns and talking points from the Real Estate industry, the Rental Property Owners Association and the GR Chamber of Commerce. Not surprising, Robbins received $10,000 from the GR Chamber of Commerce and $1300 from the Realtors PAC during the campaign.
Time will tell to see what the new City Commissioners will do on the critical issues of housing and policing in the New Year. However, since it is clear that Robbins will do the bidding of his paymasters, the social movements that have been making demands around housing and policing will need to pressure Perdue and Knight to get them to embrace a non-market solution to housing justice and a more abolitionist framework around public safety and policing.
Andor: A wonderfully honest depiction of regular people resisting state repression
“Don’t you want to fight these bastard for real?” (What Stellan Skarsgard’s character says to Diego Luna’s character in an early episode of Andor.)
I don’t usually write about entertainment-based media, even though GRIID has done numerous movie studies (the last was in 2015) and we used to do a regular deconstruction of TV commercials, in a segment we called Media Bites.
However, I finished Season 1 of the Star Wars show, Andor. The show was so good, I felt compelled to write about it.
The character development is phenomenal, the production value is high quality and the story line makes Andor the very best show that has come out of the Star Wars universe. There are several reasons why I think Andor is the best Star Wars show to ever be produced, but the primary reason is because the show demonstrates how regular people engage in resistance to repression and systems of oppression.
Ever since Star Wars came out in the late 1970s, it was clear that the dominant theme of the franchise has pitted those involved in a rebellion against The Empire. Ever since Star Wars became a cultural force in the world, fans have reveled in the courage and defiance of the rebellion, told primarily through the lives of those who are part of the Jedi Order. Now, I don’t think that was a bad decision on the part of the Star Wars producers, specifically George Lucas. However, the problem with making the films and many of the shows centered around people with Jedi powers diminishes the contributions of regular people, which are generally the people that make up resistance movements in the real world.
With Andor, we are introduced to people who orphans, workers, those who run small businesses, prisoners, even those who are part of the Imperial government. For those of us who have studied resistance movements and have participated in resistance movements, the fact that Andor communicates the idea that no matter what your skill level is, the resistance welcomes whatever part you can play.
So, in Andor, we have a member of the Imperial government, who somewhat attempts to influence policy, but her real role is to direct or re-direct funds to support the rebellion. We have one of the resistance movement leaders, who runs an antiques business, but spend a great deal of time coordinating strategic aspects of the resistance, along with recruiting new members. Then there are numerous people who are part of the working class, people who have jobs, yet play a critical role in daily forms of resistance.
Then there are those who are active members of the armed resistance, which engage in actions to destroy Imperial outposts and to infiltrate the military system of The Empire. However, the show doesn’t overly romanticize their role and doesn’t make them out to be people who are more committed to the resistance. In real resistance movements, it is common to over emphasize or romanticize those who are seen as being on the “front lines of the resistance.”
Another powerful aspect of Andor, is the use of moments, particularly moments where people are experiencing oppression, and how these lived experiences often lead to acts of rebellion. For example, when a security detail comes to Ferrix in search of Cassian (Diego Luna), people who have a relationship with Cassian step up to assist him in avoiding the security detail that was dispatched to arrest him.
A second example of movement moments is when Cassian is sent to a work prison, which it turns out is a place that is making parts for the Death Star. In the work prison, the level of repression is significant, but when one of the workers die, people realize that no matter how many days people had until their sentence was over, no one was going to leave. A work prison rebellion begins and overtakes the guards, with hundreds of prisoners gaining their freedom.
A third example of movement moments, is in the season finale, where a funeral was taking place for the person who raised Cassian. In this moment, hundreds participated in a funeral procession, which included musicians, women who were part of the Daughters of Ferrix, a bell tower person and numerous members of the working class who converged onto the streets. There was a military garrison dispatched to Ferrix and they demonstrated even greater repressive tactics in the moments leading up to the funeral. The state repression of those who came to publicly mourn one of their own, was the catalyst for people to rise up and fight back, especially after a digital image/message from Maarva was broadcast as part of the funeral. Maarva’s message was not only a powerful and moving love letter, it was a call to arms! The collective act of defiance/resistance not only demonstrated the incredible courage of people, it conveyed the powerful message that people can and will resist state repression, even though the state has more military power and weaponry.
