Buying Energy Policy in Michigan is a Bipartisan Affair: Lobbyists for DTE and Consumers Energy
A recent report from Michigan Campaign Finance Report documents how state legislators, regardless of party affiliation, are influenced by DTE Energy and Consumers Energy on energy policy.
The report states:
In addition to the lobbyists working on the legislation, at least 86 individual companies have made their positions known by providing official statements to lawmakers. They range from Ford Motor The top photograph shows the scene at a Senate Energy and Technology Committee this spring.Company to a Holiday Inn Express in Bad Axe. On top of those businesses, at least 95 interest groups or governments have also officially weighed in.
At the center of the fight are the state’s dominant electric utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. Combined, the two utilities have 42 individuals or firms that are registered as lobbyists they employ. However, DTE says not all of its lobbyists are actively working on energy reforms. Plus, DTE and Consumers each work with at least one of the state’s eight largest multi-client firms, which don’t have to disclose how many of their lobbyists are working on specific proposals.
One can see from this first graphic how both Republican and Democratic legislators in Michigan rely heavily on funding from DTE Energy and Consumers Energy.
- Of the 63 GOP State Representatives, 25 of them have DTE or Consumers Energy as Top 10 donors.
- For the 45 Democratic State Representatives, 22 of them have DTE or Consumers Energy as Top 10 donors.
- In the Michigan Senate there are there are 22 out of the 27 GOP Senators with DTE or Consumers Energy as Top 10 donors and 9 out of 10 for the Democratic State Senators.
Looking at the second graphic, nearly every member of the Michigan Legislature has received donations from DTE Energy or Consumers Energy. Only 1 Republican State Representative and three Democrats have not received any donations from the two major energy companies in Michigan. However, every single member of the Michigan State Senate has received funds from either DTE Energy or Consumers Energy.
You can track how much each member of the Michigan Legislature has received funding from DTE of Consumers Energy, by going to the MCFN donor tracking data base.
The report from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network also lists the top 100 lobbyists in Michigan working on energy policy. The majority of these lobbyists are paid by private businesses, such as DTE, Consumers Energy, Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Whirlpool. In addition, there are numerous business associations that also have paid lobbyist on energy policy such as the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Manufacturing Association.
There are a few entities that have paid lobbyists on energy policy that are based in West Michigan, such as the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and Amway.
(As a matter of transparency, I was part of the Black Lives Matter Grand Rapids action at the Am I Next rally on Saturday.)
On Saturday, several hundred people gathered at Rosa Parks Circle for an event entitled Am I Next, organized by four black teenagers, in response to recent shootings across the US.
The rally lasted about an hour and featured a representative from the City of Grand Rapids, commentary from the four organizers, the Grand Rapids Chief of Police, 2 representatives from the Western branch of the ACLU, someone from the Be Nice campaign and several religious leaders.
The rally speakers had some useful things to say, but much of the information that was shared focused on individual behavior, particularly on what individuals need to do to be safe and protect themselves. This was overwhelmingly the message of the person from the Be Nice campaign and the information that was shared by the ACLU about “knowing your rights.”
In other words, there was no critique or analysis of state violence at the hands of law enforcement. There was no analysis of why blacks are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement with repression and there was no critique of other systems of oppression such as White Supremacy and capitalism.
What the crowd was implored to do was to be nice or ask for a lawyer. Such advise is mostly irrelevant when people of color are confronted by state violence at the hands of the police. What good is it to be nice when the cops are beating you? The Grand Rapids Police Chief even had the audacity to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, by saying, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” How dare he try to appropriate Dr. King and the Black Freedom movement, which was constantly monitored, harassed, arrested, brutalized and murdered by the very same law enforcement agencies.
One of the main reasons why Black Lives Matter GR came to the Am I Next rally was to make it clear that police brutality and repression against the black community happens in Grand Rapids. This is why they stood up and held signs right in front of the stage when the Chief of Police spoke, so ask to make a clear statement about why it was problematic for the rally organizers to invite the head of an organization that targets, harasses and brutalizes black people on a daily basis in Grand Rapids. To read the Black Lives Matter Grand Rapids statement, go to this link.
How commercial media framed the event
As of this writing, there has been commercial news coverage on the three Grand Rapids-based TV stations and MLive.
The WOOD TV 8 story was framed as a “peaceful” event, juxtaposing the direct action tactics with other places in the country, with the permitted gathering in Grand Rapids. Framing the story this way made it seem like the gathering in Grand Rapids was respectable, when in fact, it demonized confrontational actions. The story gave voice to the organizers of the event and the Grand Rapids Chief of Police. They did mention the statement that BLM GR had published a few days earlier and that members where there to protest when the Chief of Police spoke, but no one from Black Lives Matter GR were interviewed.
