Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington might be leaving for Dallas, so what would his legacy look like in this city?
On Monday, MLive reported that Grand Rapids City Manager, Mark Washington, might be leaving to take a job in Dallas, Texas.
The MLive article talked about the possible move, the fact that there is no new contract for Washington, and that Washington turned down a request to be interviewed. GRIID though this would be the perfect time to provide a rundown of Washington’s legacy as the Grand Rapids City Manager, since 2018 when he was hired.
Much of my critique is in rooted in the various issues that community groups and movements have been working on during Washington’s tenure. It is also worth mentioning the non-governmental groups that Washington is part of, which is a partial indication of who he really represents. Some of those groups are – the Econ Club of Grand Rapids, the Right Place Inc., and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.
- In May of 2018, Movimiento Cosecha once again had a large march from Roosevelt Park to downtown Grand Rapids. Again, Mark Washington did not participate and the GRPD had a massive show of force that again tried to dictate the direction of the march route.
- In late 2018, a GRPD cop who was off duty, saw a story on TV about a man – Jilmar Romos Gomez, who was suffering PTSD and started a fire at Spectrum Health. The GRPD cop called ICE and said that this man was an undocumented immigrant, when he fact he was a former Marine. Under Mark Washington’s leadership Captain VanderKooi was never held accountable for this incident over a two year period.
- In February of 2019, immigrant justice activists disrupted the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting, because the City Commission and Mark Washington would not allow the same amount of time to community members that the Chief of Police was given to defend Captain VanderKooi.
- In March of 2019, a coalition of groups held a press conference with a list of demands around the GRPD and the lack of accountability regarding their actions against Black and Latinx communities.
- May 2019 march by Cosecha, was once again not attended by Mark Washington, plus the GRPD were now threatening people if they marched in the streets.
- GRIID obtained FOIA documents regarding the GRPD’s monitoring, spying, harassment and intimidation leading up to the 2019 May Day march.
- In May of 2020, Grand Rapids also had a George Floyd protest that erupted with thousands of people in the streets and the response from the GRPD was repressive. Grand Rapids leadership called for a State of Emergency, brought in the Michigan National Guard and instituted a curfew for downtown Grand Rapids. There was an effort to Defund the GRPD in late June/early July, which the Mayor and Mark Washington derailed and numerous other repressive tactics used by the GRPD to target activists. You can check out our visual timeline of all this.
- In November of 2020, the community organized a campaign to defeat the GRPD from obtaining Shot Spotter technology. Mark Washington supported it.
- In late December of 2020, Mayor Bliss gave the GRPD the green light to evict unhoused people who set up an encampment at Heartside Park.
- In April of 2021, the City of Grand Rapids sent out a Press Release saying that anyone protesting the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial would be arrested.
- In May, the group Defund the GRPD was organizing to pressure the City of Grand Rapids to not only reduce funding for the GRPD, but to allow more public input on how public money would be used in the City Budget for 2022. In early May, the City held a one hour virtual town hall meeting on the 2022 Budget, which was an insult to those who have been organizing around how public money would be used. Defund the GRPD had posted their own demands on what they wanted to see happen with the funds, as well as the process for determining the 2022 City Budget. Defund the GRPD also organized people to call in during the City Commission meeting later in May, right before they voted on the 2022 Budget.
- Throughout much of 2021, the group Justice for Black Lives were targeted for demanding Police accountability in Grand Rapids.
- In November, at a protest following a not guilty verdict for Kyle Rittenhouse, several JFBL activists were arrested again, after the protest had finished. Once again, JFBL held a press conference to respond to the arrests and to counter the claims made by the GRPD.
- On April 4, 2022, the GRPD shot and killed Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head, execution style. Grand Rapids leadership has done nothing to further justice for the family of Patrick Lyoya, but has repeatedly allowed the GRPD to target activists who are demanding justice.
- In May of 2022, City Manager Mark Washington said No interruptions to normal operations will be tolerated in the City of Grand Rapids.
- In late December 2022, the Chamber of Commerce wanted to impose ordinances that would essentially criminalize the unhoused. During the last Grand Rapids City Commission meeting for 2022, Mayo Bliss and the other commissioners refused to denounce the Chamber’s proposal, as did City Manager Mark Washington.
- Throughout 2023, Mayor Bliss fully supported the GRPD’s desire to purchase and use drones, plus she fully endorsed the Grand Rapids ordinances that has criminalized the unhoused in this city. Mark Washington also endorsed this policy.