Having spent a great deal of time working with people who were part of resistance movement in Latin America, specifically, El Salvador, Guatemala and Chiapas (Mexico), I can tell you that Andor is fairly spot on in their depiction of resistance movements and how they work. In the case of the countries I did solidarity and accompaniment work, The Empire in those circumstance was the US government. Yes, it is true that each of the national governments in the countries I was working in, was doing the primary dirty work of state repression, but the US government was always providing military assistance, training, weapons, intelligence, along with imposing a larger imperial policy that these governments had to adopt in order to continue reap the benefits of said imperial policies.
In Andor, the state repression was reflected in the constant military presence in all aspects of life. In every episode we see military reach with check points, with limitation of movement by people, constant surveillance, the prison industrial complex, the judicial system, the use of spies and other intelligence gather resources, the use of torture and the attempt by The Empire to control the public narratives about what was happening. Andor even includes meetings between those in charge of intelligence gathering and those who oversee military sectors, meetings which reflect very honest conversation about how to adjust and plan for further state repression. Most of these meetings were a direct response to the increased activities of those involved in the resistance movement, which is exactly how is has worked in the real world.
All of these elements make Andor one of the best media productions in recent years, specifically when it comes depicting movements resisting state repression. The show is an important mechanism to have robust conversations about the existing and potential resistance movements for our time, particularly in the US, which is The Empire. I can’t wait to see what Season 2 will have in store for us.
Group that spray painted a message to Focus on the Family after Club Q shooting, calls out the DeVos family for their role in fostering an anti-LGBTQ ideology
It has been a week since a lone gunman entered Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, shooting and killing at least five people and injuring 25 others.
As with most mass shootings, US officials make vague pronouncements, offer condolences and make promises to enact “tougher gun laws.” US President Joe Biden did acknowledge, “that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years.” Unfortunately, Biden never addresses the root causes of the horrific hate violence directed at the LGBTQI+ community.
However, more radical LGBTQ groups, particularly those that identify as queer and trans, have been calling out the source(s) of all of the violence directed at them. The site It’s Going Down, posted an image that many people are sharing on social media, where people spray painted graffiti on the wall of the complex for the far right group, Focus on the Family.
The graffiti states, Their Blood is on Your Hands – Five Lives Taken!
Unfortunately, the accompanying statement that went with the image taken of the Focus on the Family complex, is often not included with the image. The group that is claiming responsibility for the spray painted message released the following statement:
“It is important to us that you understand why Focus on the Family must be held accountable for the ramifications of their hateful theology. You have likely seen the onslaught of anti-trans legislation, of which Focus on the Family is a huge proponent, both in funding and propaganda. With an alarmingly expansive network, they work closely with powerful entities, such as the DeVos family, to promote and fund this anti-trans legislation. Focus on the Family’s goal is to eradicate queerness. Tactics they use to achieve this include indoctrination, media saturation, falsified research, and conversion therapy. We encourage you to continue to investigate the many examples of their culpability, which can be found front and center on their own website.”
GRIID has been monitoring the kind of support from the DeVos (and Prince and Van Andel) family, which is reflected in this statement. In 2016, when the the shooting at the Pulse Night Club happened in Orlando, Florida, GRIID wrote a response talking about the role that the DeVos family has played in creating an anti-LGBTQ culture, which normalizes violence against those in lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans and queer communities. In more recent posts, we have also made the connection to the funding of the DeVos family and how it fosters anti-LGBTQ violence, specifically in the Republican candidates they have endorsed. Here is just a sample of some of those recent posts:
Republican Representatives introduce a vicious anti-trans bill in the Michigan State House
Now, Grand Rapids likes to claim that they are all about equity and inclusion, but think about this for a moment. There are some 800 churches in Grand Rapids, yet there are only a few that have publicly stated that they support and welcome the LGBTQ community. If you go to the site https://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/ and put in Grand Rapids, Michigan, you can see that there are 30 churches listed as open and affirming. 30 out of 800, while pitiful, is not because of a lack of education, but a reflection of the fact that this city, and West Michigan as a whole, is deeply rooted in heteronormativity, which means it is inherently anti-LGBTQ. A major contributing factor in the heteronormativity in this city is because of the role that the DeVos/Prince/Van Andel/Cook families and other members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure play in fostering an anti-LGBTQ culture.
So instead of vague statements or thoughts & prayers for those who were killed at Club Q or the Pulse, or potentially at places like Rumors right here in Grand Rapids, why don’t we organize a real solidarity action that exposes the DeVos family in the same way as the queer activists did in Colorado?
Invest in Community Care, Not Cops: Kent County Sheriff’s Department wants nearly $3 Million CARES Act funding for themselves
On Wednesday, MLive posted an article about the reduced list of proposals in Kent County that would utilize the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the Kent County Commission will decide upon on December 1st.
