EAGLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – On Thursday, the Clinton County Election Commission had a clarity hearing to discuss four recall petitions involving Eagle Township Treasurer Kathy Oberg, Trustee Richard Jones, and Supervisor Patti Schafer. All four petitions were voted down by the three-member commission for not being clear and factual in their language including the commission disagreeing with the phrase “majority of the residents” that was used in two of the petitions.
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The four recall petitions being discussed during the hearing were submitted by George Bedard and Chelsea Hoppes and were introduced in an effort to block development of the megasite.
Hoppes submitted two of the petitions discussed in Thursday’s hearing. One petition was to recall Schafer because at a meeting of the board she voted against a resolution to request Clinton County to hold amending the Clinton County Comprehensive Plan. Hoppes said this act “went against the majority of Eagle Township resident’s pleas.” The second petition was to recall Jones who Hoppes said on May 18, 2023 voted in favor of a resolution to request Clinton County to resume work amending the Clinton County Comprehensive Plan. Hoopes said this act also went “against the majority of Eagle Township’s residents requests.”
Bedard submitted two of the petitions discussed on Thursday. One was to recall Oberg based on the fact that she proposed an amendment to the meeting agenda to include a resolution to resume work on amending the Clinton County Comprehensive Plan. Bedard said that the agenda was amended after public comment and therefore limited meeting attendees ability to comment. His other petition was to recall Jones on the basis that he was observed to have fallen asleep at multiple points during the Eagle Township Board meeting on March 16, 2023. Bedard said “due to this, he failed to render his duties as Eagle Township Trustee.”
Now that these four recall petitions have been turned down, opponents of the megasite are left with the two remaining petitions that are still active. One was submitted by Hoppes to recall Olberg on the basis that she voted in support of a motion to have the Eagle Township Supervisor sign a non-disclosure agreement pertaining to the potential large-scale development of land in Eagle Township. Hoppes said “the motion passed and the act limited the information available to Eagle Township residents affected by the potential development.” The Clinton County Election Commission approved the petition language as “factual in nature and of sufficient clarity to enable the officer whose recall is sought and the electors to identify the course of conduct that is the basis for the recall.”
The other recall petition was submitted by Troy Stroud to recall Schafer with the same language used in Olberg’s recall petition above based on signing a non-disclosure agreement. This petition was also approved by the Clinton County Election Commission but it has been appealed by Schafer.
After being given an extension, Schafer’s attorneys, Christoper Trebilcock of Clark Hill Law and Laura Genovich of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, submitted her brief to the county on May 19th according to court records.
Also, according to the court records, Judge Shannon Schlegel of the 29th Circuit Court in Clinton County was listed as the initial judge hearing Schafer’s case but she recused herself and Judge Cori Barkman is now hearing the appeal. When asked, a worker at the court said that Judge Schlegel stated that “based on objective and reasonable perceptions, my continued assignment could create an appearance of impropriety.” Schlegel was also reported as stating that she had personal knowledge of evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding.
More than 400 signatures would be needed for each remaining petition to put them on the ballot in November, or 25% of the votes cast in the township during the last gubernatorial election. According to the state, Friday, August 4th is the deadline for a recall petition to be filed for the November election.
Bedard was contacted by Michigan News Source about the hearing on Thursday. He expressed disappointment, but not surprise, with the votes and said it was “not a good day for our side.” He said that the opponents of the megasite would continue to fight against it and that, regardless of what the Clinton County Election Commission said, the residents in Eagle Township who are against the development do, in fact, represent a majority of the community. He said, “They (commission) don’t think we have a majority. I guarantee we would meet that hurdle easily. People are extremely upset about this project and are very eager to sign any petition to recall these people.”
Bedard also questioned how Schafer could afford such high powered attorneys to represent her, and also pointed out that Clark Hill Law is the same law firm that defended Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer during her recall woes. Bedard asked, “Who is funding Patti Schafer’s lawyer?” He said it’s a “$1,500 an hour lawyer that somehow a township supervisor is paying for. I don’t think she’s paying for that.” He said the question should be asked about who’s paying for it and if it is legal.
Michigan News Source reached out to her attorney about this and Christoper Trebilcock of Clark Hill Law responded, “We don’t discuss arrangements with our clients, but we are proud to defend Patti and her long record of public service on behalf of the people of Eagle Township.”
Bedard also pointed out that recalling an elected official is not an easy task for a regular community member. He said, “I think, with all respect to the judge and the board, their criteria is very hard for lay people to meet and I don’t think that’s necessarily the spirit of the law. I think the spirit of the law was to give lay people the ability to recall officials that weren’t representing them properly…they have a very tough standard for us.”
Another point of contention for Bedard is the support that Schafer is receiving from the those involved with the project. He said, “Why is it that when Patti Schafer goes to a recall hearing, she has LEAP (Lansing Economic Area Partnership) on one shoulder and the governor’s lawyer on the other shoulder? Why are they so adamantly supporting this township supervisor when she says she’s representing us? I don’t think that’s the case. She’s not representing the will of Eagle Township. She’s representing LEAP and the MEDC.”
Bedard said, “Bob Trezise (President & CEO of LEAP) has consistently been at hearings. He was at Patti’s first recall hearing and spoke in her defense. He was at the Board of Commission meeting last week when Patti was pushing for that land use map study to be pushed forward. He’s constantly been at her side. The genesis of this entire affair was when Bob Trezise and MSU went to Patti and said ‘Patti, we need to reopen this land use map in Michigan so that we can get this large scale project in the pipeline.’”
Bedard continued, “They did that secretly without the knowledge of Eagle voters. That is where the anger and everything started is because Patti Schafer, without the knowledge of Eagle voters, started this entire project, she started this entire process of re-opening and re-zoning 2,000 acres of land.”
Oberg, Jones and Schafer were all contacted by Michigan News Source about their reaction to Thursday’s hearing and Schafer was also asked about her appeal brief and how it’s being funded. Additionally, Bob Trezise was contacted for a comment on his appearances at township meetings and support of Schafer’s recall appeal.
None of them returned comment for this article. This underscores one of the biggest issues with the project that the Eagle township community has – the lack of transparency, which continues to be a problem.
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