Whitmer appointee scores business windfall through governor's jobs strategyBeth LeBlancCraig Mauger
The Detroit News

View CommentsMarshall — A businessman whom Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tapped to develop a plan for Michigan’s future has already secured a victory for his family-owned company through the governor's current job-creation strategy, using his connections to win a no-bid $178 million contract to prep a factory site in the Marshall area.
The taxpayer money for construction giant Walbridge, whose board chairman is John Rakolta Jr., moved through the Democratic-led Legislature in March as staff at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation provided updates via text messages to the influential businessman, according to records obtained by The Detroit News.
A Detroit News investigation found the money for Walbridge's site preparation for a Ford Motor Co. electric vehicle battery plant flowed through unconventional channels that avoided additional levels of oversight normally required for taxpayer-subsidized economic development projects.
In mid-February, Rakolta had sought assurances from at least one Republican lawmaker that the money would move quickly through the Legislature — an effort that seemed to backfire when Republicans instead tried to strip Walbridge’s money out of the budget.
"They land the deal, announce it, then come and bully us into passing it," said House Republican Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township.
Hall said Rakolta asked him on Feb. 16 to vote for the funding for the Marshall site.

"I’m not going to be pushed around by those types of calls," Hall said of the Rakolta's lobbying. "For me, it was about looking at what other states paid for these deals and trying to bring Michigan around to what other states did.”

About three months after the Democratic-led Legislature pushed through the March spending plan that funded Walbridge's $178 million site preparation contract, Whitmer appointed Rakolta to lead the state's new Growing Michigan Together Council. Whitmer's executive order tasked Rakolta and others on the commission with developing recommendations on population growth, education, infrastructure and “comprehensive economic development strategies."
Walbridge, a Detroit-based industrial construction firm, would not answer any questions about Rakolta's involvement in securing the money for Ford's Marshall battery project and would not say why neither Walbridge nor Rakolta are registered to lobby lawmakers.

But Walbridge spokesman Eric Dresden said Rakolta is a "longtime advocate for Detroit and the state of Michigan."
"His appointment as co-chair of the Growing Michigan Together Council reflects the recognition of his dedication to making Michigan a state where families want to work, live, and build their lives," Dresden said.
Rakolta, a Republican donor, was the longtime CEO of his family-owned Walbridge before serving as former President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2019 to 2021. Walbridge publicly disclosed $2.2 billion in revenues in 2020, the most recent year available. After his ambassadorship, Rakolta resumed serving as chairman of the company's board of directors.
In a statement, Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said Rakolta is "widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans in Michigan," and has the expertise needed for a commission focused on Michigan's population woes and economic future.

"… The governor has full confidence that he is the right choice to co-lead this council," Leddy said.

Incentives and then someOn Feb. 13, Ford announced that it planned to invest about $3.5 billion in an electric vehicle battery plant park in Marshall. As part of the deal, Ford pocketed about $210 million in direct tax incentives plus a 15-year property tax abatement worth about $775 million over the life of the tax break.
Walbridge, a longtime Ford contractor, announced on its website that it would be building the factory for Ford. But the page contained no information about site preparation in Marshall.
A little more than a week later, Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin Messer Jr. and Ford’s government affairs chief, Christopher Smith, came before House Appropriations to ask for another $750 million, this time arguing that the money would be used solely for site preparation in Marshall.

Documentation given to some lawmakers at the Feb. 22 meeting and marked “subject to NDA (non-disclosure agreement)” included a breakdown of where the $750 million would go, including about $294 million for “pad ready site improvements” and listing “MAEDA/Walbridge” as the contracting entities.

Messer referred to the document during his testimony.
"What we have before you, not a dime will go to Ford," Messer told lawmakers. "This will go to making sure the infrastructure is secure as you asked.”

At the time, Messer referred to the funding as “SSRP,” or part of the Strategic Site Readiness Program, which largely requires approvals by the full chambers, then a Michigan Strategic Fund board vote, and lastly, a final approval of a transfer of the funds by the House and Senate appropriations committees.

Instead, a week later, only $120 million of the $750 million requested would be routed through SSRP in a supplemental spending bill that went before the House and Senate. The other $630 million was inserted as direct appropriations, avoiding the many-layered approval process required if it were distributed through the Strategic Site Readiness Program.

