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.
Protecting those with economic power: On why the GR Chamber invited Chief Winstrom to share leadership lessons
On Tuesday, November 19th, from 7:30 – 9am, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is hosting a breakfast with GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom for a what they are calling a “Leadership Lesson.”
This event, where Winstrom will share his perspective on leadership, is completely understandable, especially when you consider the interests of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and its members.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, as I have been documenting over the years, is primarily concerned with business interests and the promotion and perpetuation of the economic system of Capitalism. The GR Chamber of Commerce can say that they want to make sure that everyone thrives who lives in this city (their words), but such sentiment is dishonest and deceptive.
For me, I am much more interested in the actions of any organization, and the actions of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce certainly tells a story. Look at the role that the Grand Rapids Chamber played in pushing and promoting the criminalization of the unhoused in Grand Rapids, starting with their own proposal in December of 2022, through the Chamber influenced policy that was adopted by the City of Grand Rapids in July of 2023.
In addition, the GR Chamber of Commerce has a long history of funding Republican candidates, which adopt policies that hurt the working class and BIPOC communities. Then there is the fact that the GR Chamber of Commerce has been pumping money into local, non-partisan campaigns in Grand Rapids. This was the case in 2022, when they backed now City Commission Andrew Robbins, plus the backing of local candidates in the 2024 election. It is also important to mention that the GR Chamber of Commerce contributed $50,000 to the hotel tax increase ballot initiative that was adopted in August, a campaign that will direct hotel/motel taxes to fund the amphitheater, soccer stadium and any other projects that will primarily benefit those who own downtown Grand Rapids.
When it comes to GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom, the GR Chamber’s choice to have him speak is crystal clear. As the head of the GRPD, Winstrom’s objective – like all police departments – is to primarily protect those with political and economic power, which most often means making sure that the upward flow of capital to those who own this city will not be disrupted or challenged.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce has the full support of Chief Winstrom to make sure that the unhoused do not make the business & professional people who live downtown uncomfortable, nor the tourists who come to Grand Rapids to spend their money.
Chief Winstrom has been happy to do just that, along with making sure that activists don’t disrupt the upward flow of money to the Capitalist Class in Grand Rapids, which is exactly why he has been targeting various actions in recent years. Winstrom has also lied to reporters about such incidents, as I have also documented.
Lastly, it is important to note that Chief Winstrom has on numerous occasions made dismissive comments about those who have been involved in protesting and challenging systems of power and oppression in Grand Rapids. His dismissive comments against people who protest are merely an attempt to present them as people who like to complain or those who don’t do anything positive for the community. Nothing could be further from the truth, as I noted in an article from last year.
So what are the lessons we can learn from the GR Chamber of Commerce’s decision to host Chief Winstrom? The lessons are, 1) those with economic and political power always need the police to protect their interests, and 2) the police will always try to put a stop to anyone who wants to disrupt business as usual and the upward flow of money to those who own Grand Rapids.
2 Ways to oppose the $565 million subsidy for the DeVos/Van Andel development project in downtown Grand Rapids
There will be numerous housing related matters discussed and presented during this Tuesday’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting.
Several of the housing issues that will be presented have to do with funding, along with a public hearing that is specific to the DeVos/Van Andel development project on Fulton and Market.
As I reported nearly three weeks ago, the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved a $565 million subsidy to the DeVos/Van Andel development project. This $565 million subsidy to the two billionaire family development project needs to be opposed, and here are two things you can do:
First, you can sign and share the Action Alert created by the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union, an Action Alert that will go directly to the Mayor, the Grand Rapids City Commissioners and the Grand Rapids City Manager.
Second, you can attend the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting at 2pm (do you think the city deliberately scheduled this public hearing for 2pm, since they knew there would be opposition???). The Public Hearing for the $565 million subsidy for the DeVos/Van Andel development project will be towards the end of the City Commission meeting. Anyone who opposes the $565 million subsidy will have a chance to speak during the Public Hearing portion of the City Commission meeting.
The Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union (GRATU) has provided several important talking points that people can use while addressing the Grand Rapids City Commission, such as:
- No subsidies for billionaire families. Make them pay for it!
- The rental rates of the 595 apartments this DeVos/Van Andel project proposes to build are unaffordable for a majority of the population. Studio apartments in the new development will go for $2,643 per month, $2,833 for a one-bedroom, $3,401 for a two-bedroom. GRATU is proposing that the DeVos/Van Andel development project charge $400 for a studio apartment, $500 for a one-bedroom and $800 for a two-bedroom apartment, prices that align with 30% of the median income in Grand Rapids.
The New York Times recently reported that Grand Rapids is one of the worst cities in the U.S. for renters. - Rents have increased up to 27% since 2020, while wages have not kept up with inflation.
