Fred & Aubrey

The Mad Dash For Cash-- Fred Upton, Aubrey McClendon And Big Gas Vs. Big Oil

Fred Upton (R-MI) and Aubrey McClendon are attempting to commandeer the natural gas market. Aubrey is the CEO of the largest shale oil interest in the world, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy; Fred is the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. No records of them meeting have been found, despite their relation.

Aubrey's wife is Fred's cousin-- the shared Whirlpool heiress Kate Upton. Fred and Aubrey have been neighbors, more or less, for 30 years. Most recently, Aubrey persuaded Jack Nicklaus to build a course on their land and beyond... he convinced the PGA Tour to play an event in their backyard starting in 2012.

Even more recently Fred bought more stock in Aubrey's company-- ahalf million dollars in 2010.

Fred has said that he would be more than open to the requirements for disclosure regarding his position. But is he really? Or is he sticking with Cantor, Boehner, Ryan and McKeon in watering down insider trading disclosure?

In September of 2011 Fred commissioned his committee to produce a video that was pro natural gas and one that is pro-Aubrey, one that mirrors the thoughts of Chesapeake Energy and Aubrey McClendon.

Aubrey McClendon is spending over 5 million dollars this year to lobby for H.R. 1380, The Natural Gas Act-- this does not include campaigns money-– hard and soft dollars.

Fred Upton will be contested by Big Oil in a primary funded by Grover Nordquist and the Tea Party, who are running right-wing fanatic Jack Hoogendyk. The money that funds this primary against Fred will come from Big Oil and the extreme right. Fred will counter this with natural gas money.

HR 1380 will cover the cost of operations, expansion, and otherwise provide incentives to the American trucking industry to transition from diesel fuel and to begin using their natural gas product.

The Club for Growth and other far right elements of the Republican Party are financed in part by Big Oil. Fred Upton has built a "conservative-consensus" coalition that is based on H.R. 1380 and that appears to have the votes to pass this bill; yes, Upton's pal Aubrey McClinton has outspent everyone. Passage of this bill will serve as a transcendent moment as our transportation industry moves from petroleum to natural gas-- and as a fight-to-the-death between traditional big oil and natural gas and on the surface, between interest groups.

Aubrey has bet long on Chesapeake Energy, and another IPO or two that he has tossed around on--record to the press-- are positioned to make him one of the richest men in the world. Aubrey is one of the top one hundred land owners in America. Aubrey is so confidant in this deal that he has set up his own futures market.

The legislation provides:

• A tax credit for up to 80% of the incremental cost of buying a natural gas vehicle, with a maximum value ranging from $7,500 for a light-duty passenger vehicle to $64,000 for the heaviest trucks. Recognizing the innovations in vehicle engine technology, the bill includes incentives for both bi-fuel vehicles-- those that run on either natural gas or gasoline-- and dual fueled vehicles-- where there is a mixture of small amount of diesel fuel with the natural gas. There are no vehicle tax credits in place today.

• A 50-cent per gallon fuel tax credit that is in place in 2011.

• An infrastructure tax credit of 50% of the cost up to a maximum tax credit of $100,000 per station. For stations built in 2011, there is an existing infrastructure tax credit of 30% with a maximum credit of $30,000. These credits cover only a small portion of the cost of building a station. This credit would also extend to home refueling units, where purchases would be eligible for a $2,000 tax credit.

• A tax credit to the manufacturer for the production of natural gas vehicles.

The bill also includes other provisions that will facilitate the production and use of natural gas vehicles. And remember this from last week? About the DC super lobbyist Michael Bloomquist as General Counsel for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce? Bloomquist was the chief lobbyist for McClendon's American Natural Gas Association.

2/9/12

downwithtyranny.blogspot.com

Consortium (Corruption) for Community Development Board

From Trenton Bowens facebook page:

How many of that group of 9 are on the Consortium for Community Development's board? Count below and inform the people.

Board of Directors:
David Whitwam, Whitwam Family Foundation Chairman
Marcus Robinson, President, Consortium
Wendy Dant Chesser, Pres. Cornerstone Alliance
Ken Kosminsky, Pres. APC Printing
Greg Roberts, Governor's Office
Maybel Mayfield, Berrien County Judge
Jeff Noel, VP Whirlpool Corporation
Rev. James Atterberry, MI Parole Board
Todd Gustafson, Exec Dir., MichiganWorks!
Anna Murphy, Pres. SWM United Way
Rev. Ken Gavin, 2nd Baptist Church
Lisa Cripps, Exec. Dir., FS Upton Foundation
Dan Hopp, Chairman, Lakeland Healthcare
Mike Mortimer, Director, Berrien County Health Dept.
Dr. Robert Harrison, Pres. Lake Michigan College
Joerge Fierro, Dean, Western Michigan University
Dr. Leonard Seawood, Supt. Benton Harbor Schools
Dr. James Ivers, Pres. Berrien RESA
Alloyd Blackmon, Director, Whirlpool Corporation
Dr. Sid Mohn, Pres. Heartland Alliance
Joe Antolin, EVP Heartland Human Care
Kathy Miller, Director, Berrien County Human Services
Jeffrey Booker, Dir. Upward Bound J
oe Harris, Emergency Financial Mgr., Benton Harbor
Lee Reed, Pres. Band of Brethren
Doug Schaffer, Pres. Boys and Girls Club
Rev. Melvin Burton, Pres. SWM Ministerial Alliance
Art Fenrick, Pres. SWM Community Action Agency
John Egelhaaff, SWM Planning Commission

[An extremely well researched article on Whirlpool - are more people finally beginning to catch on?]

Whirlpool Corp—A Michigan Job Creation “Success Story”: Dodging Taxes & Profiting from Poverty

by Chris Savage

I have been following and writing about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, since it was passed in March of 2011. The first impacts of the changes made by this law hit in Benton Harbor, Michigan. A tiny town on the shores of Lake Michigan, it has only 10,000 residents according to the 2010 census with over half of the people living below the poverty line.

Yet in the middle of this desperate town sits the world headquarters of Whirlpool Corporation. Even through the recent recession, the company consistently posted profits north of $200 million per quarter. Though they once employed a significant number of Benton Harborites, this is no longer true — manufacturing there ended in early 2011. The headquarters, however, is growing and construction is in progress.