About $330 million was appropriated to the Michigan Department of Transportation to rebuild and expand roadways near the Marshall development and $299 million was earmarked for “land acquisition and predevelopment site work” for a megasite in Marshall.
To date, the $299 million earmark marks "the largest direct appropriation the MEDC has administered," said Otie McKinley, a spokesman for the agency.
The bill containing the funding was sponsored by House Appropriations Chairwoman Angela Witwer, D-Delta Township. It's not unusual for budget chairs to sponsor most appropriations bills.
Money moves to Marshall agencyAfter the budget’s signing on March 8, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation would move within about two weeks to shuttle the first $185 million installment of cash to the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance, according to Treasury records obtained through a public records request.
A second large chunk of $75 million was distributed in August. In all, since the start of the year, the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance has been allocated roughly $418 million, including a $120.3 million allocation approved earlier this month.
The Marshall group said it contracted with Walbridge for site prep because of the company's partnership with Ford for the building of the eventual factory. Ford initially told The News it was not involved in site preparation, then, a day later, said it had introduced Walbridge to the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance.
"We introduced Walbridge to the MAEDA team and strongly endorsed their involvement in this project, given they have been a construction supplier to Ford for 105 years — and they have expertise on a number of EV projects — including some with Ford in other states," said Emma Bergg, a spokeswoman for Ford.
The Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance would not release its contract with Walbridge, but said it pays Walbridge as invoices are submitted for work and, as of late August, it had paid the company $74 million of the $178 million the contract is expected to cost.
Besides the Walbridge funding, MAEDA has another $241 million that it will spend on design, permitting and infrastructure benefiting site preparation and construction at the Marshall site.
The $418 million in taxpayer money allocated to MAEDA so far this year is a drastic increase from the money the agency usually handles. For the year period ending June 2022, the organization reported $1.5 million in revenue and $1.4 million in expenses.
Because MAEDA is a nonprofit, normal disclosure policies that cover government agencies don't apply.
'Do we still need the House?'Before lawmakers had even composed a budget bill for the site prep funding, Hall, the House Republican leader, said he received a call from Rakolta asking him to expedite the funding.
Hall, who previously represented Marshall and signed a non-disclosure agreement to be part of conversations surrounding the megasite, said he had voiced concerns to Whitmer's office and MEDC staff about the amount of taxpayer funding being requested for site preparation, particularly when it came to the money set aside for Walbridge. He wanted the MEDC to go back to the bargaining table with Ford to haggle over a lower site prep dollar amount.
But Hall said state officials ultimately refused to renegotiate, for reasons he believed had to do with the risk of losing the project in a repeat of Michigan’s 2021 loss of Ford EV and battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, where Walbridge is constructing a multi-billion-dollar EV and battery manufacturing complex for Ford.
“There wasn’t even a bill before the Legislature yet, and Rakolta called and wanted me to move faster to approve the deal,” Hall said. “... He certainly had a lot of inside information about the conversations I was having with the governor.”
Neither Walbridge nor Rakolta are registered to lobby in Lansing, according to state records.
A person is required by state law to register as a lobbyist agent if they are compensated more than $725 a year to lobby public officials on behalf of a client or employer. A company or organization is considered a lobbyist if it spends more than $2,900 a year on lobbying public officials, or $725 in a year lobbying a single public official. Large Michigan corporations with business before the Legislature generally register with the Secretary of State's office to lobby.
State records show the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was aware of Walbridge's eventual role in the Ford project, and was also in communication with Rakolta as the site prep money moved through the Legislature.
When Messer presented to lawmakers on Feb. 22, he did so with a document summarizing the funding in front of him listing MAEDA/Walbridge as a recipient of the site prep funding. The document, which said it was subject to a non-disclosure agreement, is visible in House video recordings of the meeting and was distributed to some members of House Appropriations. The News obtained a copy of the document.
And Terri Fitzpatrick, the MEDC's executive vice president and chief real estate and global attraction officer, communicated with Rakolta via text message as the money moved through the Senate and House, according to documents obtained by The News through a public records request.
On Feb. 28, as a spending bill containing the funding moved to the Senate, Fitzpatrick texted Rakolta a screenshot of a news article indicating the bill would be voted on shortly.
"Do we still need the House?" Rakolta replied.
Fitzpatrick responded in the affirmative, then sent two other screenshots a couple of hours later of an article indicating the money had passed and the Senate vote board showing which senators had voted for and against the bill.
"We hear it passed both chambers with immediate effect just now," Fitzpatrick wrote later. "Will get update in the morning."
GOP tries to block moneyHouse and Senate Republicans, who are in the minority, attempted during the Feb. 28 and March 1 vote on the funding to block key provisions in the bill that would benefit Walbridge.
Amendments from Rep. Tom Kuhn, R-Troy, and Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, would have stripped the $299 million site prep allocation from the budget. Another from Rep. Donni Steele, R-Lake Orion, would have required all existing contracts on the project be rebid to determine whether the work could be done at a lower price.
The amendments were rejected by the Democratic majorities. In Lansing, it's rare for the majority party to accept amendments from the minority party.
Huizenga, in remarks on the Senate floor, indicated he believed the money would be better spent on state and local road infrastructure; his amendment would have redirected funding to city, village and county roads. Kuhn said leadership recommended he introduce the amendment, but it was also a step he supported because of the lack of transparency in the process.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Kuhn, noting he’d served for years on boards at lower levels of government where more transparency was demanded. “You have the (Open Meetings Act). You have the FOIA. We go through budgets detail by detail at the local level. Everything is done in transparency. But you bring stuff up here and it's done in a dark back room.”
Kuhn and Steele and more than a dozen other Republican and Democratic lawmakers interviewed by The News were unaware Rakolta’s company was the intended recipient of a share of the money they voted on. Many didn’t recognize his name.
Rakolta lands spot on commissionWalbridge's team wouldn't give details of its contract with MAEDA or with Ford, but pointed to Walbridge's long history with Ford in a statement provided to The News.
The company said Rakolta's advocacy for the state was responsible for landing him on Whitmer's population commission. Walbridge declined to answer a question regarding the potential conflict between Walbridge's receipt of a $178 million state-funded contract and Rakolta's role in leading the commission.
The group is tasked with examining ways of growing the state’s population, improving education, shoring up infrastructure and developing “comprehensive economic development strategies” benefiting communities and economic mobility.
At the announcement of the council in June, Rakolta said the state lacked the "cultural cohesion" needed to "compete on a global basis today."
"I’ve had firsthand experience with that listening to my clients," Rakolta said. "Many of you know I build auto and battery plants across the globe, and 50 years ago, our company was doing 80% of its work in the state of Michigan, and the percentage has been reversed. We’re now doing 80% outside.”