- The median monthly rent for an apartment in Grand Rapids was $1,100 in 2020 and is now $1,400, an increase of $300 each month.
- People are paying an average of $3600 more rent per year than they did in 2020, while the minimum wage increase during those 4 years only provides an additional $1400 per year for the 40-hour-a-week worker.
- The DeVos/Van Andel company is proposing to offer $425,000 annually over a 20 year period, a total of $8.5 million, to go towards the City’s Affordable Housing Fund. Yet the DeVos and Van Andel Foundations together generate assets of roughly $500 million on an annual basis. GRATU is proposing that the DeVos and Van Andel Foundations provide $5 million a year over the next 20 years, $100 million total, to the Affordable Housing Fund.
Public funds for public housing, not for billionaires! People over profits!
Palestine Solidarity Information, Analysis, Local Actions and Events for the week of November 10th
It has been 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 Bombs Refugee Camps After Inking $5.2 Billion Deal for US F-15 Fighter Jets
Save the Children in Gaza: Israel Bombs Polio Vax Site, Bans UNRWA in Attacks on Humanitarian Aid
Israeli Forces Declare Plan for Ethnic Cleansing of Northernmost Part of Gaza
UNRWA: 67 Children Killed by Israeli Attacks on Average Each Day in Gaza
Analysis & History
Exterminate, Expel, Resettle: Israel’s Endgame In Northern Gaza
How Devaluing Palestinian Lives Became a Western Obsession
Despite History of Fabrication, Press Uncritically Covers IDF-Provided Documents on Hamas
Image used in this post is from https://visualizingpalestine.org/visual/u-s-military-and-humanitarian-funding/.
Statement I am delivering to Kent County Commissioners Thursday morning: Why I oppose $100 Million of public money for the Soccer Stadium
Editor’s Note: If you are reading this, the message I am delivering will/did take place on Thursday, November 7th at 8:30am, during the Kent County Commission meeting.
On October 18th, Grand Action 2.0 sent a letter to the Chair of the Kent County Commission, Stan Stek and Grand Rapids Mayor, Rosalynn Bliss. The letter states:
In preparation for the November 7th Kent County Commission meeting, the Agenda for that meeting (which you can access here under Board of Commissioners) the Kent County Commission had already crafted a resolution that would fully support Grand Action 2.0’s request for an addition $100 million. That resolutions reads:
WHEREAS, on August 22, 2024, the Kent County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with Grand Rapids to cover principle and interest payments on a $27.5 million bond to construct the Acrisure Amphitheater with Lodging Excise Tax revenues and also approved an amendment to the Lodging Excise Tax Ordinance, increasing the tax rate from 5% to 8% effective January 1, 2025; and
WHEREAS, Kent County has received a second funding request from Grand Action to cover the public funding gap for the soccer stadium which totals approximately $100 million; and
WHEREAS, the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County have finalized an amendment to the August 2024 agreement which would allocate revenue from three- eighths of the Lodging Excise Tax Fund (LET) (i.e., the amount captured as a result of the 3% rate increase) in the amount needed to pay the principle and interest on a $100 million bond, plus the cost of issuance, issued by the City. The payment schedule will be finalized when the bonds are issued in early 2025; and
WHEREAS, additionally, a one-time distribution from the Convention and Arena Authority will be sent through the County to the City, amounting to 1.5 times the average annual bond payment, primarily to be held in reserve and partially used for the first year of bond payments. The reserve will be held until the bonds expire at which time, assuming the CAA has been repaid for the initial funding, the funds will be returned to the County. Over the period of the bond, all interest earned on the debt reserve will also be returned to the County; and
WHEREAS, in the event that revenues from three-eighths of the LET are insufficient to entirely cover the City’s bond payment, the City will first use the bond reserve and then its general fund to fulfill its obligation to the bond holders. The City may regenerate the bond reserve and repay the City using future surpluses of three-eighths of the LET and/or funds accumulated in the LET coming from three-eighths of lodging tax revenue.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Commissioners approve an amendment to the agreement with the City of Grand Rapids to allocate revenue from the Lodging Excise Tax Fund to cover principle and interest payments on a $100 million bond, plus the cost of issuance, for the purposes of constructing a soccer stadium.
Commissioner ____ moved adoption of the resolution.
It would appear that such a resolution is a clear indication that the issue was a done deal, but despite the overwhelming disregard for public input, the Kent County Commission will likely adopt said resolution and make sure that “economic expansion will benefit everyone in Kent County”, which is the way that the Grand Action 2.0 letter from October 18 read.
What follows is what I am reading during public comment during the November 7th Kent County Commission meeting.