In September, GRIID reported on the then 319 proposals that had been submitted to the County, proposals that were hoping to use the $127.6 million in COVID-19 stimulus funding that Kent County received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
One of the proposals that is still in the running comes from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department. Their proposal is asking for $2,837,500 is for a School Safety Radio Network. You can read the proposal in the MLive article, but essentially the Kent County Sheriff’s Department wants to use nearly $3 Million to create a new communication system for schools in the event of future school shootings in Kent County.
There are several reasons why this proposal should be outright rejected. First, the proposal from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department continues a trend that began in 2020, where local law enforcement agencies have continued to re-direct CARES Act funding away from the public and those who most need it. A May 2021 report from the group Interrupting Criminalization entitled, Divesting from Pandemic Policing and Investing in Just Recovery, provides us with this important analysis:
Second, decades of police militarization since Columbine have not only failed to stop mass shootings, we frequently see police put their own safety above that of the people they are supposed to protect. This was clearly demonstrated in the school shooting earlier this year in Uvalde, Texas. That police fail to keep us safe is nothing new, even in situations of mass shootings. During the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the school cop Scot Peterson cowered right outside the building while seventeen people were killed. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association from just last year found that “armed guards were not associated with significant reduction in rates of injuries” and that “the rate of deaths was 2.83 times greater in schools with an armed guard present.” I am not aware of a case where the police have actually stopped a school shooting from happening in the act.
Those of us who have been calling for the defunding of police departments — indeed for police abolition in favor of real, collective public safety practices — have been treated by Democratic and Republican leaders and commentators alike as fanatical. In the face of decades, if not centuries of evidence exposing what the work of policing actually entails — and does not entail — the true ideologues are those committed to policing as a social solution.
Now, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department proposal for a new communication system in every school in Kent County is designed to, “provide area law enforcement with critical, factual, and real-time information they need to respond and end school-related incidents..” As we have been stating throughout this article, there is no evidence that sending cops to schools that are facing an active shooter does little to actually prevent students and teachers from being shot. In fact, funding the proposal from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department further legitimizes that institution and perpetuates the myth that cops actually protect the public.
If you don’t want to see nearly $3 Million of the CARES Act funding go to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, then you should tell them NO. Go to this link, which provides contact information for all 21 Kent County Commissioners. Tell them NO funding for cops, only community care!
The Future of ArtPrize: Get the Public sector to do the bulk of the work plus funding, while the private sector reaps the rewards
It is fairly well known that Rick DeVos is relinquishing control of ArtPrize and has decide to discontinue the regular art/tourism money making spectacle that happens every fall in downtown Grand Rapids.
Recently, WOOD TV 8 media personalities, conducted an interview with Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, to discuss the future of ArtPrize and what people can expect for next year. The interview was posted online on November 15th, which you can find here.
The WOOD TV 8 media personalities first asked Mayor Bliss, “why was it so important for the City of Grand Rapids to keep ArtPrize going?” The response from Bliss was instructive, particularly in terms of what was most valuable to City officials about the annual event.
Here are the things that the Mayor centered on why ArtPrize was so important for Grand Rapids:
- ArtPrize put Grand Rapids on the International map in terms of art.
- ArtPrize is a huge economic driver for Grand Rapids. Small businesses rely on it, it is a mechanism for tourism, and it highlights the city across the globe.
- ArtPrize will continue to be a public/private partnership, which is what Grand Rapids is known for.
- They are getting feedback from the public, the artists, and the venues, which will inform how to move forward.
These four items are a way of gauging the lens in which ArtPrize is seen by those who run the city. First, it is mentioned in point one and again in point number two that the event brings people in from across the country and around the world.
The second point that is mentioned by the Mayor, which is really the driving force behind the value of Artprize, is how much money it brings into the City of Grand Rapids. This was the point that Sam Cummings, a member of the GR Power Structure and partner with CWD Real Estate Investments, had made back in 2010 about the value of ArtPrize. “Our long-term goal is really to import capital – intellectual capital, and ultimately real capital. And this (ArtPrize) is certainly an extraordinary tool.”
In the third point, Mayor Bliss not only stressed the public/private partnership aspect of Grand Rapids, but went as far as to say that this is what Grand Rapids is known for. Lets be clearly, when city leaders talk about public/private partnerships, what they really mean is that the private sectors benefits from making a great deal of money from ArtPrize, while the public sector uses public money, with little or no input from the public and they only public benefit is that Grand Rapids get more recognition and tourism, which ultimately means more money for the private sector.