- After the brutal Israeli assault in Gaza, GR residents tried to get the City of Grand Rapids to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and to call on members of Congress from Michigan to not use federal tax money that does to Israel but to use those funds to benefit our community. City Manager Mark Washington, Mayor Bliss and the other commissioners said calling for a resolution is not what they do.
- Grand Rapids Leadership condoned the repression action by the GRPD during a non-violent protest on the 2nd anniversary of Patrick Lyoya’s murder by the GRPD.
- Grand Rapids City leadership approve massive public tax incentives for the proposed apartment complexes that will be adjacent to the downtown Amphitheater and Soccer Stadium.
- Grand Rapids City Leadership gave the GRPD the green light to target activists working on a range of issues, from GRPD repression, immigrant justice or the opposition to the US supported Israeli genocidal campaign against Palestinians.
- Grand Rapids City Leadership partnered with the GR Chamber of Commerce on a so-called housing project for the unhoused, which GRIID identified as a false solution.
- In June of 2024, Grand Rapids City officials approved the decision to borrow up to $30.5 million to build a multistory parking deck on site at 201 Market Ave. SE near US-131.
- Grand Rapids City officials talked down to the overwhelming opposition to the $565 million in tax incentives for the DeVos/Van Andel development project.
This is just a partial list of the ways in which Grand Rapids City Manager has opposed efforts to promote justice, especially efforts that were led by BIPOC organizers. The legacy of Mark Washington is fundamentally rooted in servitude to the Grand Rapids Power Structure and in opposition to movements demanding social justice amidst systemic racism in Grand Rapids, the ongoing housing crisis and the lack of accountability with the GRPD.
This Saturday, November 23rd, the immigrant justice group, Movimiento Cosecha GR, will be hosting a community forum for both the immigrant and ally communities. The event will take place at noon in the United Methodist Church “La Nueva Esperanza”, located at 1005 Evergreen St. SE Grand Rapids.
Movimiento Cosecha GR recently released a public statement, saying:
Following the recent presidential election results, a cloud of uncertainty hovers over our lives. Fear is felt in our communities, among family and friends. For this reason, Movimiento Cosecha Michigan expresses deep concern and empathy during this time of particular vulnerability and anxiety about the future.
We want to make it clear that you are not alone. Movimiento Cosecha Michigan upholds its commitment to organizing alongside the supportive community to ensure protections and rights, even in the face of threats from the incoming administration of mass deportations, family separations, and promises of inhumane detention camps.
In these challenging times, we renew our commitment to supporting one another in the pursuit of a dignified, safe, and respectful life. Together, we will confront any attempt at discrimination or persecution, remembering that human rights must prevail over any political rhetoric. We will achieve this by mobilizing all sectors of our communities to support our efforts.
We will continue to organize and empower our community through collective power and direct actions to exert sufficient public pressure on the state legislature to secure the approval of the Driver’s Licenses for All bill by the end of 2024. This bill is urgent and essential in these uncertain times, as it will guarantee the right of every immigrant in Michigan to drive without fear.
We are fighting for a better world for everyone, where each person can live without fear, with respect and dignity, regardless of their immigration status. We invite everyone to stay informed, organized, and united. We call on the entire community to be attentive to our event dates and times, where we will share important information to organize and protect ourselves.
At Saturday’s forum, Cosecha will talk about the offensive work, which is change that the immigrant community wants to see happen and will directly benefit them. Right now, winning Driver’s Licenses for All is a big part of their focus. However, the ongoing and longterm goals are to win, dignity, respect and permanent protection for all undocumented immigrants living in the US.
Other types of offensive work might be going to city and county governments and demanding that their police departments will not cooperate with ICE, and that those same government bodies can declare themselves a Sanctuary City or a Sanctuary County.
There is also the defensive work, which is the work that allies are being asked to do. Defensive work on behalf of the immigrant community can be any of the following:
- Provide financial support directly to Cosecha https://secure.actblue.com/donate/luchemos
- Be part of a Rapid Response Network, which will mobilize people to respond to calls from the immigrant community when ICE shows up to their house, their place of work or the schools that their children attend.
- Provide Mutual Aid support to the families that are directly impacted by ICE. This can mean financial support, transportation, food, clothing, or other needs.