A year before his appointment, in March 2022, Rakolta told Bridge Michigan that the state needed to get serious about landing electric vehicle and battery plants. He said Michigan had essentially been "non-competitive" and incentives were just a step to correcting course.
"If we're going to be competitive, we're going to have to broaden those incentives … to get more than one or two battery plants," Rakolta told Bridge Michigan.

Rakolta typically contributes to Republican groups and pitched in last minute to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon's failed campaign in 2022 to deny Whitmer a second term.

But a few months later, in December 2022, Walbridge contributed $10,000 to Whitmer’s nonprofit, Michigan Strong, according to a public disclosure.
[email protected]
[email protected]

Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press Reported on corruption surrounding the Marshall Megasite and Ford's BlueOval Battery Park. This article first appeared September 14, 2023. 

Since this article was released, there is still no disclosure about the $100,000 dark money contribution to the ballott committee which sued Marshall residents who were seeking the right to vote on the megasite. Nor has there any clarity from Governor's Whitmer's campaign committee whether they have had any involvement in the suppression of voters rights.  
​

From the Detroit Free Press

​Whitmer team, Michigan Democrats tied to Marshall mystery money in Ford battery plant fightDave BoucherDetroit Free Press
The original article is here.

MARSHALL — At first, Rick Sadler didn’t think the mailing was a huge deal.
Sure, it went to residents all over Marshall this spring. And it did call him, his wife and others "disgruntled." But at least this one did not label him and others who oppose a massive local Ford development “radical activists,” like a different flyer.
This mailing did include his photograph, though. With a big red X over his wife’s face, and his own. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. And more worried.

“That’s just not something that you do to other people. ... To me, that’s an attack on me and my family,” said Sadler, 62, a manager at a Family Dollar in Battle Creek who dotes on his two Yorkie-poos, Sophie and Bella. 
“I’m just Joe Schmo. … It’s not fair, because they’ve got basically unlimited pockets and I think I have $10 in my wallet right now.”

The flyers and handouts are part of a larger campaign to shout down opponents of a $3.5 billion Ford electric vehicle battery project planned near Marshall, a small community located just a few miles east of Battle Creek. The development is arguably the crown jewel in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new economic development strategy, and is set to receive more public subsidies than almost any other project in state history. 
The company already broke ground on the large site, with plans for the facility to operate by 2026. However, some local residents oppose the project; their reasons vary, but they largely agree such a massive project will bring unwanted change to the community.

Efforts by local residents to reverse a land transfer, while unlikely, could derail the entire project. And they face pushback funded through shadowy organizations that are not required by law to provide very specific information about donors.
But a Detroit Free Press investigation into the fight over the project revealed connections to Democratic influencers, including Whitmer’s campaign lawyer and his colleague, both of whom repeatedly represented the governor on controversial election issues in the past.
In addition, a robocall effort blasting opponents of the Marshall site included a phone number used by Whitmer’s reelection campaign, which still appeared on her political website as of publication of this report.
A political organization used a portion of a $100,000 “dark money” contribution to pay for flyers, a video and other activities that encouraged Marshall residents to oppose a petition drive that could cripple the project, records show. The same organization used more of that money to hire the lawyers with Whitmer ties, shifting some of their strategy from a public relations battle to a legal fight. 
In response to Free Press questions, Whitmer spokeswoman Stacey LaRouche would not say whether the governor or her campaign was involved with the dark money groups or advertisements, or explain how the governor’s campaign phone number was used in a robocall. 
Instead, LaRouche emailed a statement earlier this month touting the Marshall project. 

“Thanks to Gov. Whitmer’s leadership, Marshall will be home to an iconic American company through Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park, creating 2,500 good-paying jobs,” LaRouche said in the statement. 