The fourth, and last point, was the required feedback from the public, artists and the venues involved, which usually means the loudest voices in each of those arenas, but really means that the venues (which are primarily businesses) will have the most influential voice in the process.
At one point, one of the WOOD TV 8 personalities said, “Everyone looks forward to it,” which is to say that no one in their right mind thinks that ArtPrize isn’t the greatest thing since indoor plumbing.
Later in the interview, another WOOD TV 8 personality asks, “with all of the new hotels and hotel expansion, how important is ArtPrize for the area.” The Mayor responds by saying that during COVID so many businesses were asking when ArtPrize was happening again. She also said the event is important in terms of attracting people to the city and drawing national attention. Again, the economic benefit is centered, as is the PR benefits for the city, which usually about money as well.
One last question from a WOOD TV 8 personality asks, “what are the next steps?”Mayor says they are in the process of identifying additional leaders to be on the board of directors, then get dates set, so we can get the word out about ArtPrize 2023. Additional leaders? This usually mean people who are either members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, those who work for organization run by the GR Power Structure or those who at the very least defend the function of the GR Power Structure.
We do know that as of right now, the three entities that will run the future ArtPrize are, the City of Grand Rapids, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and Kendall College.
It is also worth mentioning the things that the Mayor did not mention or did not center in her comments. Artists are only mentioned once in the interview, and that was in reference to getting feedback from those who have participated. The public was only centered once, again as an entity to get feedback from. No where does the Mayor talk about the cultural and social impact of ArtPrize, nor does Mayor Bliss mention equity or if/how such an event can benefit the most marginalized in Grand Rapids or work towards creating racial justice, something the Mayor and City officials claim they are working towards.
In the end, one can expect that the future of ArtPrize will continue to be a benefit primarily for the private sector, to be a tool used for generating tourism and positive PR. The only real difference that I can see with Rick DeVos no longer running ArtPrize, is that he got the City of Grand Rapids to take it over. Ultimately, this means City funds, City resources and City staff time will be spent on an event that will primarily benefit the private sector. It’s sort of like a reverse austerity measure, where instead of privatizing a public service, the private sector gets the public sector to underwriting and promote ArtPrize, yet the private sector is the primary beneficiary of the monied art spectacle.
Is the DeVos family getting involved in another land deal in Grand Rapids, this time in the 2nd Ward?
(Updated version of this story, with new information added on November 23rd from someone who contacted GRIID.)
As readers on this blog will know, anytime the DeVos family gets involved in purchasing property, especially for future housing projects, the public should be very concerned about such projects.
In 2017, when the DeVos/Rockford Construction Company partnership spent millions to buy up several dozen properties in the Third Ward, specifically the Boston Square Neighborhood. All of this happened without resident knowledge. The DeVos/Rockford Construction land grab in the Third Ward was then followed by the Doug & Maria DeVos Foundation’s creation of AmplifyGR, which was charged with implementing DeVos-family values, such as creating entrepreneurs, educational opportunities outside of the Public School system and taking advantage of public money to achieve said goals. You can read all of the GRIID postings on the DeVos/Rockford Construction/AmplifyGR project at this link https://griid.org/tag/amplifygr/.
We recently learned of a land purchase by the DeVos family in the Second Ward, just east of the Kent Country Club on Diamond and Country Club Dr. NE. MiBiz posted an article on November 8th, which read in part:
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy recently awarded a total of $1.73 million in brownfield grants for three redevelopments on contaminated properties in West Michigan.
The brownfield grants include $1 million for the Boston Square Together project in Grand Rapids, $430,000 for a multi-building apartment project in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood, and $300,000 for a condominium development at 815 Verhoeks St. in Grand Haven.
The state agency awarded the grants to the city of Grand Rapids’ Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and its Economic Development Corp. as well as the Grand Haven Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. The local entities plan to allocate the funds to the three redevelopment projects.
The grants will fund demolition, environmental investigations, disposal of contaminated soil and the installation of barriers and ventilation systems beneath future buildings to prevent potential exposure to residual contamination.
Jacey Shachter, president of Metric Structures LLC and developer of the Country Club Place project in the Creston neighborhood, said the $430,000 in brownfield funding is an important step for the project. The $8 million project would contain two apartment buildings with multiple levels, but a unit count is still undetermined, Shachter said.