How is it that a successful company like Whirlpool remains in a place like Benton Harbor, with all of its poverty and despair? The answer is that it has been and continues to be highly profitable for the company to do so. Though the company employs few locals, Whirlpool has much to gain from exploiting the poverty of Benton Harbor as the gentrification of the city rushes forward.

Jonathan Mahler of the New York Times Magazine recently wrote a comprehensive piece about the plight of Benton Harbor. I gave his piece a good review, and was able to guest-post a piece on the Times Magazine’s The 6th Floor Blog, where I talked more broadly about the impact of P.A. 4 on Benton Harbor and our state. Mahler concludes that although Whirlpool isn’t necessarily the “good guy,” it would like everyone to believe it is; the company may, in fact, be the only answer for Benton Harbor.

In an essay for In These Times, Roger Bybee takes strong exception to this conclusion:

"Despite Mahler’s moving and insightful description of a de-industrialized city being re-shaped by those who destroyed the economic base, with the victims being deprived of any voice, he fails to point out several fundamental features:

* Those harmed most by past corporate decisions are treated as disposable people standing in the way of corporate-defined reconstruction.
* Democracy and public participation are early victims to this process.
* With corporate elites having shrunken government’s public-interest role in planning and economic development, major “job-creation projects” must be shaped around generating profit with the needs of the majority a negligible concern.

But despite all the rhetoric about corporations rushing to the rescue of troubled cities–whether New Orleans, Benton Harbor, or Racine—massive public subsidies to CEOs advocating “free enterprise” are an essential element.

It’s a formula for private benefit with public funding, for a distorted form of “development” devoid of democracy or public benefit."

Bybee’s piece is compelling and suggests a closer look at the role that Whirlpool has played (and is playing) is warranted.

Whirlpool’s exploitation of the situation in Benton Harbor likely goes back more than a decade, but we can start with the turn of the millenium. A former official with the Southwest Michigan (SWM) Airport board recently told me that Whirlpool benefited significantly from a connection with U.S. Congressman Fred Upton:

"I am a former elected and appointed official from Stevensville who was on the SWM airport board. While I appreciate that you expanded the facts for Rachel Maddow’s show, there is much more. During the time I was serving, I had a considerable number of flights in and out of that airport. It is not well known that Northwest airlines received a ticket subsidy for every seat in and out of the airport. That lasted for two years, which is just the time the airport serviced the public commercially. It was required to service commercially in order to receive federal funding for the airport’s runway extensions and electronic navigation aid updates. Of course, this coincided with Whirlpool’s purchase of a new jet which required a longer runway and new navigation electronics. The person who supported the bill to subsidize the tickets? Fred Upton.

You mention the upgrade of local property values, and do not mention the Upton’s property in close proximity (2 blocks).

While nothing is illegal about these things, I just felt that the focus has been on benefiting Whirlpool and Whirlpool’s heirs, and not the general population. I [have connections] with the Uptons in northern Virginia, so this is not a personal attack, just an observation. For so long in Congress, I am really surprised at the fiscal conservatism applied to the constituents and not the person or the corporate beneficiary."

[A2P Notes: According to campaign finance information, Whirlpool's PAC has donated $84,170 to Upton's campaigns, putting Whirlpool's PAC at number four on the list of the Congressman's top donors, behind AT&T ($99,600) and the Ford Motor Company ($86,900).]

Indeed, in addition to the ticket subsidies, the SWM Airport received an earmark for fiscal year 2011 as part of a nearly $1 billion allocation in discretionary grants, which coincides with the expansion of the runway.

Whirlpool is also an integral part of a development group in Benton Harbor known as the Cornerstone Alliance. In fact, many would argue that Cornerstone Alliance is Whirlpool. Non-profit, investigative reporting site TruthOut.org reported in May 2011: “To keep a clean public image, Whirlpool funds and largely controls a nonprofit in Benton Harbor called the Cornerstone Alliance, which has a revolving door with Whirlpool and the Whirlpool Foundation for its staff members and employees. Cornerstone has long served the interests of Whirlpool in Benton Harbor, creating a façade through which the company can pass off its actions as being in the interests of ‘the community.’”

Cornerstone Alliance has been aggressively developing whatever property it can procure in Benton Harbor. The company is the developer of the Harbor Shores luxury golf community that has received a great deal of attention, in part because developers convinced city officials to lease part of Jean Klock Park to them.

Jean Klock Park was deeded to the city in perpetuity but with the help of a city attorney who later went to work for Cornerstone, they secured a decades-long lease for three holes of their Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. In the process, acres of shoreline dunes were deforested for a golf course where the annual fee exceeds the average annual income of Benton Harbor residents. An interactive panoramic of the area affected can be seen HERE. Before and after pictures can be seen HERE (courtesy of Protect Jean Klock Park.)

In exchange for this precious piece of public land (which is the primary reason Harbor Shores can be called “Shores”) the city exchanged land later found to be highly contaminated with industrial waste:

To compensate for the project’s reduction of public parkland, developers have promised to create a new bike path and trail system on a string of parcels along the Paw Paw River and around Benton Harbor. A good bargain if you can get it.

But these properties contain unsafe levels of industrial waste, according to documents recently released by the state in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by project opponents. Critics of the Harbor Shores project say that details of the contamination raise new questions about the propriety of the deal — the land was represented by developers as of equal value to the lakefront park, they say, and creating a construction zone on contaminated land could spread pollution and endanger wetlands.

An April 2, 2007, letter from a hydrologist with the company Earth Tech — stamped “received” by the Department of Environmental Quality on April 5 — states that pollution on the parcels exceeds levels considered safe by the state. The pollutants identified include lead and arsenic, volatile organic compounds and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.

In other words, Whirlpool’s development arm exchanged contaminated land for pristine duneland on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Whirlpool-backed Cornerstone was also able to procure brownfield redevelopment grants from the State of Michigan to redevelop other contaminated areas, shifting the cost of the clean-up to Michigan taxpayers.

Whirlpool-backed Cornerstone is involved in many other development projects in the city, as well. They have benefited tremendously from the fact that Benton Harbor was a Renaissance Zone. This makes development activities virtually tax-free. However, the developments being pursued do not benefit the poor people of Benton Harbor, they benefit the wealthy developers hoping to make a killing from the Harbor Shores development and the boon they count on it creating. Cornerstone’s “non-profit” status is crucial to this.