As a 45 year resident of Kent County, I am appalled that this body is willing to give $100 million, of public money, to the Grand Action 2.0 Soccer Stadium project. You already approved the hotel tax increase, and now you want to give $100 million to a project that will primarily benefit the members of Grand Action 2.0, people who are already disgustingly rich.
I am a volunteer organizer with the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union. We hear from tenants every week who are dealing with shitty landlords and property management companies. However, the number one issue they are facing is the cost of rent. According to the National Low Income housing Coalition, people living in the Grand Rapids are need to earn $25.50 and hour just to afford the average cost of rent. The minimum wage in MI is $10.33 an hour, so how the hell do you expect people to afford rent and other basic necessities?
Also, the most recent ALICE report – ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed – says that 41% of people living in Michigan are living paycheck to paycheck. That number goes up to 47% for people who live in Grand Rapids!
People are hurting and you want to give $100 million for Soccer Stadium? The people who run Grand Action 2.0 could easily cover that cost, since their collective wealth is roughly $10 billion. Why do elected officials always decide to use public funds for projects like these when so many people are struggling to survive?
If someone was paying $1500 a month for rent, that would be $18,000 a year. $100 million would cover the cost of rent for 5555 tenants for an entire year, which would not only provide them with a tremendous amount of relief, it would better serve the needs of people who live in Kent County. Please vote against giving $100 million of public dollars to billionaires, their friends, and the arguments they use about economic impact. We all know who will benefit from the Soccer Stadium and it won’t be the people living paycheck to paycheck. How you vote on this is a reflection of who you give your allegiance to.
For further reading on the Soccer Stadium since it was first presented, here are several GRIID articles I have written about the Grand Action 2.0 proposal.
Power Dynamics, community engagement and the Grand Action Soccer Stadium proposal
Daily Grand Rapids News agencies fail the public miserably when it comes to reporting on local candidates
For the past 25 years, GRIID has been monitoring local news in varying capacities. I have been monitoring the 4 daily news agencies – MLive, WOODTV8, WZZM 13 and WXMI 17 – documenting various issues, like election coverage.
One thing that is vitally important for local news agencies, is to report on local candidates and races that impact people right here in Kent County and Grand Rapids. There are numerous sources of information when it comes to Presidential and other federal candidates, even state races.
In my local news monitoring work, it is painfully clear that when it comes to reporting on local electoral races and candidates, the local news miserably fails the public. And just to be clear, when I say local election/candidate coverage, I am speaking about Grand Rapids races and Kent County races. On November 5th, there are only three races in Grand Rapids – the Mayoral race, the 1st Ward and the 3rd Ward Commissioner races. There are also four open seats for the Grand Rapids Public School Board of Education, plus one open seat for Grand Rapids Community College Trustee.
For Kent County, there are a significantly larger number of local election races, such as the 21 Kent County Commissioner races, the race for Sheriff, Prosecutor, Treasurer, Clerk and Drain Commissioner. In addition, there are numerous Kent County judicial seats up for election on November 5th, such as the 3 races for 17th Circuit Judge, 2 races for Probate Judge, 2 races for the 61st District Judge, 1 race for 62A District Judge and 1 race for 63rd District Judge.
Now, since Labor Day – when candidates and campaigns really ramp up – the amount of stories having to do with the local elections has been dismal, especially with the three Grand Rapids-based TV stations. Here are the number for local election coverage on local TV:
- WOODTV8 – 4 stories since Labor Day
- WZZM 13 – 2 stories since Labor Day
- WXMI 17 – 4 stories since Labor Day
The 4 stories run by WOODTV8 were a story about the Mayor’s Youth Council asking GR Mayoral candidates questions, a brief interview with GR Mayoral Candidate LaGrand, a brief interview with Mayoral Candidate Lenear, and a story announcing a debate between the two Mayoral Candidates.
With WZZM 13, there was one story about the Mayor’s Youth Council asking the GR Mayoral candidates questions and a second story about the GR Mayoral Candidates debate at Wealthy Theater.
WXMI 17 also had four local election stories, one about the upcoming Mayor’s Youth Council candidate forum, one after the Mayor’s Youth Council candidate forum, an announcement about a GR Mayoral candidate debate, and a story about the GR Mayoral Candidates debate at Wealthy Theater.