- Provide court support for immigrants who are in jail or detention. This could mean visitation or writing letters on behalf of the person in jail or detention, letters that would be sent to the judge.
- Allies can get their faith communities to declare themselves as Sanctuaries for the undocumented community. Faith communities can declare themselves a Sanctuary in a public manner by announcing their commitment to provide protection from arrest, detention or deportation. During the first Trump administration, the Grand Rapids area only had 1 church publicly declare themselves a sanctuary, despite the fact that there are over 800 churches in the area. Faith communities can also become Sanctuaries but not announce it, but provide them same kind of safety to undocumented immigrants that a public Sanctuary would. Individual allies can also offer space in their homes for immigrants who are being targeted by ICE.
- Allies can contribute to a community bond fund, which will allow immigrants who are in detention the opportunity to get out, be with their families and maintain employment, until they have a court date.
- Allies can take classes on the history of US Immigration Policy, classes which the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy will offer.
- Allies can also post in the windows of their homes or the windows of their businesses or in the windows of non-profits and other institutions they are apart of, sign that say – Immigrants are welcome here, but NO ICE agents! This public display sends a message to both the immigrant community and to law enforcement about where they stand.
In the near future, Movimiento Cosecha GR will be offering training opportunities on how you can be part of the Rapid Response to ICE work, the Mutual Aid work and how to get your faith community to become a Sanctuary.
During the first Trump Administration there were a lot of people from the ally community that got involved in immigrant solidarity work. Unfortunately, when the Biden Administration came in there was a significant drop in the number of allies continuing to support immigrants. The Biden Administration continued some of the same immigration policies of the Trump Administration – construction of a border wall, family separation, criminalizing undocumented immigrants, denying asylum, etc.
It is time now to once again stand with the immigrant community, to practice solidarity in our words and our deeds, plus resist the anti-immigrant policies of the incoming Trump Administration. La Lucha Sigue!
Thinking about those struggling with mental health issues and why the GRPD once again demonstrates that they only keep those with tremendous privilege safe
It has been nearly two weeks since the GRPD repeatedly shot and killed an African American man who had a history of struggling with mental health issues.
We know from multiple sources that the man who was repeatedly shot and killed by the GRPD outside of Trinity Health hospital in Grand Rapids, was at the hospital because he was trying to get medications that he had been on. The hospital refused him, which led to his feeling of distress and frustration.
According to a story from WOODTV8 from November 13th, a former police chief turned-turned-police training consultant stated:
“If you take a few seconds to absorb what is going on, you say, OK this is somebody that’s got psychiatric problems. We can’t tell whether this is a real gun or not. He’s not made any threats. So let’s take time from cover to see if we can make an assessment of what’s going on.”
The police consultant went on to say, “The threat never increased and they never tried to do anything except order him to drop the gun. Why didn’t they try to engage in a conversation? What are you doing this for? Why are you so upset? How can we help you? This isn’t worth it. We’re not going to shoot you.”
Essentially, what the police consultant was saying is that the GRPD response in this situation was completely unnecessary. The GRPD response also should make it clear that the way they act in these kinds of circumstances demonstrates that their first priority is not public safety.
To put the GRPD’s killing of the man who was clearly struggling with mental health in context, we have to come to terms with the fact that this was the 1,152nd person killed by the police in the US so far in 2024, according to https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/. Mapping Violence has 1,151, since the most recent police killing of civilians is logged for November 2, 20024. The police have killed at least 25 people in Michigan so far in 2024.
Mental Health Responses
It is clear to this writer that the GRPD does not keep people safe, especially BIPOC people and other marginalized communities, along with those that are struggling with mental health issues. The GRPD’s first impulse was to protect themselves and to ignore someone that was clearly in distress.
So what do we do and how can we organize in such a way as to provide community care, especially during a crisis? First, we need to do no harm in these situations and stop calling the cops. The group Interrupting Criminalization has a great list of for Health Care providers in a document titled, Beyond Do No Harm. Principle #5 says, Stop calling police on people with unmet mental health or medical needs.
In addition, Interrupting Criminalization has an excellent document called, A Checklist for Assessing Mental Health Response Models. This checklist provides important and robust questions about what we in community need to think about regarding response for those having a mental health crisis and why it is important to not do this work with the GRPD or any other cops.
