Green Party Nominee Rev. Pinkney's Campaign Speech

Green Party Nominee Rev. Pinkney to Challenge
Congressman Fred Upton, Heir to Whirlpool


Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Michigan has joined the field of Green Party candidates challenging 13 of 16 Congressional Seats.

Rev. Pinkney is the latest entry in the 6th District Congressional race where the incumbent is Fred Upton (R St Joseph), the heir to whirlpool Corporation. Rev. Pinkney, a minister and activist, is serving a three to ten year prison term for quoting Biblical scripture to the corrupt Judge Alfred Butzbaugh. The judge who stands to make millions of dollars from land stolen from the residents of Benton Harbor for the Harbor Shores Project.

Rev. Pinkney’s Campaign Speech:

It is our constitutional duty as American citizens to hold our elected officials accountable for their words, action and inaction of wrong doing.

The Herald Palladium featured an article on Congressman Fred Upton’s position on energy, whereby he declared, “I think it’s the only issue in the upcoming election”. Congressman Fred Upton is so out of touch with the realities of what is happening in America that he believes that resolving this one issue will resolve everything for all Americans. Congressman Upton, there are other important issues currently affecting Americans. There are the issues such as the significant loss of jobs to Mexico and other cheap labor locations, the rapid expansion of the federal deficit, (This deficit will be devastating to all Americans if it is not reversed quickly.) billions of dollars wasted in Iraq, 50 million Americans without any health insurance, pension plans in jeopardy throughout both public and private sectors. Evidently Congressman Upton does not consider these issues important to American citizens of southwest Michigan. It is a shame he represents the citizens in Michigan with such an attitude and has a congressional record that ignores any resolution of these issues. Congressman Fred Upton has failed to face the reality about our problems for years.

I strongly suggest that the justice system in Berrien County needs to be investigated. The case against me, violating my First Amendment rights, should have everyone around the county, state and country saying No More to the Whirlpool Corporation, the Upton family and to 6th District U.S. Representative Fred Upton. A man that is out of touch with the citizens he represents.

The news release said I am paying a heavy price for my beliefs and I will get a chance to express them by running for office. I am the perfect candidate, who has sacrificed myself for the people.
The news release said I have opposed Whirlpool Corporation’s influence on local government and the plans to take Jean Klock Park away from the people of Benton Harbor for a Jack Nicklous Signature Golf Course priced for the wealthy. I have opposed the Harbor Shores Redevelopment Corporation, of which the Whirlpool Foundation is a part, who wants to take or steal 22 acres of the Jean Klock Park land for three holes of the Jack Nicklous Signature Golf Course.

The Green Party’s news release compared me, Rev. Pinkney, favorably with progressive era labor leader Eugene V. Debs, who was jailed by federal authorities for violating the 1917 Espionage Act by advocating WWI draft resistance. As Socialist Party nominee, Debs collected nearly a million votes for President in 1920 while sitting in federal prison. The winner Warren G. Harding pardoned Debs after assuming office.

The Ten Key Values in my platform are: decentralization, sustainability, social justice for all, non-violence, feminism, economics, ecological wisdom, respect for diversity, community and statewide jobs, no more war, solve the energy problem.

Lets get out and spread the word. Help me Rev. Pinkney unseat Congressman Upton who is out of touch with the people. I challenge Congressman Fred Upton to a debate, anytime. Let Us Change Michigan Together.

Do more than just take Harbor Shores at its word

HP 9/6/08

Editor,

In a recent letter Michael Kinney claims that my reasons for opposing the taking of 22 acres of Jean Klock Park for private development are misleading (“Klock plan critics too often are misleading,” Wednesday). He tells us our park can be just like Silver Beach, jam-packed with thousands of people visiting each week, and encourages us to browse the Harbor Shores Web site in order to “clearly understand” the project.

I took his advice. There are images of a quiet, secluded beach with a couple strolling along the shore, a family of four picnicking alone or a lone sailboat at sunset. These are the views Harbor Shores officials say they must have to lure rich golfers, prospective exclusive homebuyers and investors. Who is being misled, and by whom?

Mr. Kinney says that the dunes will not be touched, yet the conversion proposal clearly states that “open,” “forested” and “grassy” duneland will be replaced with golf greens. He says that the three holes will replace an “ugly” parking lot and “unusable” wetlands. Actually, only about half of the parking lot will be replaced, and it is only a small fraction of the land in question. The existing parking lot is discreetly situated behind the dunes and does not affect the view. The conversion puts a new parking lot between the dunes and the lake, which will be truly ugly.