“We like to do infill community development,” Shachter told MiBiz. “This is right in the Creston neighborhood, it’s been vacant for a long time and we like a good puzzle to figure out how we can add value and activate some of these infill sites.”
The development would be located on two parcels at 1603 Diamond Ave. NE and 1600 Country Club Drive NE. The plan calls for demolishing a 1,189-square-foot existing building on the site, allowing for the removal of contaminated soils underneath.
Affiliates of RDV Corp., the family office for the DeVos family, purchased both properties for $270,000 in June 2021, according to property records. Artesian Group LLC, registered to Angel Gonzalez, is the former property owner.
“The City of Grand Rapids Economic Development Corporation is grateful to EGLE for their investment in the cleanup efforts of this project,” Jonathan Klooster, executive director of the Grand Rapids Economic Development Corp., said in a statement. “Our partnership continues to make urban infill projects like this financially feasible and helps to incrementally increase housing supply in our community.”
Shachter hopes to break ground on the project in spring of 2023. Grand Rapids-based MEM Designs LLC serves as the project designer.
In looking at who actually purchased the land, which the MiBiz article refers to as, “Affiliates of RDV Corp., the family office for the DeVos family, we were able to find this information from this City of Grand Rapids link https://bsaonline.com/?uid=115. If you put in 1603 Diamond Ave. NE, it says that the owner of the property is 1600 COUNTRY CLUB LLC, which is located at 4940 Cascade Rd SE, Suite 220, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. Guess what entity has an office at 940 Cascade Rd SE, CDV5 Property Management, which is run by Cheri DeVos.
People with wealth and those involved in land grabs, often create LLCs to hide their identity. CDV5 Property Management purchased the property in June of 2021. If you enter 1600 Country Club Drive NE, you get the same information, that it was purchased by 1600 Country Club LLC, which is Cheri DeVos’ property management company. In addition, it is important to note that Jacey Shachter, who is the president of Metric Structures LLC (the developer for the housing project mentioned in the MiBiz article), is the daughter of Steve Ehmann, the husband of Cheri DeVos and co-owner of CDV5 Property Management. As is the case with many DeVos family companies and projects, they often contract with other family members, which keeps the wealth in house.
The 1603 Diamond NE property has an old commercial building on the site, but the land listed as 1600 Country Club Drive NE is a vacant lot.
Lastly, it is important to note that the property currently owned by the DeVos family is a beneficiary of the brownfield development funds, which is public money, for environmental clean up for the land they now own. You can also bet that when this land is developed, it will also likely submit a request to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for more public funds to develop the property. Now, we don’t know if the DeVos family when end up owning the new housing project, but if they do, they will double dip for public subsidies, while profiting from either the management of the developed property or the sale of it after the development is complete. Isn’t Capitalism wonderful……..at least for the rich.
Doug DeVos had a conversation on his podcast about leadership with Mike Pence, Mike F**king Pence
On the October 25th episode of Doug DeVos’ podcast Believe, he discussed the topic of what it means to be a leader, with former Vice President, Mike Pence.
For the next 48 minutes, DeVos and Pence talked about what they thought leadership was all about, even though I had a hard time identifying what they hell they were really talking about. I would not recommend listening to the show yourself, but if you have 48 minutes to waste, then by all means. What follows are a few observations that I took away from their conversation.
For the first two and a half minutes Pence talked about the fact that he has been an admirer of Doug and the DeVos family for years. Then, DeVos return the admiration, which quickly turned into a love-fest.
The first thing that Mike Pence said about leadership, was that it was a gift “we get from God.” Pence then went in to talk about his foundation of leadership, which is knowing who one is. For Pence, he is first a Christian, then a Conservative and lastly a Republican.
Pence then said that he aspired to embrace a servant leadership model. DeVos then chimed in saying that leadership is having a sense of humility. Ok, how it it that these two rich, white, deeply privileged people can say shit like this with a straight face. Are they just saying it because this is what those who look up to them want to hear, or do they really believe this crap?.
Doug DeVos then asked Pence, “how do you avoid bad judgment or pitfalls?” Pence responded by saying it all has to do with how you begin your day. Pence said, he began his day with prayer and reading the Bible.
DeVos then asked Pence how he puts principles into action. Pence said he was involved in the group Advancing American Freedom, which is essentially a group of mostly former Trump Administration people, along with other far right Republicans. Their principles and goals are just more of the same.
Finally about two thirds into the conversation, Pence said this about Donald Trump, “Trump was a great leader and great personality.” So much for distancing himself from the former President and now Presidential candidate. It is incredulous that Pence could say this about a man who engaged in so much hateful rhetoric, on top of the loathsome policies that oppressed so many and rewarded so few.