The siphoning of public monies through the Cornerstone Alliance continues today. In November of 2011, they received stimulus funds to build 17 homes in a downtown area of Benton Harbor—a development they are calling “Harbor Town.” Unlike the luxury vacation homes being built in Harbor Shores, these more modest homes, less than two dozen of them, will be worth in the area of $125,000 — still far too pricey, however, for most of Benton Harbor’s residents.

Taxes, by the way, are something that Whirlpool doesn’t have to contend with much. Through countless efforts to keep them in Michigan, the company has received a multitude of tax breaks. They received a huge tax break under the Granholm administration when they agreed to build a new headquarters. The city itself has given them significant tax breaks. In fact, Whirlpool not only hasn’t paid a dime in taxes in over three years: In May 2011 Think Progress reported that Whirlpool is one of the country’s many corporate tax dodgers paying no federal taxes for the previous three years, and in 2010 receiving a $64 million dollar tax refund.

Even now, with Benton Harbor under the control of an Emergency Manager, Whirlpool and Cornerstone continue to harvest development funds from the destitution of the city. City Commissioner Marcus Muhammad and others are questioning how such a profitable “non-profit” can be using HUD funds for their own benefit while just blocks away are neighborhoods full of poor families, abandoned homes and desolation. From a November Herald-Palladium article (no longer online but excerpted HERE):

The Benton Harbor City Commission wants an investigation into agreements over city property between Cornerstone Alliance and Emergency Manager Joseph Harris.

The commission unanimously passed two resolutions Monday night – one that asked for an investigation of Cornerstone Alliance by the U.S. Attorney General, Michigan Attorney General and the FBI, and a second that asked for an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney General and the IRS into the city’s water rates. [...]

Harris has said the city’s water rates will increase by 50 percent, and could increase by up to 100 percent.

The commissioners questioned the legality of raising rates by that much.

[Commissioner Marcus] Muhammad read from a list of 87 Cornerstone Alliance-owned properties that he said the organization is not paying taxes on. About 70 of the properties are in Benton Harbor, while the remaining on the list are in Benton Township and St. Joseph. [...]

Muhammad said Cornerstone Alliance has gotten millions of dollars in developer fees for its role in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 while paying $1 for property.

“What kind of corruption and organized crime is that?” Muhammad asked.

Whirlpool/Cornerstone clearly would like to reshape Benton Harbor in the image of its sister city across the river, St. Joseph. The contrast between the cities is stark, with Benton Harbor’s population 89+ percent African American and poor and St. Joseph’s population 88+ percent white and wealthy. Cornerstone had the audacity to make a game out of getting community members to highlight the worst places in Benton Harbor. In the May issue of their newsletter Cornerstone Chamber Insider (pdf) they introduced a project called “75 Viewpoints.”


Click for larger image

The Good, Bad, & Ugly . . .
If you have a camera, an opinion, and a little free time, you can play a critical role as a catalyst for change right here in Michigan’s Great Southwest. Cornerstone Alliance has launched “75 Viewpoints,” a dynamic project designed to point up the good, bad and ugly of our area as we work to maximize the first impressions of golf fans from around the world who will be visiting the 2012 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid at the Golf Club at Harbor Shores. Volunteers are being asked to take 10 to 25 photos of things in the area that drive you crazy and need to be fixed…and another 10 to 25 photos of things around town that they love and would like to see more of. It’s actually a project that your entire family can take part in. So, what are the amenities that we love, and the eyesores that need to be remedied or eliminated? If you would like to be one of the 75 people offering their viewpoints, please fill out the form that accompanied this newsletter, or contact Jamie at 269-757-0207.

Whether or not Jonathan Mahler is right about Whirlpool being the salvation of Benton Harbor remains to be seen. What is clear is that, if they are, it will be because they have very deliberately used the city’s desperate situation, in part caused by Whirlpool’s outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to other countries, to direct taxpayer monies into their own bank accounts. If Whirlpool saves Benton Harbor, it will likely because they were able to steal Benton Harbor from the largely black, poor residents who live there—a scam underwritten, in part, by taxpayers.

Maybe they’ll rename the town Upton Harbor.

http://www.a2politico.com/?p=11970

(Don't miss the comments on the website.)

Kudos to Roger Bybee for his masterpiece rebuttal
to the recent NYT Benton Harbor cover story

...But at the opposite end of the globalization process from Juarez, there's another laboratory conducting a related experiment: Benton Harbor, Mich., which once hosted jobs that have moved to places like Juarez...

...In Benton Harbor, a unionized manufacturing workforce has been cast aside and the presence of nearly 10,000 overwhelmingly poor and black people are a potential obstacle to corporations like Whirlpool implementing a plan for redeveloping the area. Benton Harborites, too, have been rendered utterly powerless...

...[Mich.]Gov. Snyder seems to believe that a state takeover of cities is more essential to their health than providing actual financial aid, which has been reserved for Michigan corporations in the form of $1.7 billion in tax cuts...

Full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12456/democracy_becomes_disposable_to_fit_era_of_disposable_people/

People in Berrien County who could facilitate the search for Timothy Allen but refuse

Chief county prosecutor Art Cotter
Sheriff Paul Bailey
St. Joseph Township Police Chief Ross Bates
County Commissioners:
Dave Pagel
Mac Elliott
John LaMore
Debra Panozzo
Marletta Seats
Jon Hinkelman
Zach Perkins
Bob Wooley
Mamie L. Yarbrough
Bryan Bixby
Jeanette Leahey
Cathy Thieneman
Andy Vavra
Rep. Fred Upton
Benton Harbor Police Chief Roger Lange
State Rep. Al Pscholka
State Sen. John Proos

Rev. Pinkney has received new information indicating that St. Joe Twnshp. police spoke to Mr. Allen in a rude manner. The video is in the possession of BH police who refuse to allow citizens to view it, except for Allen's family.