“This is possible because residents in Marshall supported the project and as a result the bipartisan Marshall City Council and Marshall Township voted to welcome this historic investment with open arms.”
As for Ford, spokesman T.R. Reid said the Dearborn automaker is “absolutely not” involved with the dark money groups or political committee in Marshall. 

Whitmer campaign connection ‘alarming’The money used in this case is considered “dark” because it comes from a group not required to disclose much information about the source of the funds or its leadership structure. 
Nick Pigeon, executive director of the nonpartisan nonprofit Michigan Campaign Finance Network, reviewed the Free Press findings. He noted dark money operations are common, and frequently used to shield prominent people or companies from political scutwork. 

“I would say the connection to Whitmer’s campaign lawyer is alarming and an example of behind the scenes maneuvering that campaign finance law allows for,” Pigeon said in an email. 

“There are too many connections to Democratic insiders to ignore in this case but the degrees of separation campaign finance law allows obscures the true picture.”
Marshall Township residents attempted to recall a local trustee who supports the project. Elsewhere in the state, at least two other small-town officials face recall efforts due to their support of large development projects. All three hired the same high-priced Whitmer-connected lawyer to defend themselves. 

Although it appears separate dark money groups with seemingly benign names — Clean Jobs for Michigan and Jobs for Michigan — are leading the charge against the locals opposed to the Ford project, state records show the two are actually the same organization. Their incorporator is a Washington, D.C., lawyer who previously worked for political action committees supporting Hillary Clinton, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and other Democrats. 
The same entity also hired a public relations consultant who worked for Whitmer’s reelection campaign, and its board is comprised of three people with ties to Michigan Democrats.

The political committee that supports the Ford site, Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Opportunity, used some of the $100,000 donation to hire a well-known Democratic consulting firm to perform “education and field services,” according to records.
During the height of the pandemic, this same firm landed the Whitmer administration in hot water after it received a no-bid contract, prompting inquiries from the state Legislature and the Michigan attorney general. 

'I’ve never heard of anything like that'The governor and her administration routinely champion their own initiatives, including criticizing opponents. But using dark money and mysterious groups is more common for attacking political rivals, not average taxpayers protesting something, experts said. 

“I’ve never heard of anything like that ... that’s pretty wild,” said Nathan Jensen, professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin who’s focused on economic development deals with public subsidies across the country. 
Although the coordinated pushback to the Amazon second headquarters deal in New York City is a recent example of communities sinking big projects, Jensen said, it’s highly unusual for these types of organizations to do the heavy lifting advocating for these deals. 

“It is a questionable strategy by a governor. … You already have this ability to communicate a message. You wonder why they’re not using this public strategy, and whether it’s some sort of negative campaign that they don’t want to be directly associated with, or a message that they don’t want to stand behind,” Jensen said, elaborating on the idea Whitmer or her team are behind the effort. 
“Why not just give a speech, visit the community and listen to them?” 

While Whitmer appeared with Ford executives to announce the deal and helped shepherd subsidies through the Legislature, she has not visited Marshall to hear from the community after details emerged about the project. LaRouche did not answer questions about why the governor has not visited Marshall for the project, or whether she plans to do so in the future. 
Jim Durian, leader of the local economic development agency that helped secure the Ford project, said his organization had no part in the advertisements or the dark money groups. He said opponents of the development engaged in threats and harassment instead of civil dialogue, something Ford spokesman Reid also mentioned. 

In Marshall, the ads created a picture of outside agitators and disgruntled residents trying to foment dissent in a tight-knit community. In reality, longtime local residents who supported a petition to potentially end the Ford deal said even if the tone of the campaign did not surprise them, they felt attacked. 

Glenn Kowalske, a self-described “pretty simple guy” who’s taken on a leadership role in coordinating opposition to the development, also discussed the Free Press findings. He said he feels confident that Whitmer or her allies are involved in the campaign against those who dislike the Ford project. 
The retired engineer who has lived in Marshall Township for the past 37 years says his experience fighting the Ford project opened his eyes to the darker side of politics. 

“It’s the governor, from the standpoint of the political process for sure. Whether that’s a direct connection or if it’s indirect through these … business elements that are accomplishing the mission,” Kowalske said. 

“If I think about the emotional part, I think it makes most of us both angry and also, I don’t want to say, hopeless. But from the standpoint that things are completely out of our control, and that the opposition is massive.” 
Chris Bowman and his family have lived in the Marshall area for years, including several in Marshall Township directly across the Kalamazoo River from the planned development site. 

Recently, he said his son brought him an ad he’d seen on YouTube championing the site. Mike Buss, who lives down the street from Bowman, saw a separate ad on social media. He saved it, because he thought it was so funny that he and others who disapprove of the site would be labeled radicals.
“They’re trying to frame (the opposition) as some sort of outside conspiracy theorists,” said Bowman, who dislikes the site and plans to move if the project comes to fruition. 