The WZZM 13 story also promoted respectability politics and framed the story as a peaceful gathering. Channel 13 gave voice to the organizers of the event and an ACLU representative, but did include a quote from the Black Lives Matter statement on why they were not promoting the event. 
The WXMI 17 story continued the “peaceful” mantra, but offered no substantive difference to how the other TV stations covered the issue and completely ignored the Black Lives Matter Grand Rapids presence.
The Mlive story was also overly simplistic, with quotes from the organizers, a couple who attended the event and someone from the Grand Rapids Urban League. The MLive story did mention the action that the Grand Rapids Black Lives Matter group took while the Chief of Police spoke, along with a brief comment from one of the groups members at the end of the article, a comment which appears to be taken out of context.
According to a recent report from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, the top 150 Political Action Committees (PACs) have raised $26 million this year through April. The top ten PACs in Michigan are listed below, but you can go to this link to see what other groups are raising money to buy the elections.
Of course there are the usual suspects such as Republican and Democratic Party PACs, which are acting in their own self interest. In fact, most PACs raise money for their own self interests. The Michigan Farm Bureau wants to make sure that agribusiness interests are taken care of by the politicians in Lansing, just like corporations such as DTE, Ford, Consumers Energy, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Meijer.
Then there are other groups like the DeVos led PAC, the Great Lakes Education Project, which seeks to undermine public education. There are other entities like the Michigan and Grand Rapids Chambers of Commerce, which will also try to secure the interest of the capitalist class through their PACs come the November election.
There is nothing shocking or revealing about such entities, which will continue to raise and spend millions of dollars before the election day on November. However, if one looks at the list of top Political Action Committees, one can see that there are numerous trade unions that have also raised collectively several million dollars. Now, it is no secret that they too are trying to influence the outcome of the election and are primarily throwing their funds behind the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates.
Remember in 2012, when labor groups tried to get Prop 2 passed in Michigan? Unions spent $21.9 million dollars that year to push for Proposal 2. What if that amount of money, along with all the current labor-based PAC money, was spent on paying people to become organizers, to provide resources to those doing organizing campaigns wherever workers wanted to organize? Workplace democracy is one of the strongest forms of democracy and can trump Right to Work laws. If businesses do not have compliant workers, they can’t make money.
In addition, what if unions, which are spending millions on the current election, would redirect those funds to building affordable housing in their communities. What about re-directing those funds used for elections to create community gardens in urban spaces to improve the nutrition of families with children? Imagine if unions collectively spent money that made the statement Black Lives Matter and assisted Black families experiencing poverty, increased rent costs and mass incarceration. Don’t you think that taking these kinds of actions would send a strong message that labor groups truly care about working class people? Imagine what such a show of solidarity would do to build membership. More importantly, imagine how it might radically challenge systems of power and oppression.
BUT…….this is not likely to happen. Those same unions will spend millions and millions of dollars on electoral politics. So, how is that strategy working out for communities of color, undocumented immigrants, communities experiencing violence at the hands of the state and working class families who are struggling to survive? That answer seems pretty obvious. An electoral strategy doesn’t work for communities of color, undocumented immigrants and working class families. The reality is that the trade unions, which give millions to the Democratic Party, send a very real and clear message – Black Lives Don’t Matter!
Trust Us, We’re Experts: Rockford Construction, public forums and westside development projects
Last Thursday, a community forum was held at Rockford Construction’s westside facility in Grand Rapids on proposed plans for a new construction project.
The event was promoted on facebook with the following description:
“Please come out to Rockford Construction to meet their new Director of Community Engagement, Brad Mathis and learn about the proposed zoning update on the WestSide’s Bridge Street and Stocking Block.”
The forum was planned from 6 – 7pm, which started a little late and finished with little time for public comment. There were three people with Rockford Construction presenting, Suzanne Schultz from the Grand Rapids Planning Commission and representative with the Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), Ryan Schmidt.
After a brief welcoming and overview from a Rockford representative, Brad Mathis, Rockford Construction’s new Director of Community Development spoke. Mathis talked mostly about how Rockford Construction is a values oriented organization. He offered up 5 points that reflected what the company is all about: beauty, quality/diverse housing, a healthy blend between office and retail space, economic development/employment and lastly, work that is inclusive. Mathis went on to state that what the company is doing, “lines up with what the City of Grand Rapids is doing.”
The hiring of Mathis can be seen as a PR move, since Rockford has come under some scrutiny in recent months, especially over the proposed project on the southeast side of Grand Rapids and their current projects on the near westside, particularly on Fulton and Bridge street.
Suzanne Schultz, with the Grand Rapids Planning Department, spoke after Mathis. While some of the information presented by Schultz was instructive, it seemed rather unnecessary given the time constraints of the meeting and offered no concrete information on the proposed project by Rockford Construction.
