Will Whirlpool/Upton Corruption be Brought Down?

(Media-Newswire.com) - 9/10/09 - GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Bernard Hall, Jr., age 33, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the civil rights of inhabitants of the City of Benton Harbor, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Hall was indicted back in July 2009 in connection with a corruption investigation involving the Benton Harbor Police Department. Hall faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.

At the time of the offenses alleged in the Indictment, Bernard Hall, Jr. was a sworn police officer of the Benton Harbor Police Department ( BHPD ), serving as the ranking police officer and supervisor of the Narcotics Unit. As head of the Narcotics Unit, Hall was responsible for the supervision of other police officers assigned to the unit—including former BHPD police officer Andrew Thomas Collins. Collins is currently serving time in federal prison for his felony drug conviction on January 26, 2009. At the time of his conviction, Collins admitted that he abused his position of trust as a BHPD officer, in that on more than one occasion he failed to report and submit to the BHPD all narcotics he seized in the course of his duties and instead retained possession of narcotics for his own use, gain or purpose. Collins also admitted that he reported false and fictitious controlled purchases to the BHPD for the purpose of improperly securing search warrants and to embezzle funds of the BHPD.

Count one of the Indictment alleges that Hall and Collins were involved in a pervasive pattern of police corruption resulting in the violation of the civil rights of inhabitants of the City of Benton Harbor. The Indictment alleges that Hall and Collins falsified search warrant affidavits, obtained search warrants without probable cause, embezzled funds from the Benton Harbor Police Department, filed false police reports, and unlawfully seized and misappropriated individuals’ money and personal property for their own personal use.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and its law enforcement partners consider allegations of public corruption to be of the highest importance and priority. U.S. Attorney Davis explained that: “ Because the respect and confidence the citizens place in their governmental institutions is dependant upon the honest and faithful services of the governmental employee, my office will aggressively pursue and prosecute governmental employees who violate their solemn oath and duties.” U.S. Attorney Davis further vowed that his office will work diligently with its law enforcement partners to seek out and remedy any wrongful convictions resulting from Hall’s and Collins’ alleged criminal conduct.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by the St. Joseph Office of the FBI with the cooperation of the Michigan State Police, the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office and the BHPD. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney. [The only hope for Benton Harbor residents to have the state of seige lifted from their community rests with the two US Attorneys, Davis and Delaney. This last paragraph lists people and institutions who have aided and abetted criminal and unconstitutional court and law enforcement behaviors for decades. Their masters are Rep. Fred Upton and Whirlpool Corporation.]