The lawyers, and other projects Providing billions of tax dollars to entice business relocation or growth is a top priority for the governor in her second term. Since reelection, Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature allocated roughly $4 billion to these deals, generally predicated on companies spending lots of money in a community and creating new jobs. 

That includes roughly $1.7 billion, in state and local subsidies, for the large Ford-related facility just outside Marshall. Gotion Inc., a Chinese manufacturer, agreed to invest $2.4 billion for a new electric battery factory in Green Charter Township, outside Big Rapids, in exchange for $715 million in tax benefits. 

A third project planned for Eagle Township, a rural community outside Lansing, never came to fruition. But records show Whitmer and state officials in September 2022 offered roughly $28 billion in direct subsidies, tax abatements and other incentives to a large company that ultimately picked New York for its facility.
Whitmer and state economic development officials say projects they pursue are supported by local communities. But in Marshall Township (the Ford project is slated for land in the township, not Marshall proper), Green Charter Township and Eagle Township, an array of vocal and active neighbors oppose the deals for a variety of reasons. 

In all three communities, that opposition manifested in separate pushes to oust local elected leaders. In the Marshall area, local residents also pursued a ballot initiative and filed a lawsuit. 

And in each of those cases, the township officers facing potential recall turned to at least two lawyers: Chris Trebilcock and Vincent Sallan. 
Trebilcock and Sallan work for Clark Hill, a firm with more than 700 lawyers in Michigan and across the country. While the firm routinely represents local governments, Trebilcock repeatedly worked for the same high-profile client: Whitmer. 

When Whitmer faced scrutiny in 2021 over a private jet she took to Florida at the height of COVID-19 restrictions, Trebilcock represented the governor and her campaign. He also represented a secretive nonprofit affiliated with the governor that initially sought to cover the cost of the flight. 
Trebilcock also represented a series of Whitmer-aligned initiatives, including an organization created to fight conservative efforts to gather signatures for a petition aimed at stripping her of some executive powers. 

These lawyers are not cheap. Although neither would tell the Free Press their hourly rates, a 2021 bid Clark Hill submitted to represent a city suggested lawyers with similar titles cost at least $250 to $350 an hour. 
A Marshall Township trustee earns $3,636 annually, plus $60 for any special meetings, according to the clerk. The Eagle Township supervisor makes $18,576 per year, according to the clerk’s office. In January, the Green Charter Township board voted to pay the supervisor a salary of $22,257.02 from the general fund. 
Trebilcock and Sallan's work in Marshall goes beyond representing a Marshall Township trustee. They also represent the political committee that recently received $100,000 as part of the campaign to support the Ford project; Trebilcock also represents the group in a lawsuit against the local residents who oppose the plant, court records show. 

In a statement, Trebilcock declined to say whether anyone affiliated with Whitmer, Ford or others asked him to represent the officials or the Marshall political committee. He also would not say who’s paying for his services.
“I have always been proud to represent local elected officials who are subject to unwarranted political attacks simply for standing up and doing what’s right for their constituents and communities, especially when those doing the attacking refuse to follow the law,” Trebilcock said last week in the emailed statement. 

“Our retention of clients is subject to the policies of our firm and rules of professional conduct governing all attorneys. We strictly follow these in all cases.”
Trebilcock also represents the township supervisor in Eagle Township, court records show. Both Sallan and Trebilcock represent the Green Charter Township supervisor, according to court records. Sallan did not respond to requests for comment.

The Eagle Township supervisor and Marshall Township trustee did not return requests for comment. 

Green Charter Township Supervisor James Chapman declined to say how he’s paying his lawyers. He said he learned of their expertise from conversations with friends, but declined to name any of them.
“Whatever I’m doing and how I’m paying for it is my business,” Chapman said, adding if he’s paying for the lawyers with campaign funds he’ll include the expenditure in his campaign filings.
The organization opposing the Ford development has its own relatively prominent attorney. Robby Dube works for a firm out of Minnesota, known for helping locals in North Dakota scuttle a potentially huge development in their community. Dube also represents a comparable group in Mecosta County that opposes the Gotion facility near Big Rapids.

On Wednesday, Republican-turned-Democratic operative Jeff Timmer publicly released documents showing a staff member for Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, is helping a separate committee working to recall Chapman. Nesbitt and many other Republicans have openly criticized the Gotion project for months.

That criticism runs from unsubstantiated allegations of meddling by China and environmental concerns to frustration over the size of the public subsidy for the project.

The political committee and dark money groupsThey sound innocuous: Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Opportunity, Jobs for Michigan, Clean Jobs for Michigan. 
But they’re all relatively newly created organizations working in coordination while relying on lax regulations that enable spending unlimited sums of dark money to influence politics at the local and state level. 

Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Opportunity paid for the flyer with the big red X, and a separate one that called local residents “radical activists.” It also paid for at least one television advertisement that blasts "radical extremists and special interests," according to a recording obtained by the Free Press.