In Case Anybody Still Needs Proof that Berrien County, Michigan is Right Up There With THE MOST RACIST Places in the US, Here It Is

A Benton Harbor man has been missing for almost three weeks, and NO ONE IN AN OFFICIAL POSITION has lifted a finger. No one in law enforcement, no one in a county position, no one in St. Joe where he was last seen, no one at the state or federal level, NO ONE.

We know what actions would be taken if a white St. Joe resident disappeared. The list is below. We can add canine searches to the list.

--It has been over 3 weeks since Timothy Allen's visit to Lakeland Hospital in St. Joe. On the evening of Nov. 9 Allen left St. Joe, a 99% white community, and walked over the Napier Ave. bridge toward his Benton Harbor home.

Police were the last to see him according to his family at this Blogtalkradio interview http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney/2011/11/20/pinkney-to-pinkney.

St. Joe township police officer chief Ross Bates stated that an officer saw him walking on the road and ask him to walk on the sidewalk. Another officer said he was given a ride by the St. Joe police. Police were the last to see Timothy Allen.

Allen was in contact with family members everyday. He is 5'7", weighs 155lbs., and was wearing dark pants and a jacket (either brown, red, or orange.) Tip line: 269-849-0438, 804-363-9984; or call Rev. Pinkney.

Allen's family lacks the resources to drag the lake near the bridge where police claim they saw him last. They have no money for a reward at this time. Please help them.

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001
banco9342@sbcglobal.net
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Senior PGA Championship, May 2012, Benton Harbor:
Get ready to demonstrate. ~Occupy the PGA~
Every Sunday, 5pm, Pinkney to Pinkney show
Blogtalkradio.com, or listen on your phone: 347-994-3644

Timothy Allen, African-American, Benton Harbor resident, Missing for Three Weeks

Here's what would have happened if this was a white St. Joseph resident (or most likely any white person in Berrien County, Michigan) --

News media would have been on top of the story on a daily basis

All law enforcement in the county would be involved, including the FBI

There would be door-to-door questioning

Rewards would be offered

Dragging of the river would take place

The county commissioners would be involved

Elected officials would make statements

And more..

What happens when a black human being is missing --

Nothing

If you need proof that racism exists in Berrien County, here it is. Think what this says to a community that the proper actions are not taken by the county they live in to make them safe.

Joseph Harris is Whirlpool Corporation's Perfect Stooge:
No Constitution Week allowed, and no complaints
allowed by well-established businesses

Harris, recipient of a taxpayer funded $131,000.00 yearly salary, has been more than willing to wield his EM power with the greatest of ease. Since the expansion of PA4, he can do absolutely anything he wants to do in Benton Harbor, and has been doing just that with an extreme show of arrogant authority. As if to say, I'm king of the playground and residents better look out.

Recently he cancelled Constitution Week with one brash statement in the city commission meeting minutes (caps are his):

"THE FOLLOWING ACTION TAKEN OR DECISION MADE BY THE CITY COMMISSION WAS NOT AUTHORIZED BY THE EMERGENCY MANAGER AND IS NULL AND VOID, AND OF NO FORCE OR EFFECT."

City officials can't hold a celebration of the constitution? We know all the other decisions they can no longer make, according to PA4, but no Constitution Week?

We suppose Harris doesn't want a celebration of something that no longer applies to the people living in this city. He's the man, after all. He's not only taken the Emergency Manager ball and run with it, he won't even stop to throw a pass now and then. Harris is the evil step-father in Benton Harbor.

Here's another action he took which will only attract negative attention his way:

Harris, also known as The Dictator, has been sparring with Benton Harbor's New Product's Corporation, one of the city's oldest businesses. CEO Cheryl Miller asserts that a Harbor Shores bike path under construction encroaches on New Product's property by about five feet for a length of 100 feet. Harris said Miller has no grounds to be complaining, that her complaining is the wrong thing to do, and that she will get an answer from him that she will not like.

Harris is not known for his diplomacy. And that's the way Whirlpool likes it.

Thanks to MSNBC for continuing to report on Benton Harbor, the bellwether for the rest of the country. Hopefully someday soon MSNBC will gather the courage to report on the elephant in this story's livingroom: Whirlpool Corporation, the true boss (in the worst sense of the word) of BH and Berrien County.

Recent MSNBC story:

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/19/7839166-benton-harbor-emergency-manager-cancels-constitution-week

Whirlpool in hot water again

Press Release

[Across the street from New Products Corporation is Modern Plastics. Whirlpool Corp. cut off some suppliers of Modern Plastics and forced it to go out of business. It seems New Products Corp. is determined that Whirlpool will not bully them.]

Sept. 14, 2011
New Products Corporation Files Lawsuit to Stop Encroachment of Company Property

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Sep 14, 2011 (The Wall Street Journal-BUSINESS WIRE-Marketwatch) -- One of Benton Harbor's oldest and longest surviving manufacturing companies, New Products Corporation, today filed a lawsuit against Harbor Shores, the city of Benton Harbor and others after numerous attempts to notify Harbor Shores through correspondence and "no trespassing" signs that a portion of its golf course was constructed on the company's property.

The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court for the County of Berrien. Defendants named in the complaint are Harbor Shores BHBT Land Development, LLC, Harbor Shores Golf Course, LLC, City of Benton Harbor, Benton Township; Whirlpool Corporation, PNC Bank and Michigan Magnet Fund E, LLC.

New Products Corporation is a custom precision, high pressure die caster and supplier of aluminum and zinc parts that are shipped to dozens of customer plants throughout the United States and worldwide. Established in 1922 by Walter Miller, New Products Corporation is now led by the founder's granddaughter, CEO and President Cheryl Miller. The company currently employs 100 people, a third of which are Benton Harbor residents.

According to attorney Mark S. Demorest of Demorest Law Firm, PLLC, who is representing New Products Corporation, the lawsuit was filed because the company's prior communications with Harbor Shores did not resolve the problem.

The complaint seeks damages for trespass and permanent injunctive relief from the defendants' encroachment of property belonging to New Products Corporation.

"We have a long history of being good neighbors and contributors to the local community, and we are committed to continuing that tradition," said Miller. "While New Products is not a big company, we are a world class, viable Michigan and U.S. manufacturer and one of the few remaining in this area. We feel it is vitally important for us to take a stand and protect what's ours. It's not right for someone, no matter who they are or what they do, to take property that doesn't belong to them."