Ryan Schmidt, with ICCF, went next and talked specifically about their partnership with Rockford Construction to potentially construct 60 affordable housing units on Stocking St, roughly at the location of the current Stockbridge Pub. ICCF has submitted with the state of Michigan an application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits and is one of 58 applicants. VerWys said that only a dozen projects in the state would be approved, but that he felt that ICCF’s application stood a good chance. They would most likely know in October of this year if the funding for such a project would be approved.
The last presenter was also with Rockford Construction, who gave a brief summary of the larger development project, which would include a potential partnership with ICCF. The hour allotted for the meeting had already passed at this point, but Rockford Construction representatives then fielded a few questions. One major question centered around the issue of affordable housing and whether or not the additional housing offered in the new project would be “market rate.” The person asking the question also made it clear that many of the residents who lived west, south and north of the proposed project cannot afford the rental costs of the Rockford Construction projects located on Bridge and Fulton streets. The Rockford representative did confirm that the additional housing units would be market rate for the proposed project being presented that evening.
There were only a few additional questions asked, but the company’s representatives kept say that people could speak with them one on one if anyone wanted to talk further. So essentially, the 25 people who showed up for the forum were talked at by the four presenters. Not allowing more time for questions was problematic, since it didn’t allow for questions to be answered publicly, only in private one on one conversations. Again, the forum could have been structured in such a way as to present a brief overview of the proposed project and then lots of time for Q & A. However, such forums are usually designed to minimize public input.
I was about to walk out the door, when a Rockford Construction representative stopped me to let me know that they “were aware of my articles” that have been critical of the company in recent months. I was asked if I would like to sit down with Rockford Construction so I could “have a better understanding of what their plans were.” I said that I didn’t really see the benefit of such a conversation and that the issue wasn’t about me, but the larger issues of gentrification and affordable housing.
The Rockford Construction representative said that if they could figure out a business model that would allow them to construct affordable housing they would do it. I said if they really wanted to build affordable housing the company would do it and that it wasn’t really about funding but about justice. He said that there is no way to construct affordable housing without massive state subsidies. I said that clearly the company is engaged in lots of construction projects that do not rely on state funding, so it is really a matter of priorities and whether or not the company plans around people or profits.
This Thursday, the Planning Commission will decide on whether or not to approve the Rockford Construction plans along Bridge and Stocking. We plan to be there to report on the outcome.
Recently, the Economic policy Institute published a new report on income inequality in the US and found that Grand Rapids has the largest gap between the richest people in the community and the poorest.
However, none of the West Michigan news media chose to run a story about the wealth gap in Grand Rapids. WDET radio in southeast Michigan did produce a story about the new report and interviewed the head of the Grand Rapids Urban League.
The link to this story provides a summary of the interview with Joe Jones (GR Urban League) and Karen Holcomb-Merrill with the Michigan League for Public Policy. However, we encourage our readers to click on the audio file at the top of the link page, since the full interview is worth listening to.
What the text version of the story doesn’t share is that Joe Jones acknowledges that Grand Rapids is a highly gentrified community. The Michigan League for Public Policy spokesperson also stated that one reason why Grand Rapids made the top of the list in Michigan for income inequality is because the top 1% in Grand Rapids is making more than top 1% in Detroit.
Karen Holcomb-Merrill goes on to say that there are clear policy decisions that have been made in recent years that impact income inequality, such as a regressive tax structure that benefits the wealthy and the earned income tax credit has been reduced. Joe Jones said that the reduction in the Earned Income Tax Credit has particularly been devastating in communities of color, with 52% for blacks and 31% for Latinos unemployment in certain neighborhoods.
Who are the wealthiest people in Grand Rapids?
It is difficult to find out exactly how much the wealthiest people in the area are worth, since many of them do not like to reveal this information to the public.
We do know, based on the Forbes list of wealthiest people, that Hank & Doug Meijer are worth $8.2 billion and Richard DeVos is worth $4.7 billion.
In addition to these billionaires, we know that data from the Michigan Department of Treasury’s tax filings shows that when comparing 2010 to 2014, the number of millionaires in Kent County increased from 407 in 2010, to 600 in 2014.
Other people in Grand Rapids who are part of the millionaire plus club are:
Dick & Betsy DeVos
Dan & Pam DeVos
Doug & Maria DeVos
Steve Van Andel
David Van Andel
Pete Secchia
Michael Jandernoa
Sam Cummings
Scott Wierda
John Kennedy
Blake W. Krueger
Interestingly enough, many of these same people are not only amongst the richest in Grand Rapids, thus contributing to greater income inequality, they are part of the larger power structure that makes policy decisions or at least influences those same decisions in Grand Rapids, Kent County and at the state level.
