EAGLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – When the Eagle Township board members went ahead with plans for a Megasite in Clinton County and ignored the will of the community, recall petitions started flying. Ten different recall petitions were turned in against Township Supervisor Patti Jo Schafer and two other township board members.

The recall that went through was one against Schafer. The petition to recall Schafer was initiated by Eagle Township resident and farmer, Troy Stroud, after Schafer signed a non-disclosure agreement pertaining to the potential large-scale development of land in Eagle Township which the petition said “limited information available to Eagle Township residents affected by the potential development.”

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The Megasite development in question is formally known as the MMIC (Michigan Manufacturing Innovation Campus) and it is a plan with supporters and coordinators from the state of Michigan, Michigan State University, MEDC (Michigan Economic Development Corporation), and LEAP (Lansing Economic Area Partnership) working with Clinton County and Eagle Township to get it pushed through.

Residents in Eagle Township, however, have not been happy with the development plans and even started a Facebook page called “Stop the Megasite” with supporters of the group showing up at township meetings, talking with the media, submitting recall petitions and organizing in order to figure out how to stop the Megasite from happening in their community.

After the recall petition signatures against Schaefer were gathered, submitted, and approved, two community members decided to run for Schafer’s position – including Stroud and also Charles Truesdell III.

Truesdell had worked with David Morris as a teenager, hauling corn. Morris’ land, which ended up in the hands of Michigan State University after Morris died and the land was gifted to the university, is what is planned to be used for most of the Megasite – after the current farmer on the property is done leasing it.

Stroud, a longtime opponent of the Megasite, won a clear victory on election night to become the new Eagle Twp Supervisor with 741 votes. Schaefer got 256 votes and Truesdell got 28. On Stroud’s campaign Facebook page, he said, “Thank you to everyone that came out and voted ! A huge thanks to all the volunteers that made this possible!!”

With almost three times the number of votes as Schaefer, Stroud is now at the top of the board. Michigan News Source reached out to Stroud about the victory and his plans for the future and he said, “We’re going to put in local zoning… We’re going to reflect what we feel should be built here in our local zoning, and it’s gonna be reasonable growth.” He also added that they won’t be giving the project a Renaissance zone tax abatement. He said that they should be given for something that the community feels that is needed and the community doesn’t feel that they need a Megasite and said, “In fact, we feel that it would be detrimental.”

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But getting elected on the board wasn’t just about the Megasite for Stroud. It’s also about transparency and allowing the community to know what’s going on with their local government. He said it’s about getting rid of the non-disclosure agreements and looking into how everything came about in the past regarding who talked to whom and how and when decisions were made.

Reflecting on his victory, Stroud said that he thinks going door-to-door and canvassing helped the community know about who he was and what was going on in the township. He also said that both of his challengers had interviews where their platform was a “wait and see” approach while the voters of Eagle Township wanted transparency. He said, “My platform of reasonable growth and transparency, as in listening to the community, representing the community, I think that really resonated with our people.”

It wasn’t an easy battle though, Stroud said, as LEAP was busy running a counter-campaign to keep Schafer in office with giant billboards on the freeway, text messages, a social media campaign and advertising literature sent out.

Stroud said the election is supposed to be certified today and he’ll be sworn into office soon after that as Schafer has been officially recalled.

Eagle Township wasn’t the only place where recall elections were successful against political officials who have been pushing Megasite projects. The entire Green Charter Township board and the supervisor from Big Rapids Township have also been recalled over their support of the MEDC-funded EV and semiconductor megasite developments including the China-linked Gotion project.

Marjorie Steele, Founder & CEO of Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan (EDRA) said about the victories, “Resoundingly successful recalls and referendums send a clear message to Michigan’s legislators, public-private economic development corporations, and Governor Whitmer: stop forcing toxic developments onto Michigan residents, or your political career is over.”

Discussing the victories in Big Rapids Township and Green Township against the pro-Gotion politicians, former United States Ambassadors Joseph Cella and Peter Hoekstra released the following statement, “With these successful recalls and ordinance repeal, Michigan is at the leading edge of this fight, and should be a warning sign to other states recklessly pursuing such ‘deals”’ which jeopardize our national security, and perhaps will be an inspiration for other citizen activists seeking to mobilize against pro-PRC/CCP government and business elites.”