For more information about New Products Corporation, visit www.newproductscorp.com

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-products-corporation-files-lawsuit-to-stop-encroachment-of-company-property-2011-09-14

[Whirlpool: $17 Billion Annual Profit]

[Whirlpool] Hoover retirees ponder options in wake of health insurance change

...Whirlpool has told workers it will end supplemental medical and pharmacy coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees who are 65 or older. The plan will be replaced by a stipend of up to $50 a month to help pay for a Medicare supplemental plan and $35 per month to help cover the cost of a Medicare Part D supplemental pharmacy plan.

Younger retirees will be offered a health savings account plan and wellness-focused program instead of current company-provided health care. The new plan matches one now offered to Whirlpool employees...

...Retirees contend planned changes violate contracts that Hoover and its employees approved over the years.

“This is supposed to be vested for our lives,” Kassey said. “I don’t know how anyone thinks that this is even close to what they promised us when we retired.”

Repace said Local 1985 routinely negotiated contracts that covered the needs or retirees, including health insurance benefits. He said the proposed change does away with the negotiated plan. “They cannot do that.”

John Zawaski Jr., who retired after 36 years, said it doesn’t seem right for Whirlpool to change health insurance plans.

“We gave up wages in order to get better insurance coverage, so it wasn’t exactly free,” he said...

http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x795262443/Hoover-retirees-ponder-options-in-wake-of-health-insurance-change


$17 Billion Annual Profit:
Happy birthday Whirlpool ... and many more

...Whirlpool has grown to number 67,000 employees [how many in foreign countries where labor & environmental laws are non-existent?] and sales of $17 billion annually.

Construction of a new $85 million campus of three office buildings on the riverfront in downtown Benton Harbor is under way. Maintaining Whirlpool's global headquarters and administrative offices in Benton Harbor is a major commitment to the area's tax base and employment.

http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-06-09/news/29641348_1_habitat-home-harbor-shores-jack-nicklaus-signature-golf

Protest against Whirlpool’s land grab

...the homeless are almost everywhere in the city, in front of you behind you, by the side of you, and behind windows. You can hear them around the corner and see their shadow from far away.

By Dorothy Pinkney

The Benton Harbor City Commissioners have formed a partnership with Whirlpool, the largest appliance maker in the world. The partnership is to continue developing Benton Harbor and, in the process, to drive the homeless and the residents completely out of the city. The final nail has been placed in the coffin.

Already, the homeless are almost everywhere in the city, in front of you behind you, by the side of you, and behind windows. You can hear them around the corner and see their shadow from far away. You try to avoid looking directly into their eyes and you pretend you do not hear them when they talk to you. You walk around the block to avoid them and you walk faster to leave them behind you. These people that you consider to be zombies are actually human beings. They are just homeless.

Benton Harbor is overwhelmingly poor and majority Black. By their actions, Whirlpool is saying that Black people are criminals, and that they look filthy, Whirlpool does not know what kind of scary things homeless people may do. They fear that the poor will rob the rich who come to Benton Harbor. The solution is to get rid of all Black people from the city of Benton Harbor with the help of the all-Black City Commissioners. Recently, a $50 million tax abatement was approved for Whirlpool’s new $68 million complex in Benton Harbor’s downtown by the commissioners. This tax give-away is in addition to previous million dollar land grabs for the lake front development. It is time the people take a stand not only against Whirlpool, but against the city commissioners.

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2010.11/PT.2010.11.12.shtml

Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel speaks on behalf of recently arrested Harbor Shores developer.
Noel hails from Kentucky, one of the more corrupt states in the US - Noel worked previously in the tobacco industry. A perfect resume for a job at Whirlpool. See this good ol' boy's bio at the end.

Developer for Harbor Shores arrested

Mark Hesemann pleads no contest following incident at Lion's Den
By Julie Swidwa, Saturday, June 25, 2011

St. Joseph- Mark Hesemann, a contracted developer for the real estate arm of Harbor Shores, reached a plea deal with prosecutors Friday following his arrest Wednesday at an adult entertainment store in Sawyer.

His lawyer, Andrew Burch, said Hesemann pleaded no contest before Berrien County Trial Court Judge Gary Bruce to a charge of disturbing the peace. Hesemann was originally charged with retail fraud, commonly known as shoplifting, according to state police Sgt. Ken High at the Bridgman post.

Burch said alcohol contributed to his client's acntions.

High said Hesemann was arrested around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday by Trooper Gary Guild at the Lion's Den Adult Book Store after he allegedly tried to steal two pornographic DVDs.

Hesemann is the managing director of Evergreen Development Co. in St. Joseph, which is under contract to develop the real estate arm of the Harbor Shores golf course development. Jeff Noel, president of Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc., said Friday he was unaware of Hesemann's arrest before being contacted by The Herald-Palladium.

Speaking on behalf of Harbor Shores, Noel said, "I'm absolutely surprised. I've known Mark for all these years we've been working on Harbor Shores together."

Noel went on to say, "I'm disappointed, and yet because I do know Mark it's most important to try to understand what transpired and get all sides of the story. Until we have all the information and know exactly what transpired, it would be wrong to predetermine what it will mean for Mark and his relationship with Harbor Shores."

..."(Hesemann) has a very caring heart. He is very committed to this community and he wants to see it succeed," Noel said. "He's given a lot of time and energy into this community. [We know that when Noel talks about wanting 'this' community to succeed, he is definitely not referring to citizens of Benton Harbor.]

Full article while still available: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/26/local_news/5357891.txt

BIO: Jeff Noel was appointed corporate vice president, Communications and Public Affairs 2004. Noel is responsible for the company's global external and internal communications, government relations, and corporate affairs departments, including Whirlpool Corporation's strategic community partnerships and also serves as the president of the Whirlpool Foundation.

Noel is also actively involved in area initiatives including serving as Chairman of the Harbor Shores Development and Bluffside projects and as a member of the Michigan Colleges Foundation. Additionally, he was appointed vice chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 2011 and serves as general vice chairman for the 73rd Senior PGA Championship.

Prior to joining Whirlpool, Noel served for 11 years as president of Cornerstone Alliance, a Benton Harbor-based economic development group. He also served as commissioner of management and operations for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Department, director of government affairs for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation and executive assistant to U.S. Senator Wendell Ford of Kentucky as well as an owner/developer of over 700,000 sq. ft of commercial real estate.