Many of the people listed here are part of groups like the West Michigan Policy Forum, which has helped to push through legislation in recent years that made Michigan a Right to Work state and change the tax structure to benefit themselves.
Some of these millionaires and billionaires have contributed hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to political campaigns to make sure that state legislators pass laws that support their political agenda or benefit their own economic interests.
So the next time the news media proclaims these people as great philanthropists, just remember that their wealth is directly contributing to greater income inequality in Grand Rapids.
The Business of Making Lists in Grand Rapids
“For the second year in a row, the Grand Rapids – Wyoming metropolitan area was ranked as the nation’s third best place to do business by Area Development Magazine.”
This was the first sentence from an MLive article posted yesterday. The folks at MLive love lists and are happy to promote those lists that Grand Rapids appears on, especially if it doesn’t question the neoliberal capitalist agenda that dictates so much of this city.
The MLive article only provides one source in response to the announcement about Grand Rapids appearing on yet another list. Birgit Klohs, with The Right Place Inc., affirmed the pro-business narrative about Grand Rapids, but she was the sole voice.
The Grand Rapids ranking on best places to do business by Area Development Magazine lists San Francisco and Napa, California as the top two places to do business across the country. It is interesting that these two cities topped the list, because there is another similarity between their status on the list and Grand Rapids. The similarity is that Grand Rapids, like San Francisco and Napa are cities that have seen significant increases in the cost of housing in recent years.
James Tracey, in his book Dispatches Against Displacement: Field Notes From San Francisco’s Housing Wars, makes a strong case for San Francisco being one of the most gentrified cities across the country. Tracy cites the work of the National Housing Law Project, which emphasizes the links between wages and housing and tracks what is 
affordable for the average worker. He writes that this group’s data, “has consistently shown that rents far outpace the means to pay not only in high-investment, hyper-gentrified cities like San Francisco, but also in shrinking cities such as Detroit. Thus, in 2014 … there is no state in the United States where a typical low-income worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment.” Tracy and others use the toolkit, Mapping Susceptibility to Gentrification as a resource.
If one looks at recent data for Napa, which is just north of San Francisco, we find the same thing is happening there, although not at the same breakneck pace.
Using the mapping project created by the University of California, Berkley, we can see how Napa is also experiencing increased gentrification. The color coded descriptions are shown here in this graph as to how much of Napa is being gentrified or is at risk of gentrification.
As we and other independent media sources have been reporting over the past year, Grand Rapids has been undergoing a process of gentrification, resulting in significant rent increases and displacement in numerous parts of the city.
Making a List
As a way to counter some of the euphoria associated with the latest list that Grand Rapids is appearing on, we think it is important to offer up some alternative lists that Grand Rapids could aspire to. The lists that follow are not in any particular order, but are ones that will require major changes to how “business is done” in Grand Rapids.
- Cities that promote and practice Racial Justice, including reparations
- Cities where sexual assault and rape are not experienced
- Cities that embrace the LGBTQ community and particularly Trans people of color.
- Cities where Environmental Justice is practiced
- Cities where poverty and homelessness are not experienced.
- Cities that have done away with the Prison Industrial Complex
In Kent County, 31,167 children, or 20 percent between the ages of birth and 17, lived in poverty in 2014, up 18 percent from 2006, according to Kids Count data.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Michigan Kids Count just released data on the condition of children all across the US, in Michigan and by county throughout the state.
This data is sobering and is a clear reflection of how many families are negatively impacted by neoliberal capitalism and White Supremacy. How is it that so many children in Kent County are experiencing poverty when the mantra in news media is that Grand Rapids is booming? How is it that with people like Richard DeVos, Hank & Doug Meijer who are worth billions ($4.7 and $8.2 billion respectively) can have so much wealth when so many children are living in poverty?
These are fundamental questions of justice that are not being asked by policy makers, business leaders and non-profit organizations, because they are either the beneficiaries of neoliberal capitalism or they are too compromised to take a stand.
We are constantly hearing about the need for equity in Grand Rapids. However, equity in its most basic form would never allow so many children to suffer as they do in this community. So the question is, what are we going to do to end child poverty in this community?
WGVU program investigates Gentrification in Grand Rapids
Within the past few days there has appeared lots of postings on Facebook about a show that WGVU did on the topic of gentrification in Grand Rapids.
The video is just short of an hour and pieces together several components that were filmed over a period of time. The video is worth watching and certainly can generate some interesting discussion about a topic that seems to polarize people. Here is the link http://video.wgvu.org/video/2365787420/.
The video starts of powerfully, by including a spoken word piece by Marcel Price. His words are also accompanied by images that are based on his experiences of Grand Rapids an a young African American.