Additional Resources include:
Painting the Ocean & the Sky – A non-carceral community response
Building a Coordinated Crisis Response Learning Space
Defund the Police, Invest in Community Care: A Guide to Alternative Mental Health Responses
The new downtown GR Soccer Stadium will be named the Amway Stadium, which should surprise no one who has been paying attention
MLive posted just minutes ago that the soccer stadium that will be located just west of US 131 by Pearl St. will be named the Amway Stadium, after the company pledged $33 million for the stadium.
Not surprising, the MLive story is celebratory and uncritical of the soccer stadium, as they have been all along with other major downtown development projects that have used hundreds of millions of public dollars to subsidize these so-called transformational projects.
The MLive article omits the fact that Amway is owned by the DeVos and Van Andel billionaire families, but they also omitted several other realities regarding the Soccer Stadium:
- They omitted the fact that Grand Action 2.0 is essentially run by the DeVos family
- They omitted the fact that the DDA – which approved using lots of public tax money for the project, has a DeVos family operative on that unelected board.
- They omitted the fact that the Kent County and Grand Rapids City Commissions are in the pocket of the DeVos family. Both of these governing bodies approved $100 million in public subsidies for the Soccer Stadium.
- They omitted the fact that the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority (CAA) is chaired by a DeVos employee – Richard A. Winn AHC Hospitality .
MLive also does not include a statement from the CEO of Amway, Michael Nelson, which reads:
“We are a people business, and sports bring people together. It’s often a source of community and connection—offering shared experiences and points of pride. Those ideas are part of Amway and the thousands of communities around the world that Amway Business Owners create.”
These flowery words should not be confused with what real community looks like, especially when you consider the fact that the DeVos family owns the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Orlando Magic NBA team, the now defunct Grand Rapids Rampage, the Grand Rapids Rise (women’s volleyball team) and the Orlando Squeeze, a Major League Pickleball franchise owned by Ryan DeVos. The DeVos family doesn’t care about community, they care about expanding their wealth, and owning sports teams will do just that.
Lastly, it is ironic, that a $33 million pledge by the Amway corporation, which is a multi-billion dollar global corporation, is only one third of the amount that taxpayers are contributing, even though the public had no say in the use of the $100 million that Kent County and Grand Rapids approved.
West Michigan Policy Forum continues to attack public education funding in latest video, with two major players from the anti-public education camp
Two weeks ago, the West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF), which was created in 2009 by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, posted a video conversation between Amway co-Chairman Doug DeVos and Jase Bolger, former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. Bolger is also the state policy consultant for the WMPF.
Since leaving the Michigan State House, Bolger went on to create Tusker Strategies, LLC. On the website of Tusker Strategies, Bolger brags about his accomplishments while being a member of the State Legislature. Some os Bolger’s “accomplishment” include:
- Expanding School Choice options in Michigan, which has always been about the dismantling of Public Education.
- Undermining teachers retirement plans by getting the state to move public school district teacher pensions to a 401K plan, claiming the district would be able to spend more on students.
- Putting in place a system to attack teachers for “under-performing”, based on students grades.
In the 7 minute video, DeVos says things like, “we have to have greater accountability with Public Schools”, especially with increased funding but no evidence of improved performance. It may be that this is true, but neither DeVos nor Bolger provide concrete examples of how there is real accountability.
What DeVos and Bolger mostly focus on are the two policies that were implemented by the GOP controlled Michigan Legislature and how the outgoing Democratic majority has overturned those policies, specifically the A to F repeal and the 3rd Grade reading law.
The A through F policy was passed during the lame duck session of 2018, known as HB 5526. With the A through F policy, the state would grade public schools on student academic performance; student academic growth; English learner progress; graduation rates (for high schools only); and the academic performance of students compared to students in demographically similar schools. HB 5526 was repealed in after the Democrats controlled the State Legislature in 2023.
The WMPF posted an article in May of 2023 attacking the Democratic majority for wanting to repeal the A through F legislation, using a report from the Great Lakes Education Project, which was created by Betsy DeVos after her failed school voucher ballot initiative in 2000.
The other issue that DeVos and Bolger discussed was the 3rd bill that the GOP got passed in 2015, HB 4822. In 2019, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy stated that Michigan’s 3rd Grade Reading Law was a harmful solution to the literacy crisis. The group went on to say that, “Mandatory retention will not help Michigan students read better. Instead, it raises the stakes on the M-STEP without providing adequate resources to catch students up.”