http://media-newswire.com/release_1098521.html

Whirlpool Hid Facts of Toxins in Park Land

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM

Park plan: Whirlpool gets golf, public gets toxins
Developers kept facts of toxic stew from federal agency
By Teresa Kelly
Michigan Citizen, Sept. 9, 2009 issue
GRAND RAPIDS-Citizens from the impoverished and 93 percent Black Benton Harbor revealed to a federal judge Fri. Aug. 28, that property the city received for giving up 22 acres of pristine beach front is toxic.
Whirlpool Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of washing machines with its international headquarters in neighboring Benton Twp., kept the dirty secret from the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers and from the public, residents' attorney Terry Lodge told Judge Robert Holmes Bell during a hearing in U.S. District Court.
Whirlpool-backed Harbor Shores Development obtained a 106-year lease of 22 acres of Jean Klock Park to develop as a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course with views of Lake Michigan. Klock Park is the city's major park used by residents for reunions, baptisms, picnics, swimming, concerts and play located on Lake Michigan.
The financially decimated city had to have the golf course as the anchor for economic development, Harbor Shores convinced the city commission to secure approval. But residents sued August 2008 claiming the golf course violated the Land and Water Conservation Act and the Environmental Protection Act.
“Contrary to what was disclosed to the public for scrutiny …in early 2008 by the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources (MDNR), the Dept. of Environmental Quality, and the City of Benton Harbor, we now know that all but one of the seven conversion mitigation parcels swapped for JKP [Jean Klock Park] land are contaminated,” Lodge wrote to the Army Corps in March 2009.
Arsenic and lead are two major poisons in the "alphabet stew" of poisons.
Lodge explained to Judge Bell that his clients discovered that toxins existed only after extensive Freedom of Information filings and searches. Had the public known of the toxins, public comments would have been different, they argue. Had the oversight agencies known, their due diligence requirements would have been greater, Lodge argued before the court.
“We had to go through boxes at the DNR before we discovered this information,” Julie Weiss, a plaintiff said following the hearing. She said none of the information was available to the public either online or in hand-outs during the public comment time. Nor did the Corps of Engineers have it.
In asking the court to rescind the golf course permit, Lodge related to Judge Holmes what the toxins meant to the residents.
People must stay on the wooden walkways that have been constructed over the former industrial sites that serve as park land in compensation for the loss of the Lake Michigan beach front dunes, Lodge said.
“There can't be any strolls or hikes over the dunes, they are gone, he said. “They now have a wooden walkway.” The walkways traverse former industrial sites and are located a distance from Lake Michigan.
The soil in these parcels cannot come in touch with the skin, Lodge said. If there is a break in the walkway it must be repaired within 30 days, so people will not have contact with the soil. Signs must be posted warning visitors to stay on the walkway.
The revelation of toxins was not the only new information presented to the court at the Aug. 28 hearing.
Whirlpool has decimated the beachfront property. Lodge described how developers have removed eight acres of forested land; taken up nearly four acres of the beach with a relocated parking lot; are hauling away 18,000 cubic yards or 900 truck loads of dunes sand; immobilizing the dunes with top soil; and have cut down 80 to 90 cottonwood trees along the famed beach front drive.
Sand dunes are shifting, live features of lake front environment, Lodge said. Removing the sand and piling on top soil stops the shifting to provide stability for a golf green, a major reconstruction.
“This is major federal activity,” Lodge argued. As such the project requires more extensive environmental review than has been provided. Citizens did not realize the extent of the disruption, plaintiffs say.
Approximately 45 acres have been "massively transformed", Lodge argued, noting that Harbor Shores had not "stayed within the lines" it drew on a map when presenting the plan to the government.
In securing approvals, developers argued to federal and state agencies that the course will provide recreation for city residents. However, it costs $75 to play the nine holes now open and when all 18 holes are ready, it will be $175 per round. According to census data, per capita income for Benton Harbor was $8,965, the lowest in Michigan.
Sitting in the courtroom Friday, was former Whirlpool CEO and current Harbor Shores Chairman David R. Whitwam.
Whitwam is one of the supporters of the golf course. He shares his views of the project on the Harbor Shores web site.
“It is a very exciting time for the Harbor Shores project. As you drive throughout the project area, you can begin to see physical signs of progress. Much work remains. Yet, it is truly fulfilling to begin seeing the transformation taking place.”
The golf course is one part of a 530-acre project involving St. Joseph, Benton Harbor and Benton Township. Part of the land Benton Harbor claims in the project is being leased for 20 years from St. Joseph and after development will return to St. Joseph ownership and tax collections.
Arguing that all environmental assessments had been adequate and appropriate were four attorneys representing the two federal agencies, the city and Harbor Shores.
Harbor Shores has retained the law firm of former mayor and GOP stalwart Rudy Guiliani.
According to one of the plaintiffs, Scott Elliott, politics have driven the project since it was first rejected by the Park Service as not in the public interest. Developers came back with a "lesser plan that had the full force of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Representative Fred Upton pushing it," Scott said. Upton is a Whirlpool heir.
Judge Bell told the parties they had seven days to file additional briefs.
Jean Klock Park was a gift from by J.N. and Carrie Klock in memory of their daughter Jean who had passed away. In dedicating the property to the children of Benton Harbor, Klock said, "Perhaps some of you do not own a foot of ground, remember then, that this is your park, it belongs to you…. The beach is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours…."

