Who is Jason Kruse? Michigan's Green Charter Township votes out entire local government over battery plant deal with China-affiliated firm Gotion
MECOSTA COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Jason Kruse, appointed the Supervisor of the Green Charter Township on Wednesday, November 8, recently led an uprising against the former local government over their support for the China-affiliated corporation Gotion, leading to the members being ousted on Tuesday.
Five Republican board members who had served for a while were voted out in a special election in favor of independent candidates, as per Daily Mail. Along with Kruse, Corri Riebow was elected as the Clerk and they took the oath of office at the Mecosta County Building.
The main point of contention was Gotion's proposed $2.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant, which was planned to be built close to the Roben-Hood Airport.
How did Jason Kruse oust the entire Green Charter's local government township?
Jason Kruse spearheaded a grassroots effort to overthrow the local administration after it showed support for the plans of a Chinese-affiliated corporation to construct an electric vehicle battery plant nearby.
The newly-elected Green Charter Township supervisor told Fox News that "democracy still works" and that local elections are important.
"Everybody out there across America needs to step back and understand that you have the power. It's still there," said Kruse, adding, "Government works and your vote matters — for sure at the local level — and it's super important."
The final five Republican officials of Green Charter Township's local government were recalled and immediately removed from office in a special election held on Tuesday following the resignation of two of them.
"It really is a sad thing to have to go through a recall. But that's our democratic process, and we chose to invoke that," further stated Kruse, and he continued, "What we realized through all this is that whether it's Democrat or Republican, it’s a national security issue."
Why was Green Charter’s Gotion project met with disapproval?
According to Jason Kruse, the proposal was rejected by the residents of Green Charter, who expressed worries about the facility's location on agricultural land and the company's ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
When the $2.36 billion project was first announced in 2022, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and other Democratic lawmakers in Michigan supported it, pointing out that the facility would generate 2,300 jobs.
Gotion – with its headquarters located in Fremont, California – is an entirely owned division of Gotion High-Tech Co, Ltd, a global organization with its headquarters located in Hefei, China, as per public filings.
"We were asking, ‘please, listen to us, please,’ we're begging them," stated Kruse, adding, "But it was a moot point with them."
In order to oust all seven members of the board, Kruse organized a populist effort, launched an informative campaign, and commissioned an impartial third-party survey to gauge support for the Gotion project.
Kruse mentioned, "We don't want to stop growth in our community but we want the right growth, and we want to make sure that we're not working with hostiles."
How did Gotion respond to its CCP affiliation?
The most recent amendment to Gotion High-Tech's articles of association, from 2022, specifies that the business retains a CCP unit whose job it is "the implementation of the Party's guidelines, principles and policies in the Company."
However, the Gotion leadership has declared that the company's North American division, which established its Silicon Valley-based headquarters in 2014, is independent of the CCP and has rejected any allegiance to it.
"We are a multinational company and don’t believe in political posturing and are still committed to bringing thousands of jobs to the state of Michigan," stated Gotion to News Nation, as per Fox News.