Gotion project brings 5 job losses in Green Township

Five elected officials in Green Township were recalled by voters Tuesday in Mecosta Township. Two others had resigned before the election. Voters also threw out a supervisor in neighboring Big Rapids Township. 

The recall election owed to a public backlash at the board’s approval of the Gotion electric vehicle battery project.

As the Associated Press reports:

The Green Township supervisor, clerk, treasurer and two trustees — all Republicans — were defeated Tuesday by challengers who listed no party affiliation.

The AP adds: “Nearby in Big Rapids Township, Supervisor Bill Stanek also was recalled. He, too, supported the factory.”

The Gotion project faced wide opposition across the community, but elected officials approved it anyway. Last December, the Green Township board approved the Gotion project in a 7-0 vote. All seven board members have now been replaced by new faces.

Gotion is a “wholly-owned” subsidiary of a Chinese firm. Critics from the local area to Lansing to the floor of the U.S. House have raised national security concerns about the unpopular project.