For more information see, protectjkp.com. And harborshoresdevelopment.com

michigancitizen.com

Day 50: Pinkney Still Under Unconstitutional, Illegal House Arrest Enforced by Berrien County, Michigan Courthouse

Article from Alternet: "How Yawning Got One Court Spectator Six Months in the Slammer and Other Disturbing Acts of Judicial Tyranny"

[including the tyranny of Berrien County judges Butzbaugh and Wiley - see #7 below]

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet August 21, 2009

When judges take on airs and lash out in fits of whimsical bullying, innocent people can end up paying the price with jail time -- or their lives.

excerpts:
...where local judges treat courtroom spectators like trespassers on their personal kingdoms, are hardly rare in American courthouses. For all the discussion of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "judicial temperament" during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, it is not uncommon to find judges who use their positions on the bench to impose arbitrary and extreme punishments...

...Let us not forget: judges are public servants. They receive a good salary; lifetime medical benefits; and pensions from the very people who come to their courtrooms and who are subject to their contempt orders.

...But while their robes and gavels imbue them with a noble and commanding presence -- and the ceremonial language of the courtroom affords them near-deity status -- in reality, judges can be as capricious, petty and bullying as any other mere mortal.
Below are eight stunning examples of judges who have overstepped their power, not necessarily through bad rulings, but through contempt orders, tantrums and the arbitrary authoritarianism of a petty tyrant.

7. Preacher Cast Demons Upon Judge, Gets 3 to 10 Years

In a somewhat wackier example of judicial overreach involving the First Amendment (also courtesy of Turley), Edward Pinkney, a Baptist minister, was sentenced to 3 to 10 years for publishing an article in which he called a Michigan judge "racist," "corrupt" and "dumb," while also damning him to eternal hellfire.

Convicted in 2005 of election violations, Pinkney was given a highly unorthodox probation order by Judge Alfred Butzbaugh, who banned him from engaging "in any assaultive, abusive, defamatory, demeaning, harassing, violent, threatening or intimidating behavior, including the use, through any electronic or print media under [his] care, custody or control, of the mail, e-mail or Internet."

In Turley's opinion, "it is unbelievable that any prosecutor or judge would include such a blatantly unconstitutional provision in an order."

"A first-year law student could recognize the provision as an obvious violation of the First Amendment."

In defiance of the order, in 2007 Pinkney published an article in which he declared: "Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass; if thou continue not to hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all that is right; which I command thee this day, that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and overtake thee; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist."

Yes. "With extreme burning."

In March 2008, a different judge found that Pinkney had violated the conditions of his probation, determining that his statements amounted to a "true threat" against Butzbaugh. He sentenced him to 3 to 10 years in prison.

According to the Michigan Messenger, "Pinkney served a year of this sentence before the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
successfully argued that he be released pending an appeal of his probation violation."

Last month, an appeals court panel "upheld Pinkney's conviction on the election-related charges, but struck down the revocation of his probation and the 3-to-10-year sentence imposed by Judge Wiley."

Pinkney called it "a major victory." The ACLU of Michigan praised the decision: "To our knowledge, this case marks the first time in modern history that a preacher has been thrown in prison for predicting what God might do."

http://www.alternet.org/rights/142109/how_yawning_got_one_court_spectator_six_months_in_the_slammer_%26_eight_more_disturbing_acts_of_judicial_tyranny_/?page=1

Benton Harbor park privatization gets hearing in federal court

DOJ argues that publicly funded park may be converted into pay-to-play golf course

By Eartha Jane Melzer 8/31/09

In this photo taken earlier this year, vegetation from Jean Klock Park's duneland had been stripped around a public picnic area that's in the way of a private golf development. (Courtesy Save Jean Klock Park)

“The Land and Water Conservation Fundwas intended to preserve parks forever,“ park preservation advocate LuAnne Kozma said after the hearing. “They never should have allowed the conversion of a significant feature of the park.”