The 3rd Grade Reading Law was repealed by the Democrats in 2023, and the WMPF took the opportunity to post on their blog an article from the Executive Director of the DeVos-created Great Lakes Education Project, which advocates to keep the law and slam the Democratic lawmakers for wanting to repeal it.
It is interesting that Jase Bolger and Doug DeVos have done a great deal to undermine public schools in Michigan, help to adopt policies that would further erode public education – DeVos through funding candidates that attached public education, and Bolger as a state legislator who did undermine Public Education.
These are the types of policies and practices that the West Michigan Policy Forum promotes, policies that erode the public good. This is exactly why we all need to pay attention to this organization and expose them for their involvement in far right politics, especially now with how public education is likely to be under increased pressure after the 2024 Elections.
Palestine Solidarity Information, Analysis, Local Actions and Events for the week of November 17th
It has been more than 13 months since the Israeli government began their most recent assault on Gaza and the West Bank. The retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, has escalated to what the international community has called genocide, therefore, GRIID will be providing weekly links to information and analysis that we think can better inform us of what is happening, along with the role that the US government is playing. We will also provide information on local events and actions that people can get involved in. All of this information is to provide people with the capacity of what Noam Chomsky refers to as, intellectual self-defense.
Information
Israel committing “gravest international crimes” in north Gaza
Israeli attacks leading to increase in birth defects
“A FINAL, DEADLY EXCLAMATION POINT”: BIDEN BACKS DOWN ON 30-DAY ISRAEL ARMS ULTIMATUM
With the US Election Over, Israel’s Genocide Continues With No End in Sight
President Biden’s Gaza Policy Leaves the Middle East in Flames
As US Keeps Arms Flowing, UN Panel Says Israeli Assault on Gaza ‘Consistent With Genocide’
Voting Against Genocide – How Gaza Defeated the Democratic Establishment
Israel has killed 344 Palestinian footballers… with FIFA’s complicity
Analysis & History
Report from Gaza: Palestinians Feel They Are Being “Slowly Exterminated” in Israel’s Genocide
The Horror to Come: Israel is Slowly Implementing the Gaza Playbook on the Occupied West Bank
Understanding the Religious Extremism That Motivates Israeli Expansion in the West Bank
Gaza First Amendment Alert (November 13, 2024)
Image used in this post is from https://visualizingpalestine.org/visual/u-s-military-and-humanitarian-funding/.
Rep. Scholten votes for legislation that would allow the federal government to attack Non-Profits, legislation that has been championed by Trump
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would grant the Treasury Department—soon to be under the control of a Trump nominee—the authority to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status by deeming them supporters of terrorism.
Fortunately, the legislation was defeated in the US House of Representative, yet 52 Democrats still voted for it, with 5 of them being from Michigan – Rep. Scholten, Rep. Slotkin, Rep. Stevens, Rep. Dingell and Rep. Thanedar.
In a recent article from The Intercepted, it states:
The bill prompted stiff opposition from advocates for civil liberties. A wide array of civil society groups advocated against the measure in a campaign led by the American Civil Liberties Union. Critics worried that the bill was specifically designed to go after pro-Palestine groups, citing the numerous accusations of support for terror lobbed at protesters in the year since October 7 and Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.
The fact that Scholten voted in favor of this legislation should not be surprising, since it is consistent with her unconditional support for Israel and their Zionist policies, which GRIID has been documenting since she took office in January of 2023. (See below)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who vocally opposed the legislation, wrote that “these 52 Democrats voted to give Trump the power to shut down any nonprofit he wants.The NAACP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, no organization would be safe,” Tlaib added. “Shameful.”
Rep. Scholten endorses Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
Yesterday, I was arrested in Rep. Scholten’s office for demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Rep. Scholten says she is working hard to make sure US Imperialism wins the day in Gaza
Rep. Hillary Scholten voted for resolution that conflates Anti-Zionism with Antisemitism
Congresswoman Hillary Scholten just voted to for a bill that cements genocide as official US policy
Rep. Hillary Scholten continues to support genocide and she voted to criminalize speech
The Rent is Too Damn High Coalition gives Michigan Democrats a 30 Day Notice on passing bills that would benefit tenants
On Wednesday, roughly 250 tenant activists showed up in Lansing to participate in an action organized by the statewide coalition known as the Rent is Too Damn High.