Noel holds a master's degree in business administration from Marymount University and a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.

From the Editors, People's Tribune

...corporate power moved swiftly and decisively
to destroy democracy in Benton Harbor

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet. The coup that overthrew democracy in Benton Harbor, Michigan and established a dictatorship called Emergency Financial Management is fascism - no matter what they call it.

Corporate power has declared war on us. The laws of military war and political war are the same. One of these laws is to never attack the enemy where they are strong -- attack where they are weak. The weak points in the defense of American democracy has always revolved around the African Americans. When President Reagan decided to attack the social safety net of all impoverished Americans, he concentrated his fire on the "Welfare Queen" in the Black ghetto. The majority of Americans stood passive while laws were passed lowering living standards. When the rest of the Americans realized these laws also applied to them -- it was too late.

When the Public Sector Unions came under attack in Wisconsin, it created a fire-storm as it should have. Labor unions and progressives rallied to defend the unions of the public service workers. The American Left is rooted in and responds to the economic struggles of the unions. Meanwhile, corporate power moved swiftly and decisively to destroy democracy in Benton Harbor - a poor Black community that few care about. They thus set the stage to destroy democracy in all of Michigan and then throughout the United States.

Again, fascism has struck at the weak point - where the struggle for democracy meets the reality of Black America. The future of our country is in the political -- not the economic arena. Fascism is a political, not an economic order. To win this war we must first disarm the enemy of this historic weapon of race - and fight for the political as well as economic rights of all Americans. The corporate takeover of Benton Harbor proves again that if we - the people - do not take over the corporations - they will take over us.

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2011.05/PT.2011.05.12.shtml

Corporate Crime & Benton Harbor

Great article on corporate crime and Benton Harbor

Pinkney Interview 
BENTON HARBOR: THE STOLEN TOWN

by Kathy Nathan
 
As consumers of main stream media “news” and accounts on events in our world and communities, we often see and read reassuring reports about the apprehension of dangerous criminals who commit bank robberies and convenience store heists with the aid of fire arms or threats.  It makes us all feel safer to know the criminal has been detained and will probably be brought to justice.  Sadly, there are  much more ruthless and destructive criminals abroad which the media prefers to ignore as they sack and ruin the once vibrant state of Michigan.  But equally sadly the MSM media remains disturbingly blank about these events.  Specifically I am talking about the heist which has been taking place in the beseiged lake front community of Benton Harbor over a number of years. 
 
In this case, the robbers and criminals do not wear masks or work under the cover of darkness.  Their plundering and dismemberment of the once-thriving working and middleclass community in Benton Harbor is openly performed in broad daylight. Those who are committing this open heist claim to be “public servants,” legitimate business interests, and  “protectors” of the environment. Their only cover is the indifference of the media and the ignorance of the rest of us.  As a reader of the bhbanco.org blog, I have been following these events over the years with increasing consternation.  How can this be happening now in the “era of racial equality” in a country “by and for the people?”
 
In a recent phone conversation, Reverend Edward Pinkney took some of his valuable time as one of the only active voices standing up for the people against the oppression happening in Benton Harbor to fill me in on some of the details.  Even though I have been somewhat aware of this situation for some time, the facts and figures he quoted tell a story that is beyond appalling and which make the petty bank robberies and break-ins that our media is always highlighting seem like mere little kids stuff.  When we can begin to grasp the truth behind these numbers we see who the real criminals and sociopaths are. The figures he quoted check out with the US 2010 census report.
 
Pinkney explained to me how the heist taking place isn’t just on paper. The city of Benton Harbor’s elected mayor, Wilce Cooke, has literally been removed from his offices.  He is “allowed” to use a community owned space with telephones which he shares with the other disenfranchised elected officials.  All the real work of governing the town is now performed by Joseph Harris who has the title of Emergency Financial Manager.  He has been given tax supported office space and is answerable to Gov. Rick Snyder.  Thus the citizens of Benton Harbor have been effectively deprived of the right to electing their own government officials. They no longer have a voice and their “vote” is a meaningless gesture to elect a token official who does not even have a real address.
 
Pinkney believes that the power grab has occurred to consolidate the victory of corporate interests over an oppressed and racially targeted community.  Indeed, the facts do validate his claims.  As Pinkney reports, the population is 94% black and 90% below the poverty level.  Unemployment is anyone’s guess from 60% to 80%.
While asking for and obtaining huge tax breaks as “incentives” for business, Whirlpool Corp. then proceeded to outsource and move all its manufacturing jobs to Mexico and other similar countries outside the US, thus impoverishing the local workers in Benton Harbor and similar towns in the area who had worked for Whirlpool for decades. 

In the meantime, Benton Harbor has been asked to underwrite the Whirlpool Corporation by allowing them reduced fees for operating their offices here.  This corporation has taken the offered goods and services and given nothing in return on a state, local, and national level.  For example, the US government gave Whirlpool over $500 million dollars in tax breaks and Whirlpool has taken 19.3 million  from the state of Michigan Economic Growth Authority.  Apparently, judging from the horrific statistics, none of these incentives, benefits or tax supported handouts have trickled down to the people who remain in a dire state.

Now, with the help of US congressman Fred Upton (one of the principle heirs to the Whirlpool fortune), Whirlpool is attempting to grab the remaining park land belonging to the city of Benton Harbor and the homes that border it from the legitimate owners. In the place of the public parks, Whirlpool hopes to construct condos, golf courses and playgrounds for the very wealthy elite who people their offices—all of which will be off limits to those who currently own and use this land.
 
Because the victims are all poor (by design) and black these blatant robberies and crimes continue seemingly invisible to our media--and the rest of us as well.  I agree with Reverend Pinkney.  It is time to end the era of the corporate robber barons personified by Whirlpool and its minion Fred Upton.  We need a federal grand jury investigation into their theft and dismemberment of an entire town and their use of public funds and resources to further personal wealth.  It is the ugliest of heists and those participating should feel the force of the laws which protect us.
 
But how can this be accomplished?  Pinkney has the following observations on that point:
 
“We the people must change the system; it is broken. The time is now. In the end, we will conserve only what we love.  We will love only what we understand ….”
 
