On Easter weekend of 2006, Governor Granholm visited the Benton Harbor area.
At one of her stops she was approached by a member of the Friends of Jean Klock
Park who gave her a flyer that detailed the seriousness of the threat to Jean Klock
Park. This FJKP member requested an opportunity to speak with her on the
matter. From that day there could be no mistaking that the information she
received alerted her to the opposition to the proposed development in JKP. We
followed up with an e-mail request but received no reply.
On September 13, 2006 a letter signed by Benton Harbor City residents and
members of the Friends of Jean Klock Park was sent to Governor Granholm
asking her to play a role in preserving Jean Klock Park. Members of the
community were completely ignored. The letter may be read below. We removed
the signatures in order to protect the privacy of residents who signed it.
Read the letter
On September 19, 2006, Dave Dempsey, a former environmental advisor to
Governor James Blanchard and environmental writer sent the following letter to
Governor Granholm requesting that she would; "immediately withdraw your
support of the part of the Harbor Shores plan that uses Jean Klock Park."
Read the letter
In November of 2006, a citizen of Benton Harbor wrote to Governor Granholm
urging her to talk to the residents of the city, not the elected officials, about how
many of them were in favor of giving away their parkland. Governor Granholm's
office replied in December stating that it was a local issue, to contact local officials.
Letter to Granholm and her reply
Early in 2007 we discovered evidence of Governor Granholm's direct involvement
in the development in the form of a memo dated May of 2006, written to Jeff
Fettig, the CEO of Whirlpool, and signed by the Governor and the heads of state
regulatory agencies. The letter commends the Whirlpool Corporation for its
acquisition of Maytag. In turn the Governor and agency heads pledged to assist
Harbor Shores with permit approvals, committed to state funding, and promised to
solicit support from federal agencies for both financial and technical support.
- Read the memo
Over a several year period $1.74M in state and federal grants were awarded to the
City of Benton Harbor for improvements to JKP. These funds come from
everyone's tax dollars which makes this anything but just a local issue. The many
grants, especially the federal Land Water and Conservation Act Fund grant, have
restrictions that should have required the project area to remain public parkland in
perpetuity. But thanks to Governor Jennifer Granholm's guarantee of every state
regulatory agency's cooperation and the heavy leaning on federal regulatory
agencies by Congressman Fred Upton, corporate interests once again won out over
the public's interest and stake in its own land.
In March of 2007, we learned that Governor Granholm had declared March 20th
“No Child Left Indoors Day". In the article we obtained, the Governor is quoted as
saying:
"One of the great gifts we can give our children is to make sure they connect
with the amazing natural resources we have in Michigan," Granholm said.
"Whether we take them fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking or simply let
them discover the beauty of nature in our state, helping our children connect
with the outdoors is essential to making sure our natural resources are
protected and respected in the future."
But in the case of Jean Klock Park Governor Granholm believes it's acceptable to
take from children natural resources that were deeded and dedicated to them to
build a golf course for an elite few. How does this teach children to respect and
protect their natural resources?
| Save Jean Klock Park |
| Our legal challenge is continuing - our fight is not over! |
| Governor Granholm's Role |
"We obviously
want to
preserve the
dunes...."
Governor
Jennifer
Granholm -
July 29, 2008.
Gee...
thanks Governor
Granholm,
We certainly
appreciate your
commitment to
preserving OUR
publicly owned
natural resources
thanks Governor
Granholm,
We certainly
appreciate your
commitment to
preserving OUR
publicly owned
natural resources
Friends of Jean Klock Park | PO Box 8988 | Benton Harbor, MI 49023 info@savejeanklockpark.org | www.savejeanklockpark.org © 2009 Friends of Jean Klock Park. All Rights Reserved. |
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FALL 2008
SPRING 2009