Megasite at center of recall election for Eagle Township supervisor

EAGLE TWP. — Eagle Township residents will have an unusual election this November in that they'll pick the township supervisor for just one year.

It may be current Supervisor Patti Jo Schafer, or one of two other candidates in an unusual recall election focused on Schafer and a potential industrial development on one of the state's largest megasites.

The recall effort is the first in the county in a quarter century, focused on Schafer's handling of a potential megasite that led some residents to pursue recalling her.

A recall election in Michigan typically involves a yes or no vote and gives voters the option of keeping the incumbent or tossing them. However, if challengers can get petitions signed, they can appear on the same ballot with the official being challenged. In this case, the top vote-getter will finish Schafer's term, which expires at the end of 2024.

Troy Stroud and Charles Truesdell III each submitted more than 400 signatures to qualify for the recall election. They will be listed as Independents. Schafer will be listed as a Republican.

All three candidates are vying for the legacy of David Morris, a former supervisor who died in 2009. His land, donated to and owned by Michigan State University, is being marketed as a transformative campus possibly for a computer chip or battery manufacturer and on a plot larger than 1,200 acres.

None of them fully support large-scale development, but they differ in whether to negotiate and work with potential companies, with Schafer and Truesdell saying they would be willing to consider offers, and Stroud opposed to anything large-scale on the site.

Schafer was township treasurer and worked for years with Morris, taking over as supervisor and said both of them would pursue offers that would positively transform the community.

Truesdell worked for Morris as a teenager, hauling corn, and said people don't remember that Morris advocated for modern technology and methods, even as he drove his tractor to the grocery store.

Stroud said he is a fifth-generation farmer and an heir to the community legacy of farming that Morris championed, and that doesn't include large-scale industrial plans.

How the recall happened

Ten different recall petitions were turned in this year against Schafer and two other township board members.

Only one submitted by Stroud qualified for the ballot. That required clear language and 412 verified signatures. Stroud submitted a separate petition to qualify for the ballot himself, as did Truesdell.

A half dozen other recall attempts against Schafer, or two other board members, were rejected by Clinton County election officials, who said those petitions did not have clear language outlining objections or had misspellings or other issues that the officials said amounted to a disqualification.

The remaining three recalls − which would name the other two board members and not Schafer − could be completed and if the signatures are verified, those recall efforts could be on a May ballot, said Deb Sutherland, Clinton County's clerk and one of the three election officials who consider the recall language.

If one of Schafer's challengers wins, they would be sworn in soon after the election is certified and become supervisor at that moment, Sutherland said. If Schafer wins, there is no need for a swearing-in, Sutherland said.

Schafer was last reelected in November 2020.

The township has a population of about 3,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is one of the few municipalities in the Greater Lansing area to have grown from 2010 to 2020 and is about 35 square miles. The township has a few four-way stops and red-light intersections where Interstate 96 crosses into town and near where the megasite could locate.

The various recall efforts began early this year in reaction to the potential for a large property, at least 1,200 acres and potentially 1,900 or more acres, to be sold to for a high-tech manufacturing campus. It would be one of the largest factories in Michigan, easily eclipsing Flint's Buick City, which was the biggest in the world a century ago at around 360 acres.

MSU owns about 1,200 acres of the land and has said it intends to find a buyer.

However, large manufacturing would alter the township's future, for better or worse, and many township residents have objected to the steps Schafer took.

In a unanimous township vote, Schafer and the board agreed in 2022 to sign a non-disclosure agreement to learn more details about a potential buyer. The non-disclosure agreement limited how much information she could share in public, including the name of the company and the dollar figures involved in the potential deal.

The deal did not end up happening but the plot is still being marketed. The township has started a process to create its own zoning and planning boards, a function the county currently handles for Eagle and many other townships.

The State Journal interviewed the three candidates, each was asked why voters should pick them, what was their vision for the township and what were some specific plans they'd push as supervisor.

Here are their answers, edited for clarity.

Patti Jo Schafer

Schafer, 60, has been township supervisor or treasurer for 27 years and said her experience as a leader is why voters should support her.

Schafer said she has served on numerous boards for the county and township, while being a self-employed accountant.

"I'm honest and hardworking and when I make a decision, I'm one vote of five, and I make sure I research my decisions and I stand by them," Schafer said. "I'm still the right person to lead Eagle Township."

Schafer said the township is expecting to get a business expansion on 17 acres of land, from Paxton Countertops, that came out of a 2021 rezoning and a 2022 site plan approval. She said that shows how long it can take to foster a new development.

She said the township is working with Clinton County on a broadband internet expansion program.

"We haven't had much development because we are rural. It doesn't happen very often," Schafer said. "So when you talk about specific actions and a plan, that's a little longer to see it happen. It can take three to five years, but the vision is just looking at what's going on now and working with what we've got."

She said people have misunderstood her position on the megasite, and her position is that the township should be cautious, and officials should learn what could be headed there.

"Am I nervous or scared if some big development comes on MSU's property?" Schafer said. "Absolutely. Who isn't? But I'm the right person to negotiate for our community. But at this point, there isn't anything going on. As your parents told you, take care of the present."

Troy Stroud

Stroud, 53, said he brings common sense to the township and would be more forceful in opposing a megasite than the other candidates.

"I’m standing for full transparency, no non-disclosure agreements, no renaissance zones and I support zoning at the township level," Stroud said.

He has been one of the most-active opponents of the potential megasite, organizing the most effective of at least 10 recall petition efforts. Stroud told the Lansing State Journal in April that he had been pleased with Schafer's work as supervisor, until the megasite development arose and his views changed.

Stroud said he works as a consultant and maintains a hobby farm, which shows the township evolving as technology allows remote workers to find a quiet community to build their lives.

He said his vision for the township is to continue to be a place for good primary education with a rural feel, not far from a major city but far enough.

"We will continue to be a place that continues to attract people to come out and farm and to work remotely and work in a community where we’re well connected, and we respect and listen to what the community wants," Stroud said.

Stroud said voters should know that he is the firm voice against the megasite.

"We have around 2,200 registered voters so bringing in a facility with 3,000 or 4,000 workers is not feasible," he said. "Eagle Township has some of the state's highest outcomes for students. We're in the top five, and this could take down our children's education and challenge our systems for clean water and clean air."

Charles Truesdell III

Truesdell, 69, said he opposes a megasite in Eagle Township but is worried that disagreements over the development could lead to a long, divisive fight and, ultimately, a megadevelopment.

Truesdell is a contractor and founder of True Built Construction. He unsuccessfully ran for the state House in 2016.

He said the acrimonious fight over the megasite led him to enter the race because he had objected to some of Schafer's actions before the development of the land became an issue. He was also upset by township board members who voted alongside Schafer on megasite issues and afterward criticized her for voting the same way they did.

"My primary concern is what it's going to cost taxpayers," Truesdell said.

He said a federal CHIPS Act, which offers incentives to build computer chip and other factories in America, has clauses that devote many of the chips to the military, and there's not much Eagle Township could do to stop a potential development.

"I don't know what local zoning is going to do other than increase our taxes," Truesdell said. "There's got to be a middle ground someplace, a point where you throw in the towel."

He said examples include wind farms in Benton Township and a Dollar General in Grand Ledge. Both were opposed fiercely by residents and both ended up getting developed under what Truesdell said was threat of legal action.

He said he remembers when Eagle Township was "the end of the world," with a McDonald's in Grand Ledge as the furthest outpost of modernization.

"The township isn't going to be the same as it was 50 years ago, it's not the same as it was 10 years ago," he said.

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Eagle Township megasite roils fall election as supervisor faces recall