Aaron McKean, legal counsel for the national nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, said this is a classic example of wealthy special interests shielding their identities using a menagerie of means that ultimately deprives voters of the truth. 
“It’s almost like a stereotypical story at this point,” said McKean, the campaign finance expert. 

“What we’ve also seen is the massive increase in the types of groups named 'Americans for America,' or 'Americans for Apple Pie.' Everyone wants good jobs in their community. …That is part of the whole story: obscuring where that money comes from.” 

In Marshall, residents who oppose the Ford site tried to gather signatures for a petition to force a citywide vote on a local zoning decision that provided hundreds of acres for the project. They hope to overturn that decision and potentially derail or change the Ford development.

The Marshall clerk determined the petition failed on numerous grounds, but opponents sued, arguing her decision was inaccurate. That legal matter is ongoing, and could impact work currently occurring at the site.  
Trebilcock represents Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Opportunity, a committee created to oppose that effort. Its treasurer is Warner Ball, a Marshall resident who works for a progressive advertising company that did work to support Whitmer’s 2022 reelection. 
In a statement, Ball declined to say whether anyone connected to Whitmer or Michigan Democrats asked him to create the committee. He also would not say how he became aware of the organization that gave his committee a large donation, or whether the source of that money matters. 

“We are very proud of the work in our community that led to this very rare opportunity to bring good jobs to the area,” Ball said in his statement. 

In July, Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Opportunity reported receiving $100,000 from Clean Jobs for Michigan, its only contribution. 

In comparison, the group that opposes the Ford development has raised about $29,000. Most of the donations are small contributions from Marshall-area residents, records show. 

They did receive $5,000 from a local nonprofit, run by Kowalske and two other local residents, records show. While this type of nonprofit is typically not allowed to make political contributions, there are exceptions under Michigan campaign finance law and Internal Revenue Service rules for donations to a committee created to support or oppose a ballot initiative.

Clean Jobs for Michigan and Jobs for Michigan have separate websites with slightly different messages. However, both are registered to the same P.O. Box in Jackson and state business records show the groups are the same company, organized by Washington, D.C., attorney Jim Lamb.

Lamb, a longtime Democratic supporter, referred comment to Mario Morrow. Morrow is a Detroit political consultant who worked for both former-Govs. Rick Snyder, a Republican, and Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat. More recently, Whitmer's reelection campaign paid Morrow's firm $75,000 in 2021, according to state records. 

Morrow said there are three members of the Clean Jobs for Michigan Board: Rudy Hobbs, Stephen Purchase and Price Dobernick. Hobbs is a former Democratic state lawmaker; Purchase is a spokesman for a union, and Dobernick is a leader in a separate union. Both unions endorsed Whitmer in the past.

Morrow did not answer a question about whether Whitmer or entities with which she has ties had a hand in founding the organizations nor did he provide detailed information about the source of the $100,000 provided to the Marshall committee. 
“We will comply with all reporting requirements as required by law when these reports are due,” Morrow said in a statement. 
The political committee reported spending a little more than $32,000. About $20,000 of that went to K2K Consulting, a Grand Rapids-based agency with deep ties to Michigan Democrats. 

In early 2020, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services awarded a no-bid contract for contact tracing related to fighting COVID-19 to the same company. The health department's then-leader, Robert Gordon, said the department nixed the contract at Whitmer’s behest before any work was performed, but he told state lawmakers investigating the arrangement the administration “made a mistake” in providing the contract. 
The head of K2K Consulting, Mike Kolehouse, did not return a voicemail seeking comment. 

A fourth organization, Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Progress, did not file campaign finance reports at the state or local level and does not appear to have a website. However, local residents received robocalls, purportedly from the organization, that advocated for the Ford project. 

After roughly 30 seconds of asking people not to sign the petition opposing the project, the message indicates it’s paid for by “Marshall Citizens for Jobs and Progress,” according to a copy obtained by the Free Press. After that, it lists a phone number.
​
The Whitmer campaign used the same phone number to file for reelection. It remains on her campaign website. The Free Press repeatedly called the number and left messages, but none were returned. 
Contact Dave Boucher at [email protected] or on X, previously called Twitter, at @Dave_Boucher1.

Whitmer team, Michigan Democrats tied to Marshall mystery money in Ford battery plant fightDave BoucherDetroit Free Press

Marshall residents have almost reached their goal of signatures to put the zoning changes to a referendum.  Read more about the campaign at this link.

    BlueOval bad for Marshall and Michigan

The opinion piece written by James Durian, CEO of the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance, is the view of a non-resident employee doing a job that, if he succeeds at, will lead to bigger and better opportunities for himself long after he walks away from the disaster he helped create here in Marshall with the BlueOval EV battery plant.
Let’s look at the facts.