GRAND RAPIDS — Residents who oppose the privatization of Benton Harbor’s public lakefront park got their day in U.S. District Court on Friday, as Judge Robert Holmes Bell heard arguments over whether government agencies had acted properly when they approved the construction of a private golf course in Jean Klock Park.

Much of the construction for the Jack Nicklaus Signature course developed by Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc. has already taken place, and a portion of the course is open for business. The project required approvals from federal agencies because the park had received grants for development for public use. Benton Harbor residents are suing the U.S. Department of Interior, the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permitting the privatization of the park. This matter was referred from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which refused a motion to grant a preliminary injunction and stop construction of the golf project until the case was heard.
Bell opened the hearing by telling the parties that he had visited Jean Klock Park and was “well acquainted with the typography and geography of the area.” He said that he did not have much time to discuss the matter and set a two-hour time limit for all oral arguments in the case. “Please keep my interest,“ he said.
Terry Lodge, attorney for the plaintiffs, showed before and after pictures of the dunes, and argued that the scope of the golf project was trivialized in order to avoid federal environmental review.
Lodge said that though only 22.11 acres of the 78-acre park had been leased for golf conversion, in reality the majority of the park has been impacted by the Jack Nicklaus project.
Lodge said that the project’s environmental assessment failed to fully describe plans to excavate tons of sand from the dunes, establish turf, remove 8 acres of trees outside of the discussed conversion zone, and pave a portion of the beach. Lodge said that a retention pond created by Harbor Shores was not even mentioned in the project’s scoping document.
Bell’s first question referenced an argument made by the golf developers — that by building a parking lot on the beach they are increasing public access to Lake Michigan and thereby enhancing the park’s recreational value.
“You are not making the argument that the public doesn’t have greater access to the lake?” Bell asked as Lodge described the extent to which the golf course has reshaped the park.
Lodge said that public uses of the park have been diminished by the government’s approval of the park conversion. Natural paths for bird watching and picnicking are disrupted by golf greens and fairways, he said.
Lodge said that the dune area is a significant feature of the park and pointed out that developers have acknowledged the value of the dunes by arguing that the majestic views available from the top of the dunes were the critical dramatic element that would make the golf course work.
The park was given to the people of Benton Harbor in 1917 by John Klock in honor of his deceased infant daughter, Lodge said, and in the proclamation that accompanied the land transfer Klock specifically stated that the park was to be available to the public for picnicking, swimming and other recreational uses.
Bell seemed to question the value or significance of some of the park resources.
“When I toured the area,” he said, ‘I saw trees with a limited lifespan. I did not see hardwoods.”
Bell also questioned whether trivialization of a project’s impacts is a violation of law. Lodge said that it is.
As part of the deal to take control of Jean Klock Park, developers offered a series of inland parcels which they promise to develop into recreational areas that will compensate for the loss of parkland.
Lodge said that the National Park Service was “arbitrary and capricious” in approving this swap, “without considering that the public was not getting anything close to a fair trade.”
He said that the appraisals used to support the land swap were critically flawed. For example, he said, a 1.47-acre industrially contaminated inland parcel donated to the project by the Whirlpool Corp. was appraised at 80 percent of the value of 22 acres of pristine dunes overlooking Lake Michigan.
Lodge said that Michigan officials and developers failed to share information about the extent of pollution on the mitigation parcels with federal officials or the public. He said that records obtained from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources show that some of the mitigation parcels are so badly polluted that people may need to stay on paved paths in order to avoid harmful exposure.
Joseph Hosu Kim and Matthew R. Oakes, attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice, emphasized that the scope of the hearing should be kept narrow and asked that the before and after pictures of the park not be allowed as evidence in the case.
The city of Benton Harbor can do what it likes with it’s park, the DOJ attorneys argued, and for purposes of the Land And Water Conservation Fund Act, the land offered in trade for the park was of “sufficient value.”
DOJ also stated that that a golf course is a “public recreational use.”
Although the federal government does require that land offered in trade for a public park be of “reasonable equivalent” value, it does not require that the land offer the same recreational opportunities, Kim told the court.
“It’s not true that it is ‘paths only,’ Kim said of the mitigation parcels. He said that the land has been deemed safe enough for a child to use it for 100 days in a year.
Bell asked Oaks what would happen if the applicants had minimized the impact of project: “Is the Army Corps monitoring the project? Would they step in if violations were occurring?”
Oaks affirmed that this is the case.
An attorney representing Harbor Shores, which was allowed to intervene and join the defendants as a party to the case, said that the golf course grew out of a community process started by the governor following civil unrest in 2003 and is intended to provide economic benefits to Benton Harbor where 42 percent of the residents are below the poverty line.
Lodge disputed this, stating that the group that recommended the golf course was at work the year before the riots.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund was intended to preserve parks forever,“ park preservation advocate LuAnne Kozma said after the hearing. “They never should have allowed the conversion of a significant feature of the park.”
It is unclear when Judge Bell will issue a decision in this matter.
http://michiganmessenger.com/25597/benton-harbor-park-privatization-gets-hearing-in-federal-court