One portion of his spoken word particularly caught my attention, in that it called out one of the factors contributing to gentrification near the downtown area, the Downtown market. Here are those words from Marcel, juxtaposed with the image of a market that caters to those who are the beneficiaries of gentrification.
The WGVU program then frames how gentrification has impacted the working class poor in several neighborhoods – the westside, the Heartside area and the southeast side of Grand Rapids. We learn that on the westside that the cost of rent has gone from an average of $400 a month to $1000 and up a month.
The WGVU program does a solid job of putting a human face on the issue of gentrification in all three neighborhoods.
However, the program then falls flat and ends up mimicking some of the same old tired narratives about gentrification and how it could be addressed.
First, those responsible for gentrification, planners, investors and developers, are never really identified in the program. Rockford Construction is mentioned in passing because of a leaked document they were developing that proposed to radically alter a neighborhood on the southeast side, but that issue and the role they have played in other areas of the city was not explored. 
Third Coast Development was actually featured in the program and given the opportunity to claim they provide affordable housing without really being questioned in the process.
So, how is it that entities like 616 Development, Orion Construction, Artesian Group, Rockford Construction, Third Coast Development, Grand Valley State University and several DeVos-owned projects are completely omitted from the conversation? Not only does this completely omit the causes of gentrification, it lets off the hook developers that are profiting heavily from the process of gentrification.
There was a representative from the City of Grand Rapids, Suzanne Schultz, but she basically admitted there was no funding and not much happening with city government in the process. However, she failed to mention that the Grand Rapids City Commission has been approving virtually every development project that has come before them, often with a unanimous vote, despite public opposition.
There were also two non-profit representatives who spoke in the program, Jeremy DeRoo with LINC and Tami Vandenberg with Well House. Both of the non-profit representatives did talk in more detail about how gentrification impacts neighborhoods, but both were careful with their words and neither of them were willing to name businesses/developers that are the main force behind gentrification.
Lastly, why were the voices of those who are organizing in response to gentrification not included in the show. There are the efforts by folks on the westside through the Other Way Ministries, the efforts of the Micah Center and the more recent organizing by Grand Rapids Homes for All?
Talking to any of these three entities and others would have altered the content and may have brought us to a deeper understanding of how gentrification not only impacts neighborhoods, but who benefits from the process.
“The economy, as it is now, prescribes plunder of the landowners and abuse of the land.” Wendell Berry
Three years ago we posted an article entitled Arrogance and the Creative Class in West Michigan.
The article is a critique of the creative class in West Michigan, but it is also a response to the appropriation of ecological language by local members of the creative class, referring to the how they are “tending the local economic rainforest.”
The use of ecological language is an important PR tool increasingly used by the capitalist class based on the notion that if you use green language or words like sustainability, then people will think that what you are doing is somehow for the greater good.
However, author Heather Rogers, who points out the major flaws of green capitalism in her book Green Gone Wrong, makes the following point:
“When a firm such as DuPont saves billions by reducing its energy footprint, it will funnel much of that money right back into making more goods to sell to more clients. Staying competitive demands production may go down, its scale of production will continue to escalate.”
Start Garden’s Ecosystem
Facebook has been featuring sponsored ads recently from Start Garden that seeks to refer to the service they offer as a kind of ecosystem. These ideas are reflected in 2 short videos they produced entitled Ecosystem Part One and Two.
Both videos begin with the same introduction, with images of downtown Grand Rapids and accompanied by a voice over stating, “A city deliberate about creating opportunities for entrepreneurs, is committed to building an ecosystem.” Such a statement is followed by the idea that social, intellectual and financial capital are what makes up this venture capitalist ecosystem.
After the introduction to the Ecosystem video Part One, we are then introduced to three business partners that utilize the physical space and resources of Start Garden. First, we hear from a woman who works for the Cultural Intelligence Center. This organization works with clients to help them be better prepared to “relate and work effectively in culturally diverse situations.” This of course means they want to promote diversity and cultural sensitivity. However, what good does this do for the staff of businesses, when the businesses themselves are engaged in oppressive and unsustainable practices? 
Looking at their client list, one can easily draw some conclusions about how practicing cultural intelligence only benefits institutions by making them feel better about themselves while they pillage the planet. Here is just a sampling of their client list: the Department of Defense (DOD) – how does cultural intelligence benefit the world when the DOD engages in criminal acts on a daily basis around the globe; Coca Cola – another entity that makes billions while extracting water resources around the globe and by supporting the murder of labor organizers; Walmart, McDonalds, Starbucks, Shell, Amway, Cargill and Bank of America. If this is what it means to be part of a Start Garden ecosystem, then we are all in serious trouble.