“Our pathway must be through the soil up...through swamps, forests, streams and rocks...up through commerce, education, and religion.  We cannot begin at the top to build a house...if we try to do this we shall reap folly as our reward. We must start at the grassroots. The time is now.“
 

When reading the following brief report on Whirlpool activities keep in mind:

--Rep. Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool, was a sponsor of NAFTA.

--Upton is one of the wealthiest reps. in congress and therefore has a lot of power (to influence the 5 to 0 vote reported in this article.)

--Antitrust law was out the window while Whirlpool gobbled 72% of the domestic market through product and brand acquisition. Now they're demanding protection FROM the law via tariffs on foreign manufacturers to protect domestic jobs? The majority of which they continue to EXPORT?

--The motivation here is to tax these two companies so prices of their products are driven up in the US - Whirlpool products will have less competition as a result.

--Of course, Whirlpool can still sell appliances world-wide without tariffs (taxes).


US rules imports harm Whirlpool’s business
Bloomberg News / May 14, 2011

WASHINGTON — Whirlpool Corp., the world’s largest appliance maker, is being harmed by low-cost refrigerators from Mexico and South Korea, a US trade panel ruled, paving the way for tariffs on those imports.

The US International Trade Commission voted 5 to 0 in Washington yesterday in a preliminary ruling on the petition by Whirlpool to get antidumping and countervailing duties imposed on so-called bottom-mount refrigerators made by Samsung Electronics Co. or LG Electronics Inc. in the two nations.

LG said it will “aggressively contest’’ the decision.

The decision is the first of four the US company must win before tariffs of as much as 183 percent are imposed.

A spokeswoman for Samsung didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking a response.

“This unanimous decision by the ITC validates the action we’ve taken to protect our 23,000 US employees and the communities in which they work,’’ Jill Saletta, a spokeswoman for Whirlpool, said in a statement.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/05/14/us_rules_imports_harm_whirlpools_business/

Excellent Roger Bybee article on Snyder, Michigan, and Benton Harbor

Democracy vs. Profit is Central Issue in Takeover of Benton Harbor, Mich.

By Roger Bybee Apr 26, 2011

There is no place in the United States that more cruelly illustrates the intensifying conflict between corporate power and democracy than Benton Harbor, Mich., the first city to be placed under what some Michiganders call “financial martial law.”
(Photo by Daymon Hartley/VoiceofDetroit.net)

In March, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder won approval of Public Act 4 (i.e., the Emergency Manager law), which permits him to declare that a city is in fiscal crisis and then to appoint an overseer with unlimited powers including the elimination of existing union contracts. Significantly, chief sponsors of Public Act 4 were State Rep. Al Pscholka, who was a former aide to Whirlpool heir U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, and also "a former vice president for one of the major entities involved in building the luxury golf development,"...

...Benton Harbor's population is 92% African-American and deeply impoverished by the de-industrialization of the city and surrounding area. Whirlpool’s recent plant shutdown is the most recent, crushing blow as the corporation continues to expand significantly in low-wage plants in Mexico, despite taking $19 million in federal recovery funds. Benton Harbor is plagued by the lowest per capita income in Michigan ($8,965), with 42.6 percent of the population living below the poverty line, including a majority of kids under age 18.

Full article: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7237/democracy_vs._profit_central_issue_in_benton_harbor_takeover/

Jesse Jackson calls for uprising in Benton Harbor

The Chicago Sun Times article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/5013203-417/time-for-an-uprisingin-benton-harbor.html

is reprinted in the Michigan Messenger - the article and comments are worth reading. Here's the first part -

Benton Harbor’s finances are a mess. How could they not be in a town stripped of jobs and hope? So, the state has stripped its residents of their democracy. In what is accurately termed “fiscal martial law,” the state has named a czar to run the city. That appointee, Joseph Harris, has issued an order essentially stripping the elected city council of all powers. No money can be spent, no taxes raised or lowered, no bonds issued, no regulations changed without his approval. Benton Harbor’s residents now live in a dictatorship imposed by a Republican governor famous for his belief that the poor should be punished and the rich rewarded.
This appointed dictator claims breathtaking powers. He can sell public assets, dismiss pension boards and take control of public pension funds and revoke labor contracts. What triggers this takeover? The law is remarkably vague. The governor may act if a payroll is missed, if there are complaints of late bill payment, if pensions are underfunded, if there is a significant budget deficit, a term that goes undefined.
This takeover is a recipe for the worst abuses of oppression, cronyism and corruption. And here, too, Benton Harbor is the example. One of the few citizen treasures in Benton Harbor is the Jean Klock Park, a half-mile of sandy dunes on the edge of Lake Michigan. It was bequeathed to the children of Benton Harbor by the Klock family in 1917 in memory of their daughter.
But developers backed by Whirlpool now want to appropriate a large portion of the park to turn it into a Harbor Shores golf resort with a 350-room hotel, two marinas, a 60,000-foot indoor water park (for members only), and a fancy golf course open to all who can afford a $5,000 entry fee and be approved by the club. The town’s citizens have resisted this development, which is under litigation...Full article:

http://michiganmessenger.com/48579/jesse-jackson-calls-for-uprising-in-benton-harbor

Benton Harbor takeover sparks furious reaction
Opponents mobilize protests, repeal campaign
By Eartha Jane Melzer 4.20.11

The impoverished former industrial town of Benton Harbor has become a flashpoint in the controversy over the new law that allows the governor to appoint Emergency Managers with virtually unlimited authority over local governments.

On Thursday the state-appointed Emergency Manager Joe Harris used the expanded powers granted by the new law to issue an order banning the city commission from taking any action without his written permission.

Benton Harbor City Commissioner Juanita Henry says her constituents are angry and looking for help, but without the power to hold meetings the city commission can’t
even provide an official venue for citizens to ask questions and get answers.

“They are using Benton Harbor as a test case,“ Henry said. “If they have disenfranchised the people so badly they just don’t respond to anything, they can do this all over the country.”

Community activist Rev. Edward Pinkney said that many Benton Harbor residents only learned that their city government had been sacked by reading about it in the paper days later.