People from all over the state gathered at a church located right across from the state capitol to talk about the 9 bills that the coalition wants to see passed by Democratic lawmakers during the lame duck session. (see list of bills below) In addition, people spent time talking about how best to pressure Democratic lawmakers in their districts, while the crowd of activists had lunch. A couple of the Lansing-based organizers then walked everyone through the action that would take place inside the capitol.
While waiting for everyone to enter the capitol building, the crowd engaged in several chants, in order to build some excitement for when they got in. A couple of the new chants were used, chants that specifically targeted Democratic Party Lawmakers.
No excuses, No excuses. Show the people you’re not useless!
Don’t lose twice. Pass renters’ rights!
Once everyone entered the building, they divided up on the 2nd and 3rd floors, in the rotunda area, which you can see in the video here.
Between the chants and the general disruption, there were several tenant activists that spoke to the crowd in order to keep the energy up for the ongoing renter fight ahead.
After about 30 minutes, the group split in two and went to the offices of the Michigan House leader, Joe Tate, and the Senate Majority leader, Winnie Brinks. People had filled out sticky notes while they were at the church, notes that called on both Tate and Brinks to pass all nine bills that the statewide coalition was calling for. People placed the sticky notes on the door and walls just outside of Tate and Brinks’ office, as you can see from the picture below.
The Lansing Capitol security tried to prevent people from doing this, but people persisted as they were just sticky notes.
The statewide coalition kept emphasizing that this was the last opportunity for Democratic Party lawmakers to pass these bills, since they will lose control of the State House after the New Year. The Rent is Too Damn High Coalition even posted the creative signs – shown here below – signs that mimic eviction notices that tenants will often seen from landlords.
The action was creative, engaging and used a variety of tactics to get the point across.
There were a few tenant activists that met with Rep. Kristian Grant (Grand Rapids), since she chairs the Housing Committee. One of the persons who met with Grant told me that she felt that it was only be possible to pass 2 or three of the nine bills that were introduced over the past 12 months. Part of the problem, according to Rep. Grant, was that there were several Democratic Party lawmakers that were not showing up legislative session, specifically the ones who lost in the November 5th Election.
During the information session at the church, one of the Lansing tenant organizers share a story about Rep. Joe Tate, who had called one of the Rental Property Owner Associations and apologize that these bills had been introduced, but that he did not intend to pass them. Lastly, there was also some discussion from other organizers, which stated that they had heard that Gov. Whitmer did not want to sign any of these bills into law, since it could negatively impact her ability to run for President in 2028. If the Michigan Democrats don’t pass these renter rights bills within the next 30 days, they will likely lose even more potential supporters, which would confirm the point that Senator Bernie Sanders made recently, that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class.
We were talked down to: How the developers and City Officials treated the overwhelming opposition to the DeVos/Van Andel development project
Yesterday, there were so many people who showed up to oppose the DeVos/Van Andel development project, that many had to wait in the hall way or downstairs before they could even speaking during the public hearing that was held during the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting at 2pm.
However, before the Public Hearing began, the City’s economic development director presented the scope of the project, with numerous slides, which began around 21:35 in the video linked here. The economic development director didn’t just provide an overview, in reality she made a pitch on why this development project would be a good thing for the city. You can see in the image below, which is from the slide presentation, that there is a timeline, including a an estimate fall 2025 date for when construction would begin for this project. This information was presented as if it was a done deal.
The City’s economic development director was followed by Brad from Progressive Companies, who spoke for about 3 minutes. He was followed by Joe from Michigan Growth Advisors, which which has been taking the lead on efforts to secure federal, state and municipal financial incentives – tax breaks, subsidies, etc. Joe keep repeating this phrase – “This project simply won’t work without the incentives.” He later insults the crowd by saying we don’t understand how the contributions to the Affordable Housing Fund works. All total, the three people who were championing the development project put forth by the billionaire families DeVos and Van Andel, spoke for about 30 minutes.
Unfortunately, the public still had to wait several more minutes, since a few City Commissioners had comments, comments that were initiated by Jon O’Connor. O’Conner, in is standard contempt of the public, also spoke down to people, suggesting that we did not understand how the tax incentives worked. The back and forth with City Commissioners and the developer lasted an additional 13 minutes, which means that before the public got to speak, we had to sit through 44 minutes of people talking about how great this project would be for the city and how the rest of us are just stupid.