Doug DeVos then asked about the pandemic and leadership from the Trump Administration. The response from Pence had me listening in disbelief. Pence said that Trump did something that was historic, which was to suspend travel from China. The former Vice President then said they need a broad range of counsel on the pandemic, so they listened to experts, like people from the CDC. Pence then went on to say the following about the Trump Administration. “We saved thousands, if not millions of lives in those early days.” I don’t know what is worse, the fact that Pence was literally creating a fictional history of how the Trump administration responded to the pandemic, or the fact that Doug DeVos said nothing to question or challenge this assertion. On the conservative side of the numbers, there was an Associated Press article with the headline, Shameful’: US virus deaths top 400K as Trump leaves office.
The conversation on leadership ended with DeVos and Pence talking about how the US leads the world. DeVos asked the question, “How does American leadership impact the world?” Pence responded by saying that America is the indispensable leader of the world, and that the world looks to America and counts on America for leadership. Again, are they saying this to satisfy their listeners or because they really believe this shit?
At the very end of the conversation, Pence makes a plug for his new book, which is an autobiography, entitled, So Help Me God! All I could think about was, this is the phrase my mother would use when she was anger with us kids. “So help me God, wait til your father gets home.“
In the end, I do believe that what Pence and DeVos were saying throughout the conversation was not just for listeners, they both really believed every word they were saying. This is one of the things about people who embrace religious ideology. Of course they believe what they said, because they think that God talks to them and justifies all the horrible shit they do in the world. I’m rich because God wants me to be. I hate gays because God told me so, Women are murderers if they have an abortion, because….yeah, God.
People like Doug DeVos and Mike Pence live lives that are so insulated from the real world, that they have no idea about the harm they cause, nor the pain and suffering that countless people experience because of their ideological bullshit.
The Un-affordability of housing in Grand Rapids
At Tuesday’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting, one agenda item a resolution approving the establishment of the Lofts on Grove Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ) for the parcels of property located at 1359 and 1329 Plainfield Avenue NE.
The agenda item can be found in the Agenda Packet for Tuesday, November 15, pages 12 – 17. Part of the text for this resolution reads:
The Developer, which is affiliated with First Companies, owns the Property and proposes to demolish the existing buildings and site improvements to construct a new, mixed-use four-story building containing 3,275 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 110 market-rate residential units. Total investment in the project is estimated at $24.4 million with hard construction costs of approximately $18.6 million. Ten new jobs are expected to be created by the tenant of the commercial space, with wages anticipated to be $15.00 per hour with benefits.
The Developer has also been approved for reimbursement of up to $1,146,476 for brownfield eligible activities including environmental assessment, demolition, lead and asbestos abatement, site preparation, and infrastructure improvements. Reimbursement is expected to occur over a 13-year period, with an additional five years of capture for the Local Brownfield Revolving Fund.
So, the developer will get reimbursed just over $1 Million in this process, which is a lovely perk. Later in the proposal, the cost levels for renting a studio apartment, a 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, which are shown here below.
Now, the average wage of the 10 new jobs that will be created in this project is $15 an hour, which would be $31,200 a year for 40 hours a week before taxes. Let’s be generous and say that after taxes, someone making $15 an hour would make $28,000 in take home pay. This means that for those who would rent the studio apartments, they would spend half of their income, at $14,100. If one wanted to rent a 1 bedroom apartment, which would cost $17,400 for a year, this would leave them with only $10,000 left for utilities, food, transportation, health care, entertainment, etc., which would mean they would have $833 a month to cover all expenses other than housing.
Grand Rapids, like most cities in the US, continues to perpetuate a housing crisis. Housing is un-affordable because city officials and many housing organizations can’t look past market solutions to this crisis. How can you expect people to live on $15 an hour, which is the average wage of the jobs created in the Lofts on Grove businesses, making is very difficult to afford the cost of rent for the apartments that will be located above where they work?
The National Low Income Housing Coalition provides excellent information on affordability of rent in all states, including Michigan, which you can find here https://nlihc.org/oor/state/mi. The graphic below, provides a good summary of the average cost of rent and what people need to earn per hour to afford most rent. As you can see in the graphic, for those renting in Grand Rapids, you need to earn $20.02 an hour to afford the average rent. There are literally tens of thousands of individuals and families who do not make $20 an hour in Grand Rapids, yet developers keep creating housing that is un-affordable for so many people.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 