6 township officials in Big Rapids area recalled over support for Gotion battery plant

Five members of a Big Rapids-area township board that voted in favor of tax breaks for a multi-billion-dollar battery plant investment by a Chinese-owned company were recalled Tuesday in retaliation for their support for the project.

Green Township Supervisor Jim Chapman said he and four other members of the board were recalled months after the board voted in favor of a property tax abatement plan for Gotion, Inc., which plans to build a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery parts facility on the outskirts of Big Rapids and create an estimated 2,350 jobs in Mecosta County.

Two others of the seven-member board resigned ahead of recall election.

"It’s called democracy," Chapman told The Detroit News. "It is what it is.”

Lori Brock, a Green Township resident who helped organize the recall, said the group was "thrilled beyond belief" with its sweep of the township seats.

"This recall shows how the community did not want this," Brock said of the Gotion project. "This just means we have a voice again. We may be small, but we are powerful.”

Gotion Inc. is an American subsidiary of Gotion High Tech, which is based in China and whose articles of association require that the company "carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist Party of China."

State and local officials have faced backlash for months from residents, conservative political activists and Republican members of Congress for the Gotion plant project because of the parent company's connection to the Chinese government.

In neighboring Big Rapids Township, Supervisor Bill Stanek also was recalled.

Stanek was the lone supporter on his township board of the project; the opposition of his board caused Gotion to put its plans on pause for constructing its facility that would have straddled Green and Big Rapids townships.

"If we get Gotion here, it’s worth anything I’ve done," Stanek said Tuesday of the plant going in across a street in Big Rapids Township. "I think that’s the positive of it. It was definitely worth my career to do that.”

Residents in the Big Rapids area have voiced concerns over Gotion's projects because of its links to China, the secrecy surrounding the deal, and its location on agricultural land.

The company was founded in China in 2006, but its U.S. subsidiary has been incorporated in California since 2014. Its board is one-third German, one-third American and one-third Chinese.

Gotion Inc. in a statement late Tuesday night did not comment directly on the recall results, but promised it would move ahead with its manufacturing plant project.

“Gotion is a multinational company that does not engage in political posturing,” said Chuck Thelen, vice president of North American manufacturing for Gotion Inc. “We continue to steadfastly work to meet our commitment of creating 2,350 jobs in the state of Michigan while communicating factually and transparently with all regulatory organizations.”

Brock on Tuesday expressed hope that the new board would demand more accountability of Gotion, including making requests for additional reports on environmental impacts, labor law compliance and national security implications.

But Gotion had already cemented key parts of its agreement with the township ahead of the recall.

The township had already agreed to a 30-year tax abatement for the company and lawmakers in April transferred $175 million in tax incentives to a pot that will be used for eventual distribution to the company based on its ability to meet certain construction and hiring benchmarks.

Additionally, Gotion and Green Township reached a development agreement in August stating the terms and obligations for both parties that is likely binding on the new board members. The company launched it's hiring efforts in September.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com