1. Durian claims this plant will create “high-quality, good paying jobs for thousands”. The number of jobs to be expected was recently stated at a Marshall Township meeting to be approximately 2,500. The majority of these positions will be line workers and Ford pays approximately $18 per hour to their factory workers, as reported in January of this year by Indeed.com and glassdoor.com. An annual income of less than $40,000 will not support families in the Marshall community. Only a handful of those in more executive positions will be able, if they so choose, to live in this area.
2. The battery plant will boost property values according to Durian. How is that possible? Those of us that live near the proposed plant will be subjected to air pollution, increased train and truck traffic, possible contamination of our wells and therefore our drinking water, and a giant eyesore of a factory with 24/7 outdoor lighting. For those who own homes directly across Michigan Avenue from the site, their home values will be greatly diminished as will those who live within the pollution and annoyance radius of the factory.
3. Durian also claims that the factory will contribute to the generation of tax revenues. Yes, there will be some increase in payments from citizens that work at the plant, just as there is whenever anyone joins the workforce anywhere in the state. This small increase will not come close to offsetting the 15 year tax abatement being given to Ford nor the cost to Michigan taxpayers of $680,000 per job created there. (Source Michigan Capitol Confidential)
4. Marshall does have a “unique culture and way of life”; mostly a rural way of life, quieter and more peaceful than that of larger cities. We respect the land and our heritage. Destroying acres of prime farm land, and homes, barns and structures that have been lovingly maintained for decades does not respect, nor reflect, the desire of the residents of Marshall township and city.
5. On a personal level, our home falls within the megasite region. It is a 75 year old log home, a local landmark, surrounded by acres of mature hardwood trees that was an American Legion Post at one time and a veterinary practice at another. It has been our home for 45 years, where we raised our family, celebrated births, weddings, holidays and every event of a lifetime. It is “home” and to us there is no other place we want to be. We do not want our home and woods leveled in the name of “progress”. We want to stay, we want our neighbors to stay and Ford to stay away.

The people of our area need to be heard. We have not been thus far. Only those who have signed nondisclosure agreements and have worked in secret for months are being given a voice in Lansing. This deal is not good for Marshall, nor for Michigan, as the costs to our land, our history and our tax dollars is far too high. All Michiganders should come together to make our voices heard that this is a really bad deal.
Janet Daniels Borders, DVM
Dale Ray Borders, DVM

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Dear ​Senator Peters,
Good afternoon. I was born and raised in Marshall, Michigan. I am emailing regarding the proposed Megasite in Marshall, Michigan. Please consider supporting Senator Rubio’s Revoke act of 2023. The loss of agricultural land, historic farmsteads, and natural spaces for threatened wildlife are among the many reasons this proposed site is dangerous for my community, but the one that infuriates me the most is Ford’s partnership with CATL. How can we as Michiganders and supporters of Veterans allow Ford to partner with our greatest geopolitical adversary and use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the project? To allow a company with direct links to the Chinese Communist Party to operate in our state is an immense betrayal to our community of Michiganders and Veterans. Again, I ask that you support the Revoke act of 2023 and stop Ford’s Partnership with China. Thank you for your consideration. 
- Respectfully sent,
PC

The average person, whether here in Michigan or elsewhere around the country, has been told by politicians and companies that subsidies work, but they don’t understand just how much they really cost. They see big numbers and just don’t have the context to understand at a gut level exactly how much money we’re talking about here. That’s why we’ve spent a lot of time trying to come up with examples that people can understand about what kinds of other things Michigan could be doing with this much money. 

• This one plant is potentially getting enough money from taxpayers to cover the state’s General Fund appropriations for the Departments of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy ($540 million), Natural Resources ($109 million) and Agriculture & Rural Development ($99 million) for a year, while also matching the $739 million sitting in the state’s various conservation, environment and recreation-related funds. Our retro license plates say “Water Winter Wonderland,” but if there were truth in advertising laws we’d have to change them to “Corporate Welfare Wonderland.”
• Local government officials regularly blame cuts in state revenue sharing for deficiencies in local public services, but this one battery plant project is getting more money than the $1.45 billion the state distributed in revenue sharing to all local and county governments combined.
• It’s roughly as much money as the state paid in unemployment benefits in 2021, while the COVID pandemic was keeping people across the state out of work.
• It’s four times as much as all Michigan homeowners were able to deduct in homestead property tax credits on their taxes that year.
• It’s also four times more than the total value of state tax credits for low-income and at-risk households, including the Earned Income Tax Credit as well as property tax credits for senior citizens, persons with disabilities and veterans.
• It’s more than the $1.5 billion in General Fund grants to the state’s colleges and universities.
• This subsidy deal is being advertised as “rural economic development,” which makes it all the more ironic that that turning farmland into a battery plant in Marshall is going to cost taxpayers three and a half decades’ worth of the state’s Farmland Preservation Tax Credit.
• In terms of investing in public safety, it’s more than the $1.6 billion in General Fund appropriations for the state judiciary, Attorney General, State Police…and the Department of Civil Rights to keep an eye on them all.
• If we want to invest in the future, it could pay off the entire $1.2 billion in outstanding general-obligation bonds with plenty of room to spare.
• It’s more than the $1.5 billion the state has sitting in the transportation fund earmarked for “fixing the damn roads” and other crumbling components of the state’s infrastructure.
• All this to dedicate so much money to one battery plant that at the reported $45,000 average wage and assuming reasonable inflation, Michigan’s taxpayers will effectively be subsidizing the plant’s entire payroll for the next 13 years – in a plant where three-quarters of workers will be earning less than the county median household income and making just 31 cents an hour more than the county’s $19.69/hour subsistence wage. (And, like you said, where labor force is already an issue for many employers.)