Another person who speaks in Part One of the video is a guy who is with OXX. OXX is the maker of a coffee machine that is marketed as being “The World’s Toughest Coffee Maker.” More importantly, OXX is a subsidiary of the DeVos business consortium known as The Windquest Group. So, maybe that is what Start Garden, owned by the DeVos Family, means by an ecosystem, since they internally promote their own brands.
In the Start Garden video Ecosystem Part Two, viewers are introduced to Bruce Thompson, President of Urbaneer. This video only features the work of Urbaneer, which has the following statement of purpose on their website. “URBANEER’s pre-fabricated components, wall systems and multi-purpose furnishings allow for more efficient construction while reducing real estate costs and providing a better occupant experience. URBANEER envisions a solution to affordable market-rate housing, aging-in-place, the changing healthcare landscape and a range of other space challenges.” 
Thompson founded Urbaneer with the CEO of Rockford Construction Mike VanGessel. This makes complete sense when you look at the video images used in the Ecosystem Part Two video, which features examples of Urbaneer’s work in collaboration with Rockford Construction projects along Bridge St, images that include the new brewery and the market rate apartments on Bridge and Alabama St.
Looking at the blog on Urbaneer’s website, one can read about their role in the renovation of the The Morton. The Morton is also a Rockford Construction project, in partnership with the DeVos family’s RDV Corp. In the blog posting Urbaneer states, “The building once housed the Morton Hotel, which was built in the late 1800s. Rockford Construction began renovations in 2012 to create 99 apartments and a limited number of condominiums.” What is omitted in the blog post is that the Morton House was used for Section 8 housing for decades and that the DeVos owned RDV Corp was given $317,000 in tax breaks by the Downtown Development Authority to re-develop the Morton House.
So it seems that not only is Start Garden’s appropriation of the word ecosystem an insult to the very notion of what a real ecosystem is, their videos make it clear that their definition of an ecosystem is really a closed system that facilitates their ability to promote their own interests and that if the rest of the West Michigan capitalist class.
Last week, there was an article in MiBiz, entitled, Seeking affordable housing solutions: Arguments emerge for added density, more income-inclusive options in GR.
The narrative follows much of what we have seen lately from commercial news sources, which has either been either journalism as cheerleading or the more sober reporting that talks to experts on the issue of affordable housing.
What we have not seen much have been the voices of people who are directly impacted by the lack of affordable housing, whether that is home owners or renters. Such voices are critical for us to have a better understanding, not so much of the politics of affordable housing, but the consequences of the lack of affordable housing.
We were able to talk with four people, all of which in different parts of Grand Rapids, who have been experiencing the direct consequences of the housing crisis, particularly around the issue of affordable housing.
The first person has chosen to remain anonymous. They live on the west side of Grand Rapids.
One of the reasons I moved to the westside was because of the relative low cost of housing compared to Heritage Hill and other parts of the city. I lived in the SWAN neighborhood close the John Ball Park for a year before the landlord (Urban Pharm at the time) decided to raise the rent of our 3 bedroom apartment from $650 to just over $900. An increase of almost $300 a month without them doing any renovations whatsoever to the property.
From there I moved to the West Grand neighborhood. I was lucky to find an affordable apartment closer to downtown. However the reality of living here for more than a few years seem dim. I live on 4th St and Broadway, just across Union Square Condos. With the recent developments on Bridge St, the New Holland Brewery opening shop on Broadway/Bridge St, and new duplexes built just a few houses down from ours on the same street, I know my days are numbered. Although rent has increased slightly the last couple of years ($10 one year, $25 last year), the fear of another year of rent increase lives in the back of my mind has me already looking at other living options farther away from the city core.
The second voice is someone who lives in the northeast side of Grand Rapids and identifies as a queer, multi-racial, disabled, artist and has also chosen to remain anonymous.
I’ve been in the same apartment, in the Creston Neighborhood, for 9 1/2 years. My landlord has never raised the rent in that time because he was happy to have someone who stayed and didn’t cause problems (I also haven’t been locked into a lease after the first year.) He has had a difficult time renting out the apartment above me with long-term tenants and the last tenant up there stayed for 2 years but was a regular domestic violence scene. This is the neighborhood I grew up, and have lived in off and on throughout over 40 years, though I have since lived all over the city as well. When I was growing up here the neighborhood was mostly homeowners, now it is rental properties more than not. Some of the homeowners now are more diverse, and there are a few long-time home owning residents who complain about how the neighborhood has “changed” but explicitly mean the fact that it isn’t just white people anymore.
