During a Wednesday hearing of the Subcommittee on Corporate Subsidies and State Investments, residents of Green Charter Township voiced strong concerns about a proposed Gotion electric vehicle battery component plant and its impact on their community. The testimony shed light on allegations of local government misconduct, personal retaliation, and broader questions about foreign corporate influence in American towns.
Lori Brock, a local farm owner and one of the first to testify, described what she called a dismissive and hostile environment fostered by township officials in favor of the Gotion project.
“Local officials told us in the first meeting that Gotion was a done deal,” Brock said.
Brock said she was actively investigating the plant and the township’s involvement, which she believes included corruption and suppression of dissent. According to her testimony, residents who opposed the facility were denied opportunities to speak at township meetings and were humiliated online. Brock also made a serious accusation: she believes one of her horses was poisoned and killed in retaliation for her opposition, with an attempt made on a second.
Jason Kruse, the current Green Charter Township supervisor, followed Brock in addressing the committee. Before his election, Kruse worked as a professor in the automotive department at Ferris State University. He revealed that the university was aware of the Gotion deal two years before it became public knowledge.
Kruse said he was pressured to take academic leave after voicing opposition to the battery plant and the university’s shift toward EV manufacturing. He also described alarming challenges upon taking office.
“During the first two months of our administration, after we were elected, we were unable to access the township accounting software, the phones operated erratically, and the internet was inconsistent,” Kruse said.
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According to Kruse, Ferris State University, an active supporter of the Gotion project, used secretly recorded conversations to discredit him after his election. He believes these actions were intended to silence critics and shield the project from scrutiny.
Gotion Inc. has since filed a federal lawsuit against Green Charter Township. While the township is the defendant in the case, the litigation has stalled local governance and disrupted everyday operations.
“We cannot handle what they are bringing in,” Kruse said, expressing frustration over the mounting legal and administrative burden.
Brock made a statement that sums up the township’s view of Gotion and a sentiment that the entire State can relate to.
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“Perhaps Gotion, with its Communist China party ties, is used to getting its way with committees in China,” she said. “But in America, you don’t get to just change our way of life without the consent of those affected.”