Sunday, August 30, 2009
Justice is still possible for Klock supporters

Editor[herald palladium],

In a recent letter to the editor, Ray Dively wrote about the taking of 22-plus acres of Jean Klock Park's dunes and wetlands for a golf course development. He said that in his opinion this "was nothing but a land grab." It's obvious that even someone who does not live here sees the golf course development in the park for what it is. I have no doubt there are many who do live here who also feel the same way, but for one reason or another cannot go on record as being opposed to the destruction of the natural resources of the park.

Mr. Dively also questioned the breaking of the Klock deed. Not only did the 1917 Klock family deed indicate that the land was to be used forever by Benton Harbor as a public park, the city of Benton Harbor's own resolution states that "this land shall be named and forever known as Jean Klock Park." Not "Jean Klock Beach," or "Harbor Shores Golf and Beach Club," as depicted on maps, but "forever" as "Jean Klock Park." At the 1917 park dedication ceremony Mr. Klock stated: "Perhaps some of you do not own a foot of ground, therefore this park belongs to you ... The beach is yours, the drive is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours." He also asked that park remain in as natural of state as possible.

There is also the 2004 consent judgment that was intended to restrict further private development within JKP. As one of the plaintiffs who agreed to the 2003 settlement that resulted in the consent judgment, I can tell you that a golf course was never contemplated as a "public park purpose," and that our attorneys failed to advise us that particular language could be used as a loophole to allow a golf course use.

A lawsuit was filed in the fall of 2008 by myself and another former plaintiff to uphold the Klock deed and the consent judgment. The outcome was obviously predetermined, as the lawsuit was dismissed after a brief recess followed by a very lengthy, prewritten dissertation by a preconceiving judge. An appeal has been filed and while we await a court date, we remain adamant that both the Klock family deed and 2004 consent judgment have been grossly violated.

I and many others will forever remember how this spectacular land was bequeathed by an honorable and generous couple as a memorial to their child. No matter how popular the perceived improvements to JKP are, the parkland was desecrated out of greed by those who for 20 years secretly worked through the system until the day came when the majority of JKP could be wrested away from the public. I believe there are still plans that haven't been revealed; plans for the park for when the course fails; plans that don't include those who don't "own a foot of ground."

To support the Friends of Jean Klock's efforts to overturn the court's decision please visit: www.savejeanklockpark.org. Also, please visit: www.protectjkp.com.

Carol Drake, Sodus