Chelsea District Library hosted 6th District U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and a group of western Washtenaw County politicians for a town hall connecting community members to local politicians.
The bi-partisan panel included Chelsea Mayor Jane Pacheco, Washtenaw County District 1 Commissioner Jason Maciejewski, 48th District Michigan House Rep. Jennifer Conlin, 46th District State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, 47th District State House Rep. Carrie Rheingans, and Jeffrey Hillman, Chief-of-Staff for State Senator Sue Shink. Other city and township officials sat in on the town hall and chimed in throughout the meeting.
About 50 citizens showed up to voice concerns and ask questions to the panel on topics including the environment, Israel’s war on Gaza and election security.
Environmental concerns
Residents of Freedom Township shared concerns about a potential co-digester at Horning Farms. Co-digesters convert animal and food waste into a renewable energy source, reducing methane emissions.
Digesters require permits in Michigan, and talk of the Freedom Township Horning Farm project with Vanguard Renewables is in early stages.
Residents are concerned about potential soil, water and air pollution as well as external waste being transported to the digester so it has enough waste to function.
Participants expressed concerns about Michigan Senate Bill 275 and House Bill 5083 aimed at reducing carbon. Rheingans said she appreciated constituent opinions and is taking them back to Lansing to ask questions and help improve the bill.
Freedom Township Planning Commissioner Karen Flahie heard the residents and asked Dingell for ideas from the federal government on how to lower emissions while keeping quality of life for locals.
“I know they (in Washington) push for clean energy, which is a very honorable thing, but I don’t think clean energy should be pushed on people at the expense of the lives and properties and the quality of life for people in a small community that end up having to deal with disasters and any issues with pollution in their wells,” Flahie said.
Dingell said clean energy is complicated and encouraged people to continue to speak up and share their opinions.
“They (the EPA) are testing the wells to make sure that people are safe,” Dingell said. “Clean water is a number one priority for everybody at this table, and clean water is a priority of the federal government and the state level. It is an example more than any of the federal, state and local levels of government working together to protect people… Every human being has a right to clean, affordable water. Period.”
Scott Braun, a clean water advocate from Chelsea, pointed out Michigan is the only state in the country without a septic tank code and asked the State politicians what they are doing about it.
Rheingans said she is working with stakeholders and septic tank experts to combat the issue. She is co-sponsoring a bill to establish a minimum code, inspector training requirements and funds to help homeowners afford updates.
“Its embarrassing we (Michigan) are the Water Wonderland and we have poopy rivers,” Rheingans said.
“This has been an issue for so long, but you have different groups wanting different things and not agreeing,” Schmaltz said. “There’s a lot of things we’re dealing with like you don’t want to burden the homeowner. Hopefully we can come to a consensus soon.”
The panel also discussed Nuclear energy and improving reliability of current power sources.
Israel-Gaza
Two Jewish constituents asked Dingell to continue support of a ceasefire in Gaza as well as to pledge to not not accept campaign funds from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“People are hurting on both sides, and I am a strong supporter of the two-state solution,” Dingell said. “I’m very worried. I want a ceasefire. I’ve talked to both the President and the Vice President about it in the last couple of weeks. I talked to the President this past week, and he has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wants a permanent end to this war.
“I don’t like special interest groups,” Dingell said. “I will meet with them. I meet with everybody. I think that it’s very important in elected office to sit down and talk to everybody and understand their perspectives. AIPEC is not someone who supports a ceasefire, and I was one of the first people to call for a ceasefire in December. I don’t think that (AIPEC giving me money) will be a problem.”
Dingell said she lived in Dearborn for a long time and knows many people affected by the war. She said she also knows residents in her district with connections to the hostages. She said she is paying attention to and is concerned about the conflict.
“I was in the synagogue that weekend (of Oct. 7), and people were absolutely sobbing,” Dingell said. “Someone said, ‘how many are connected to people that are hostages?’ And people stood up. I don’t like that (so many people are affected.) I know what’s happening in Gaza… I believe what Hamas did was a terrorist act with the senseless murder and taking of those hostages. Hostages need to be released. We’ve seen too many innocent civilians die in Gaza. Lebanon is about to explode. We need a ceasefire.”
Nabil Sater has been directly impacted by the war. He said he went to Lebanon three months ago to bury his mother but could not go to the gravesite because Israel bombed it three times.
Sater critiqued the U.S.’s approach of asking for a ceasefire then providing weapons to Israel. The U.S. approved the sale of $20 million in weapons to Israel on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“It’s interesting to me President Biden asks for a ceasefire then makes the phone call that says, ‘send in the bombs,” Sater said. “It’s like going to an Alcohol Anonymous meeting and taking whisky with you. I don’t understand this. How do we ask them to stop by sending bombs? How do we ask them to let food in(to Gaza)?”
Upcoming Election and Democracy
A few residents asked questions about how to promote involvement in the November election as well as for the panel’s thoughts on the state of democracy.
Dingell told her Jan. 6, 2020, experience. She said it’s a problem people are losing trust in the institution and voting.
“I was on the floor of the House when we got on the floor and had to take out our gas masks,” she said. “I am very worried about what could happen after this election, and I think this is where it’s really important for all of us to remember we are Americans. I’m not a blue. I’m wearing red. I wear red a lot because I’m an American, and I hope that there are enough of us that will come together.”
Manchester Mayor Patricia Vailliencourt said she is not running for re-election and instead took the course and test to become an election inspector to work the polls and on combating misinformation about election validity.
“I will be there for that 16 hour day and see firsthand the controls, the bipartisan way that everything is done in an election,” Vailliencourt said. “It makes me very, very proud of the process that we have to elect our officials. It frustrates me when people make accusations with absolutely no proof of it, and they’ve never been there, they do not know what’s going on. So feel good and stand up for our election and the people that work there because it’s a tough job sometimes but it’s fair and it’s free and we gotta protect it.”
Maciejewski said the fact that elections are run on the local level should improve community trust.
“The strength of American democracy is our elections are bottom up and are run at the local government level,” Maciejewski said. “Yes there is oversight and training that comes from the county clerk and Secretary of State, but really it is local governments, it is us, it is our neighbors who run the election. I know the clerk and I know the people who are working at my precinct (and trust them.)”
The entire panel encouraged the audience to get educated, vote and get involved in working the polls.
“We need people to care. Democracy is as strong as the people that become involved,” Dingell said. “I would ask all of you to be educated, be engaged, talk to your neighbors, your communities, your workplace, and If you can, volunteer at the polls.”
Dingell, Conlin, Schmaltz, Rheingans and Maciejewski are up for re-election on Nov. 5.