It seems pretty clear that over the past two months, the only local election races that were worthy of local TV news coverage, was the Grand Rapids Mayoral Race. This means that none of the three Grand Rapids-based TV station did a single story about the following candidates/races:
- 1st Ward Grand Rapids City Commission Seat
- 3rd Ward Grand Rapids City Commission Seat
- 4 open seats for the Grand Rapids Public School Board of Education
- 1 open seat for Grand Rapids Community College Trustee
- 21 Kent County Commission races
- Kent County Sheriff race
- Kent County Prosecutor race
- Kent County Clerk race
- Kent County Treasurer race
- Kent County Drain Commissioner race
- 3 races for 17th Circuit Judge
- 2 races for Probate Judge
- 2 races for the 61st District Judge
- 1 race for 62A District Judge
- 1 race for 63rd District Judge
When it came to MLive reporting on local election, it wasn’t much better. There were a total of 25 articles since Labor Day regarding local elections. However, in 22 of the MLive posts there was no real reporting being done. In fact, most of the MLive local election coverage for 2024 are a brief bio of the candidates, followed by candidate responses to question posed by MLive and the League of Women Voters. Now, I’m not saying that candidate surveys are not useful for the public, but this is not journalism. Journalism would require reporters to ask follow up questions, a verification of the claims being made by candidates and a look at past voting records for the candidates that are incumbents.
MLive did post three local election stories that were not candidate surveys. One story was about the Mayor’s Youth Council Mayoral Candidate Forum, a second was about a candidate forum hosted by a community group with both the GR Mayoral candidates and the 2 candidates running for the Grand Rapids 3rd Ward seat, and a 3rd story about misleading mailers being circulated in the 1st Ward City Commission race, mailers that attacked one of the candidates.
Lastly, there was one additional way that the local news agencies failed the public, which was not one single story about campaign finances in the City or County races. By comparison, the local news all did stories about the new “I Voted” stickers, which should tell you something about whether or not the local news agencies have a commitment to informing the local community when it comes to local elections.
Follow the Money: DeVos and other members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure are some of the largest political donors in Michigan in 2024
“My family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican Party. I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence,” she wrote. “Now I simply concede the point. They are right.” Betsy DeVos wrote in a 1997 editorial for Roll Call
We are just hours away from the November 5th election, but I wanted to provide one last bit of campaign finance information. According to the online source transparencyusa.org, there are 14 people from West Michigan, many of whom are part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, which are in the top 50 of those who have contributed the most to campaign committees and candidates in Michigan To see the complete list go to this link.
I am listing the following people from West Michigan, with their number in the ranking of top contributors, followed by their name and the amount of campaign money they have contributed.
6. Maria & Doug DeVos – $$1,055,400.00
9. Daniel DeVos – $869,550.00
14. Suzanne Cheryl DeVos – $737,900.00
17. Daniel Hibma – $646,780.76
20. Mark Meijer – $553,500.00
23. J.C. Huizenga – $526,600.00
24. Betsy DeVos – $520,025.00
31. Richard Hayworth – $436,275.00
35. John Kennedy III – $350,425.00
37. Hendrik Meijer – $350,000.00
38. Douglas Meijer – $350,000.00
44. Richard M. DeVos Jr. – $296,175.50
48. Michael Jandernoa – $278,225.00
50. Richard M. DeVos Sr. – $269,450.00
Now, there are two additional things to know about this list. First, this is political money going to State level races and Political Action Committees, which means it does not include federal races and local county and city races.
Second, if you go to this link and then click on any of the names I have listed above, you can also see which candidates and PACs these individuals contributed to. Virtually all of the people listed gave their money to Republican committees or Republican candidates. The only exceptions are the three Meijer brothers. Most of the money went to the Meijer PAC, which has given to both Republicans and Democrats in 2024.
It is safe to say when it comes to campaign funding for State offices and Political Action Committees in Michigan, the Capitalist Class from West Michigan wields more political influence within Michigan than any other part of the state.
Palestine Solidarity Information, Analysis, Local Actions and Events for the week of November 3rd
It has been a little more than 1 year 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
Netanyahu allies push to recolonize Gaza as US election nears
Israel’s Extremists Have a Plan for the Day after the Genocide
Report: US Sitting on Nearly 500 Reports of US Weapons Killing Civilians in Gaza
With Israel’s Move to Ban UNRWA, ‘A New Way Has Been Found to Kill Children’
Israel’s Horrific Assault Leaves No Sanctuary in Jabalia
Literary Institutions Are Pressuring Authors to Remain Silent About Gaza
In Midst of Palestinian Genocide, Late Hamas Leader Scolded for ‘Eradicating’ Israel
The Truth Behind Israel’s War on 7 Fronts
Morning Joe: Dems’ Favorite Show, Blatant Pro-Israel Propaganda
Analysis & History
The Erasure of Palestine: Colonialism and a Century of Struggle
“Genocide as Colonial Erasure”: U.N. Expert Francesca Albanese on Israel’s “Intent to Destroy” Gaza
Events
Free Gaza: Post-Election Rally for a People’s Agenda
Wednesday, November 6 at 6pm, Rosa Parks Circle
Image used in this post is from https://www.boughtbyzionism.org/, which provides great information on Pro-Israel money going to politicians, the weapons manufacturers, along with AIPAC & Zionist lobbying groups.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 