Although my rent hasn’t gone up (yet), I have been paying attention to rising housing costs because I have had to consider the possibility of moving, trying to figure out ways to get more space for making art without having to pay for a separate studio, looking to get away from increasingly vocal racist neighbors, etc. I’ve looked at apartments that are not half as nice as my own or as well-cared-for but cost 1.5x what mine does. Trying to find a little more space meant doubling my rent, even in questionable quality. The current going rate for my apartment would be $850-1,000. I know this not only because I’ve paid attention to the market, but because my landlord just sold the house and I listened to realtors telling potential buyers that $850 was too low to ask in this market. I pay $545 right now and have a lease until September 2017, because my landlord wanted to protect me as long as he could.
I’m a disabled full-time student who isn’t able to work full time. Outside of my student loans, my main income comes from the occasional sale of artwork and freelance writing. I was working a full time job until two years ago and struggled even then to pay the rent, utilities, and stay fed. I would also describe the neighborhood as a food desert, since the closest grocery store was dingy, dirty, and overpriced, and has since closed. Since losing my job I’ve also watched the neighborhood go through major shifts and changes. An entire section of Plainfield that has lain mostly empty and crumbling for 20 years is suddenly being revitalized through tax incentives to the men that owned it all this time. There is an increase in white people moving into the neighborhood who openly intend gentrification. I know this because I see the increase in young middle class white people out jogging, walking their dogs, etc. Because of my light skin and being outside with my own dog, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of them and it doesn’t take long for them to spout something overtly racist about how they can’t wait until the neighborhood is cleaned up for them. Several have told me they could rent in EGR if they wanted to, but that they have chosen this neighborhood as part of “revitalization” or to buy their first home.
I know that next summer I will have to start figuring out where I will live next. I don’t yet know the new owner of this house or what they expect, so it’s entirely possible they will be anxious for me to move out so they can fix the apartment up to rent it out again. Obviously my rent will be significantly more than it currently is, whether I stay here or move elsewhere. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how I will pay a higher rent, much less get together a deposit to move. I hear about “affordable” housing developments all over the city but none of them have been remotely affordable. I’m currently working a minimum wage minimal hours part time work-study job at my university. I don’t qualify for any kind of job that can afford the new rental rates in this city. I mean, I know a lot people who have professional jobs and are renting rooms or living with several roommates because rent is too high otherwise. There is the added difficulty of finding a place that will rent to me because I have a rescue dog who serves as my emotional support animal. It’s really hard to find a place that will accept her at all, and the ones that do not only require an extra deposit but even higher rent. There is a really high chance that about the time I am turning 43 years old I too will have to revert to renting a room in a house full of strangers, and also somehow find and pay for separate studio space to continue to work. Even that is an overwhelming prospect, since it’s not like studio space is cheap and widely available either.
I hear about the additional plans for my neighborhood – the new brewery (as if beer can somehow save the world) – and I have a few home owning friends in the neighborhood who watch how their property value is climbing in anticipation. I don’t see how that in any way helps those of us who are poor in the neighborhood. When the Creston Market did its whole revitalization efforts it was obvious that they weren’t fixing it up for the needs of the current residents but for the residents they aspire to. The same can be said for the brewery and any other new businesses coming in – they aren’t coming here to benefit long-time residents but to carve out space for an influx of new upwardly mobile people. To do that, they have to push us out. One of my home owning friends who is watching the value of his house increase says he refuses to be pushed out of the neighborhood. But he owns, and he’s white, so he admits he has little fear of being pushed out and is aware that most of us here don’t have those protections.
The third person we spoke with is Liam Bailey, who has lived in numerous parts of Grand Rapids and currently lives in the southeast part of Grand Rapids. Liam identifies as a local queer social justice activist.
For me, I have never had a problem getting into a space, but I have had a huge difficulty in finding affordable rent, especially in a place that is not a “slum.” I use this term because, some of these landlords are slumlords. The houses that I could pay for are a max $450 a month. I was living in a place near downtown that was $450, but it was in a basement level, which had the furnace in it, which meant that the landlord had constant access to our space with limited notification for me.
Landlords are generally unwilling to keep the inside up unless you are willing to pay out the ass for it. I pay $720 a month now, even though this area is considered “sketchy.” However, most of the neighbors are students and in many ways this neighborhood is the new Wealthy street and is being gentrified rapidly.
I live with 3 other people, which makes it cheaper, but that is because it is out of need. I have a month to month lease. The landlord is very nice to me, but I still feel unwilling to push any limits. I know that if people are willing to pay $1,200 for a one bedroom downtown, they could charge more here, so I don’t ask for much of fear that I may lose the option to live here.
Living on the westside was the worst experience I have ever had. The landlord did virtually nothing for up keep. The landlord next door cleaned out the basement which exposed us to both a serious mold and cockroach problem. The landlord we rented from was unwilling to deal with it, so we had to deal with the mold and the cockroaches.