Thank you for taking the time and effort to reach out to us, and I hope that some of this information is helpful to add to your discussions whenever the topic comes up. Thank you for being someone who cares about this issue, and who wants what’s best for our communities. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any way we can help spread the word in your community. I’m always happy to come speak to community groups, or sit down with local elected officials to try to help them understand the issues in play.

John C. Mozena, President
The Center for Economic Accountability (a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit )
www.EconomicAccountability.org

s​The State of Michigan is going full-steam ahead with this corporate welfare project and corporate land grab despite so many red flags. This project inappropriately uses state and federal tax dollars. The amount of money spent in no way justifies the small return on the investment when compared to the enormous social, environmental and economic losses. This project is also a risk to our national security due to the Ford/CATL relationship. Ford has never manufactured an EV battery and can not do so without licensing technology from the Chinese Company CATL. Ford originally stated that Chinese managers will oversee the plant. Ford will be producing lithium batteries but CATL just announced it is working on a battery which uses sodium. Will the lithium batteries be old technology by the time the plant is up and running in 2026? As of now, China controls 50% of the world's lithium supply and CATL has the market share of battery sales world wide. Why are we bolstering a Chinese Mega company? This relationship makes America MORE dependent on China and the Chinese Government. Ford was just trying to get a patent to repossess one's car. What kind of technology will China be putting in every Ford car that is purchased by an American? Some software requires updates or you can't use them. Could my car suddenly freeze up in three years? We're not talking about Chinese toys. We are talking about this technology being used in a large percentage of American vehicles. We will be dependent on a technology controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. This is especially troubling as China continues to flex its muscle in the South China Seas. President Biden has vowed to come to Taiwan's defense. Could we end up at war with China? Maybe this is how China plans to control us? These are things we SHOULD consider before rushing into agreements. We must not be naive. Lastly, we are destroying nearly 2000 acres of farmland for this megasite. The Marshall Township Website calls it, "Some of the best farmland in Calhoun County" and therefore the state. Why are we destroying farmland during a global climate crises?! During a time of global food scarcity? America's Farmland is being lost to drought, flooding and fires. The breadbasket of the world - Ukraine, is currently being destroyed by Russia, causing people in Pakistan and Africa to go hungry. Why would Michigan destroy one of our most valuable resources when there are vacant industrial sites in our state? Agriculture is a multi-billon dollar industry in Michigan. This is some of the BEST farmland in Michigan yet we destroy it for EV Batteries, an unproven solution to our environmental crisis. Our Governor doesn't value farmland , but the Chinese Government does. China is rapidly buying up farmland across the country and it is becoming a growing concern among U.S. military officials. Some properties are located in close proximity to military bases and sensitive infrastructure. Stop the Megasite!

On February 20, 2023, the Marshall Township Board of Supervisors held a Public Hearing on the PA 425 land transfers of property included in the "Marshall Megasite" project.  The 2,000 acres is made up of more than 70 different properties which the State of Michigan has obtained by securing options through the private nonprofit organization, MAEDA (Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance).  PA 425 are being used to transfer property from Marshall Township to the City of Marshall so that the Marshall Megasite will have access to city water and utilities. 

Public Hearings are held for the purpose of obtaining public input in matters. This was the third Public Hearing on the PA 425 land transfers in a little over a month.  So far there has been SEVEN hours of  public hearings in Marshall Township.  With not a single Township resident expressing any support of the proposed Megasite.  Despite the overwhelming opposition to the project based on the impact this will have to the overall quality of life of residents, increased air, water, light and sound pollution, destruction of farmland, historic farmsteads, plants and wildlife, a decrease in local property values, threat to the Kalamazoo River and the loss of tax revenue within the township and the loss of control fo the land, the transfers (8 to date) was approved by a 4 to 1 vote of the Township Trustees. 

Township Supervisor David Bosserd was the sole dissenting vote.  After the vote, one resident asked the Trustees to explain why they voted the way that they did.  

Dr. Victoria McGuffin, MSU Chemistry Professor and Environmental expert discusses why Ford's Blue Oval EV Battery Plant (Marshall Megasite) should not be located within the Kalamazoo River watershed.   She has over 40 years experience in the field. She presented her statement at the Marshall Township Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on PA 425 Land Transfers on February 23, 2023.