When it finally became time for the public comment portion, the number of those that spoke in opposition to this project was 32, while only 5 spoke in favor. Those who opposed this development project spoke about issues like – not giving $565 million in tax incentives to the two billionaire families behind the project, the ridiculously high rent costs of the 595 “market rate” apartments, the City’s failure to address the real housing crisis, the further criminalization of the unhoused, the massive parking problems in the downtown that impact residents on the westside, how the City always supports funding for these kinds of projects that primarily benefit those with deep pockets, but not projects that would be transformational for working class families and BIPOC communities, along with general moral outrage that people expressed.
It is also important to point out who the 5 people were that supported this project, since they certainly did not represent the general population. There was an employee of Rockford Construction, someone with Downtown GR Inc., someone from the Right Place Inc., the General Manager of the Convention Center, and the head of governmental affairs with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.
It is also important to point out that most of the other people in the room were there in opposition, because at one point, those speaking from Together West Michigan, asked people who were with that group to stand up. There was almost half of the room that stood up. There were also people who were downstairs or who had to leave early that never got a chance to speak out against the project.
Now, according to the timeline listed above, the Grand Rapids City Commission will vote on whether or not to approve the $565 million tax incentives to the DeVos/Van Andel development project on December 3rd. This does provide people with time to send the Action Alert created by the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union, which emphatically opposes this $565 million give away. As of this writing there are close to 800 letters that have been sent to Grand Rapids City officials. We can make it over 1,000 by signing it and sharing it on social media.
Red and Yellow images used here were created by @prettyininkpress.
Don’t forget what we did in Grand Rapids when Trump was elected the first time – informing what we can do now
While the prospect of another Trump Administration might be overwhelming and nightmarish, it is important that we remember how people in the Grand Rapids area responded to his first administration.
In fact, even before Trump took office, there was a protest of more than a thousand people in Grand Rapids the day after the 2016 Election, with a Not My President protest. (WXMI 17 numbers are wrong)
With a very similar anti-immigrant campaign message in the 2016 campaign, people in Grand Rapids began organizing in preparation for a possible increase in ICE arrests. About a dozen people met with Grand Rapids City officials to talk about making Grand Rapids a Sanctuary City and to get the GRPD to not cooperate with ICE. I was at that meeting and wrote about it.
Remember how many people from the Grand Rapids area travelled to DC for a massive march organized by various groups, but mostly women’s groups that were ready to denounce the misogyny of the new administration.
When Trump attempted to implement his Muslim Ban, people from all over the country protested at airports, demonstrating that they would not tolerate blatant anti-Muslim discrimination. In Grand Rapids, there were two protests, the first in late January of 2017, and the second one a week later, both of which had hundreds of protests, with the majority being from refugee communities.
Immigrant Justice Movement
Probably the largest movement that responded to the Trump Administration anti-immigrant rhetoric and the increased activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was the immigrant justice movement.
Kent County began its contract with ICE in 2012. In looking at previous documentation, there was never any real opposition to this contract by any members of the Kent County Commission, from the adoption of the contract in 2012, through the contract’s termination in 2019.
Beginning in the early part of 2018, the group GR Rapid Response to ICE began investigating contracts that ICE might have had in Kent County. We discovered that there was a contract that began in 2012, a contract extension signed in 2017, and a 2018 letter from the National Sheriffs’ Association sent to Congress, which then Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma had signed onto. The letter presented a false narrative, which stated in part:
Because Congress has failed to enact the necessary reforms, our citizens and legal residents face even greater dangers, our national security is more vulnerable, and our enforcement efforts have been seriously compromised.
Once we had collected all of this information, GR Rapid Response to ICE and Movimineto Cosecha GR decided to begin a campaign to End the Contract between ICE and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department. Since the Sheriff’s Department had no public meetings, we decided to plan an action at the Kent County Commission meeting in late June of 2018.
Just weeks prior to the publicly announced plan to attend the Kent County Commission meeting, the Trump administration had been detaining immigrants at the US/Mexican border, putting them in detention centers, where images of children in cages became national news. When planning the first action to end the contract, we used the national news to make it clear that ICE was not just separating families at the border, they were also separating families in Kent County.
We packed the room at the June 28, 2018 Kent County Commission, with some 250 people who came to say End the Contract Now! The Republican Commissioners left the room when we decided to take over the meeting, as did some of the Democratic Commissioners. I wrote about this action, which you can read here.