Though home to the corporate headquarters of appliance giant Whirlpool, the city lost its last manufacturing plant this year, almost half the population lives below the poverty line and the public lakefront has been privatized as part of a luxury golf development backed by the Whirlpool corporation.
(An appeal of the conversion of the city park is underway in federal court.)

Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved a state takeover of Benton Harbor’s finances last year after the city needed help meeting payroll.

Relations have been strained between the elected officials and the Emergency Manager Harris. In January the city commission tried to oust him after criticizing his expenses and his plans to cut the fire department.

“People should be paying attention to what is happening here because Benton Harbor is GROUND ZERO for the future of what is to become of our state under Governor Rick Snyder,“ said Carole Drake, who fought the privatization of Jean Klock Park in state court.

Locals in Benton Harbor said they will work to repeal their state Rep. Al Pscholka, who sponsored the bill, as well as State Sen. John Proos and Gov. Rick Snyder who also approved it.

A group called Heartland Revolution is planning to rally at the Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce and march to City Hall on Wednesday, April 27th to protest the takeover of the city.

The total suspension of power for local officials has brought Benton Harbor’s situation into focus for other Michigan communities, where people now worry that growing budget problems could mean that they will face similar loss of assets and control.

“I have been in touch with people all over the state via e-mail, face to face and Facebook … this is a hot
topic all over the place and our community FB page A Referendum to Reject PA 4 has quickly quadrupled in size in just the last 24 hours as we have reposted the link with our different contacts,“ said Traverse City activist Betsy Coffia. “I think Benton Harbor really shook some folks up.”

Coffia said that repeal advocates are talking with legal experts about how to draft official language for a petition.

According to information from the Secretary of State website, in order to have a referendum on a newly enacted law petitioners must gather signatures from 161,305 people — five percent of the number that voted in the last gubernatorial election.

The signatures must be submitted within 90 days of the end of the legislative session in which the bill was passed. If the group manages to gather enough certified signatures, the Emergency Manager law would be automatically suspended until a repeal vote can be held on the next general election date.

“Education is key as the groundwork is laid for an organized referendum to repeal,” Coffia said. “This motivates me to educate as many people as I can so that we will be fully prepared to sign our name as registered voters repealing this law.”

http://michiganmessenger.com/48333/benton-harbor-takeover-sparks-furious-reaction

Two More Reader Comments from the Benton Harbor EFM article:
http://michiganmessenger.com/48278/benton-harbor-emergency-manager-strips-power-from-all-elected-officials

Comment: Joe Harris [BH EFM] was hand picked by Granholm, not Snyder. She couldn't leave office before giving the Whirlpool Corporation the final leverage in taking complete control of Benton Harbor's PUBLICLY OWNED JEAN KLOCK PARK on Lake Michigan. Granholm already handed THE CORPORATION the dunes for three holes of a PRIVATELY OWNED Jack Nicklaus Championship golf course. Next Snyder will let them have what remains of the public's land, the beach for an exclusive Harbor Shores golf and beach resort. Not only that - they are after the river front AND the entire city! Believe me! - BENTON HARBOR IS GROUND ZERO FOR THE EFM LAW!!!!

State Rep. Al Pscholka is responsible for submitting the EFM bill. Before becoming a state rep, Al worked for Congressman Fred Upton, grandson of the Whirlpool founder. Upton is extremely loyal to Whirlpool. Fred also works for the Koch brothers. And the Attorney General? - Whirlpool CEO gave a reception for him last summer at the Harbor Shores Golf Club and raised tens of thousands of dollars for his campaign.

Now that the EFM announced that he has stripped power from elected officials he is free and clear to work with THE CORPORATION ONLY and is preparing for the Kitchenaid/Whirpool sponsored senior PGA Tour. From a WNDU TV News Report:
"Harris introduced a two-year plan that would make cutbacks and new investments to get the city ready for the 2012 Senior PGA tour."
http://www.wndu.com/hometop/he...

Comment: The people, for the most part, didn't vote for this overreach. Snyder first mentioned it at the State of the State, and three months later it's law and the existing EFMs like Joseph Harris and Robert Bobb are demonstrating just what the new law does to home rule and local authority. ...this law has been high on the Mackinac Center wish list.

State Rep. Al Pscholka introduced EFM bill -
let's just come out with it: FOR WHIRLPOOL

The following is a very astute reader comment from the Michigan Messenger article.
http://michiganmessenger.com/48278/benton-harbor-emergency-manager-strips-power-from-all-elected-officials

No one seems to have noticed who introduced this bill. It was Rep Al Pscholka [517- 373-1403; represents St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, of course]

Please keep these dates in mind: April of 2010. Governor Granholm assigns an EFM to Benton Harbor. The EFM draws up a plan that if followed would have eliminated the City Manager and elected officials.

January 4, 2011. The City Commission of Benton Harbor votes to "take back the power given to them by the voters" and passes a resolution stripping the EFM of his authority.

January 5, 2011. Rep Al Pscholka sends a letter to now Governor Snyder requesting that the EFM be restored to Benton Harbor, saying the elected officials had no authority to do what they did. Apparently, it was realized that the regulations governing how and what an EFM can do were not sufficient, because on

February 8, 2011, Rep Al Pscholka introduced the new EFM legislation, which was passed and now signed by the governor, and which gives the EFM the authority to dissolve elected commissions.

Rich developers in St. Joseph have been itching to get their hands on the last bits of the Michigan lakefront belonging to the poor, majority black city of Benton Harbor. First they grabbed most of what used to be Jean Klock Park to build a Jack Nicklaus golf course. Now they want the rest of the park because a very valuable water system belonging to Benton Harbor is located there. Artesian wells, and all. I just wonder if the ink is already dry on that new EFM order for Benton Harbor?

2 more comments:
Wow- so this is all basically to facilitate a taking? Catering to the wealthy that want the lands for themselves? Will they squeeze the poorer land owners out? Pull one of the eminent domain kind of maneuvers?

What this means is that voters have ZERO representation in local government. The EFM answers to no-one but Snyder. A city government at least answers to it's voters. This power grab is turning voter's rights on their head and is most likely for the benefit of corporations who will reap lucrative contracts from the EFM at the expense of the mostly black Benton Harbor residents. Recall Snyder. He is toxic for the state of Michigan.