Protected wetlands are supposed to be “unusable,” except by birds and other wildlife, as well as people who appreciate unspoiled nature. Maybe Mr. Kinney needs to do more research beyond Harbor Shores’ promotional materials. I suggest he go to www.protectjkp.com.

Scott Elliott Benton Harbor

[Corporate/Developer's Greed and Profit Before People and the Planet]

Harbor Shores can’t wait; work in park to start soon
Developers won’t let lawsuit delay their goal of opening Nicklaus golf course next summer
By KEVIN ALLEN H-P 9/4/08

excerpts from article:

Har­bor Shores developers an­nounced Wednesday they can­not afford to wait any longer to begin work in Jean Klock Park if they are going to meet their goal of opening a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course next summer.
...they are fil­ing to intervene in a federal lawsuit brought by seven Ben­ton Harbor-area residents against the city, Michigan De­partment of Natural Resources and National Park Service for allegedly violating environmen­tal regulations in the process of approving Harbor Shores’ plan to build three golf holes in Ben­ton Harbor’s only park on Lake Michigan.
...con­struction to begin in Jean Klock Park in the next week to 10 days.
Construction is under way on the other 15 holes of the golf course outside the park.
Grass for the golf course needs to be seeded before the fall frost date, which is usu­ally in mid-October, if the course is going to be ready by next summer, developers said.
Harbor Shores would have to return the park to its former condi­tion if it loses the lawsuit after construction has begun. [we know this to be impossible]
The development stretches across 530 acres in Benton Harbor, Benton Township and St. Joseph. The center­piece is the Jack Nicklaus-de­signed golf course, which is expected to attract more than $400 million in total develop­ment, including hotels, mari­nas and hundreds of houses.
If the motion to intervene in the federal lawsuit is grant­ed by the court, it will allow Harbor Shores developers to tell the court their side of the story.
Terry Lodge, a Toledo at­torney representing the plain­tiffs, said Harbor Shores’ mo­tion does not change the case much.
“I feel that Harbor Shores will be more than adequately represented because they are paying for 100 percent of Benton Harbor’s legal ex­penses,” he said.
The Benton Harbor City Commission voted unani­mously Tuesday to hire the law firm Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone. Attor­neys from the firm’s Kalama­zoo office represented the city in the civil case.
Harbor Shores hired Wash­ington, D.C., law firm Brace­well and Giuliani to represent them. Developers will also retain the services of Dickin­son Wright, which represent­ed them in the civil case.
Lodge added that it seems strange that Harbor Shores is spending so much money de­fending their position if they believe the lawsuit has no merit.
Lodge rebutted the charac­terization that opposition to Harbor Shores has come from a small minority.
He said more people would stand up to oppose the con­version of Jean Klock Park into a golf course, but they are afraid of being demonized by Harbor Shores supporters. “There are a lot of people who are intimidated into si­lence in these types of contro­versies,” Lodge said.
He said the golf course will permanently damage the park’s sand dunes, but that impact has not been fully dis­closed to the public.
He said the Benton Harbor area “could have two jewels on Lake Michigan” if the course were built next to, rather than in, Jean Klock Park.
“The public needs to un­derstand they have been mis­led at many different steps during the way,” Lodge said.
...Harbor Shores has had to divert funds from community benefits to pay court costs and legal fees for the two lawsuits. [that community wouldn't be Benton Harbor now would it?]

Library to Archive BANCO Papers

University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library in Ann Arbor has initiated a new collection. The library will be permanently preserving all records, materials, articles, and papers of and relating to BANCO and Rev. Pinkney. These archives will be for the use of students, researchers, and historians. The ever increasing awareness of the human rights and environmental crises occurring in Berrien County is at least partially what is motivating this collection.

Meeting in Detroit, August 2

...Sandra Hines of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality and MECAWI spoke on the status of Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, who is currently serving a 3- to 10- year sentence in Michigan for defense of working-class and poor African Americans in Berrien County.

Roderick Casey of Ypsilanti spoke for the Committee for Correctional and Judicial Reform on the need for representative juries in the state of Michigan. Casey was beaten, arrested and sentenced to 75 days in jail for protesting his treatment in an emergency room hospital.

http://www.workers.org/2008/us/interview_0828/