My current landlord could charge a whole lot more, probably double, which is why I am reluctant to push on any issues. Just down the street, north of Pleasant, they charge $4,500 for renting the whole house.
Pixie Properties is company where I rented from for a while in the downtown area. We lived in the basement, which was unfinished, just bare cement. Three of us paid $450 per person. The bedrooms were essentially cement squares. The ceiling was exposed and the pipes had hot water running through them and it was so hot in the winter that we needed to keep the windows open. I complained about it and they threatened me.
Rent has gone up every time I have moved since 2011. I am being priced out of Grand Rapids I don’t have a car and so I need to live near the downtown. The current development projects only exacerbate this process, which is why I can’t think of the lack of affordable housing as anything other than gentrification.
The fourth person we spoke with is Maurice Warner. Maurice, an African American, lives on the northeast side, near 196.
Approximately nineteen years ago my partner and I moved from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our one bedroom apartment in Hyde Park cost (at that time) $675 per month…with no utilities. At the time, I considered us fortunate to land a two-bedroom apartment in Heritage Hills for $580 per month– utilities not included. Unfortunately, our relationship expired before the apartment lease did, and I ended up living with a friend for the next year—paying $300 a month for a one room space, with access to computer services, cable television and all the electricity and gas I could use. Eventually the very first apartment I rented after leaving this space was a 2 bedroom unit that included all amenities (no washer & dryer); all for the unheard of price of $450 a month. The unit was in Eastown, so I was quite thrilled with the close proximity to one of the more dynamic parts of G.R.
Then came the gentrifiers.
The property owner that I rented from was moving to Canada–so, a negotiated sale was made…without my knowledge. When the new owner notified me of the sale, he asked how much my present rent was. I told him $450 monthly. He grimaced, and said that he wouldn’t be able to rent for that amount. He said that $550 would be the new monthly rate—and if that was agreeable, I could stay. Since, at the time, I was fairly comfortable with the location, I agreed. What I did not know at the time was that my new landlord planned to leave his wife, rent out the large 3 bedroom ground level unit below —and, move into the upper 2 bedroom space; the one that he’d just agreed to rent to me. Of course he didn’t tell me this at the time; I’d find out four months later—after he’d finished resurfacing the floors, painting the walls, remodeling the kitchen and adding a deck to downstairs unit. The day finally came when, after I slipped my next month’s rent into his mailbox, he slipped into my mailbox a letter—informing me that I would need to vacate the apartment before the first of the next month. But, not to worry: he had some “friends” who had rental properties available. I declined his thoughtful largesse and informed him that I preferred to find my next place on my own.
Three weeks later I moved from Eastown to the NE part of G.R., on College St.—between Michigan and Leonard. I’ve always hated moving—but when done with the kind of duress and haste that a landowner ambushes you with, well…it can leave a person more than just a bit angry. All in all, I was quite lucky to find a two-bedroom unit available in Grand Rapid—in September; and one that didn’t require a security deposit to boot! I thought that the gods had begun to smile on me.
Boy, was I wrong. Unbeknownst to me, I’d gone from the frying pan…into the fire. This 2 bedroom apartment had an advertised rental rate of $520/mo. I was now being told that was actually $535/mo. O.K…fine. $535 it is; besides…I’m somewhat desperate. So…I manage to get some friends to help with the move, and arrive to find that carpet has not been shampooed. I can tell because the saucer-sized deposit of dried vomit is still quite visible—although (thank goodness) the smell is gone. Additionally, there are no blinds on any of the windows. The property management rep and I had done a walk-through the previous week, and I was assured that these deficiencies would be corrected by my move in date. Nonetheless, we get everything moved in (working around the dried vomit, which I resolved by renting a shampooer the next day. Additionally, I grew tired of waiting for the blinds to arrive, so I went and purchased some of my own.
In short, my relationship with the property management people did not improve: I had to call and “request” lawn maintenance during the summer months (I was lucky is the grass was mowed more than two times during the summer). Snow removal was the responsibility of the tenants. At the time of my lease renewal I was informed that the monthly rent would increase by $10/mo. Time would prove that this would become a standard practice around lease renewal time: there would inevitably be a monthly increase of between ten and fifteen dollars.
I could additionally add that with the increase in the monthly rent every two years ($300 extra this year) that the property management also now wants tenants to sign subsequent leases for 1 ½ years, instead of the previous 1 year agreements.
And on it goes. Being on a fixed income comes with its own unique set of challenges—but when coupled with the slumlords you sometimes find yourself dealing with…well….it can at times feel unbearable.
These are just four stories of how the lack of affordable housing is deeply and personally impacting people in Grand Rapids. We believe there are thousands of more people who are experiencing a similar fate, yet we rarely hear their voices.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 