This was the beginning of actions taken to End the Contract. Here is a list of everything we did to End the ICE Contract:
- We held dozens of strategy meetings, which always resulted in planning future actions.
- We attended every Kent County Commission Meeting to continue to make our demands, to offer testimony on family separation that was happening by ICE in Kent County and to monitor any comments made by commissioners about the contract.
- Some of the people involved in the campaign met with individual commissioners
- We ran a petition campaign to End the Contract, which we delivered at one of the Commission meetings.
- We held a protest outside of Chairman Saalfeld’s home the night before one of the commission meetings.
- We organized several protests at the Kent County Jail.
- We organized several protest outside of the various ICE offices in downtown Grand Rapids.
- We organized a disruption protest during ArtPrize, on their main stage, drawing attention to family separation in Kent County.
- We created educational materials, which we distributed.
- We created artwork and had sign making parties.
- We spoke to community-based groups about the campaign.
- We utilized social media to education and get the word out about the End the Contract Campaign.
- We held a People’s Commission action during one of the Kent County Commission meetings.
- We worked with the Western Michigan branch of the ACLU and MIRC, who not only obtained their own FOIA documents, but offered their legal expertise on why Kent County was not legally obligated to cooperate with ICE.
As you can see from this list, we spent a great deal of time and energy to End the Contract in Kent County.
Then the GRPD called ICE on Jilmar Ramos Gomez, a US citizen and former Marine, who was suffering from PTSD and started a fire at Spectrum Hospital. Based on the FOIA documents that were obtained by the Grand Rapids Civilian Appeal Board, it was clear that Captain Curt VanderKooi demonstrated racial bias in the Jilmar Ramos Case. This story began to get national news and within a few months, the acting Kent County Sheriff had changed their policy with ICE, by requiring ICE to get a judicial warrant to put a hold on people who were in the Kent County Jail.
This was a victory for the campaign, since 6 months before all of this, no one was talking about the ICE contract with Kent County. The Sheriff’s decision to require a judicial warrant was a direct result of our pressure campaign to End the Contract and the constant news media attention we were getting and creating ourselves. However, the contract with ICE was still in place and was up for renewal in September of 2019.
In the meantime, families affected by ICE violence and some of the lawyers who represented them, shared with us that as a way of getting around the County’s requirement to get a judicial warrant to hold people, ICE was now waiting inside the Kent County Jail and apprehending people who were about to be released from the jail and taking them to detention in Battle Creek.
We were still receiving calls every week from people in the community who had family members arrested and detained by ICE, so we continued with the work to End the Contract.
In late August, we organized another march/protest at the Kent County Jail, where we took over the lobby area in the jail. During the protest inside the jail, we invited several people to share their stories about how ICE had been waiting inside the Kent County Jail to apprehend their family members, just as they were about to be released. This action also generated a great deal of news media attention.
The very next day, the day after our action at the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office released a statement saying that ICE would be terminating their contract with Kent County in September and would not be renewing their contract with the jail. This, we believe, was a direct result of the End the Contract Campaign, which had begun 13 months prior.
This is how the contract with ICE had ended. For members of the Kent County Democratic Party to claim they ended the contract is not only absurd, it is an out right lie. In fact, Democratic Kent County Commissioners fought the movement to End the Contract, engaged in gaslighting of some of the latinx organizers and made no public effort to support our demands or work to End the Contract. One Democratic Kent County Commissioner went so far as to mock the very organizers of the End the Contract Campaign, often referring to what we were doing as Bolshevik cosplay.
The ICE contract with Kent County happened because the of the countless hours and deep passion that organizers and volunteers put in to force the end of the contract, since the campaign was polarizing so many people. The End the Contract campaign was the direct result of the immigrant justice movement in Kent County, demonstrating once again the power social movements can have in our communities.
Trump 2.0
What this brief history of organizing and resistance that began in 2016 tells me is that people did not just sit on their asses or complain about what was happening, they got organized and fought back.
As someone who participated in much of this organized resistance, I witnessed a whole new generation of activists/organizers. In addition, there was a lot of great work around Mutual Aid and a growing abolitionist framework to the work that was being done. Now, I’m not suggesting that we simply replicate what was done then, but we can match the level of participation in the resistance from the first Trump Administration, learn from it, and continue to find new ways to engage in both resistance work and care work. Let’s not sit around and wait for the next election or think that voting will save us. Instead, let’s build robust social movements that can practice collective liberation for a better world.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 