Tuesday’s general election vote fell under late-breaking Michigan Board of Elections confirmation it was investigating the entity EPIC — which funded ads, signs and mailings for three Saugatuck City Council incumbents — based on a complaint about campaign-financing violations.
The vote tallies came in too late to meet this week’s printing deadline. We will post them as soon as available at wilcoxnewspapers.com.
Former mayor Ken Trester Oct. 16 told the state EPIC — an acronym for Empowering People Investing in Communities and registered as founded by another ex-mayor, Leigh G. (Garnet) Lewis — hadn’t filed a legal statement of organization prior to funding campaigns of Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean and Lauren Stanton.
The allegations went a step further when listed EPIC board members Mary Fechtig, Elizabeth Estes, Holly Leo and Julie Ridl wrote to The Commercial Record and Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski that they had no knowledge of the EPIC entity prior to seeing an Oct. 24 Facebook posting.
“None of us,” wrote Fechtig on behalf of signators, “have been involved in a decision related to EPIC’s funding or other support of political candidates in the current race for Saugatuck City Council.”
Dean, on behalf of himself, Baldwin and Stanton, called the charges a “tale of two advocacy group engaging in the debate over short-term rentals (STRs) in Saugatuck.
“A group unhappy with the city’s (20-percent cap in the R-1 Residential district) is trying to fabricate controversy on social media to cast doubt among the city’s roughly 750 voters,” their statement continued.
“In 2022, the 501c4 nonprofit EPIC paid for yard signs, printed handouts and ads in support of us, and did the same this year.”
It called EPIC’s advocacy “commonplace,” claiming such nonprofits are allowed to engage in lobbying, issue advocacy and other political activity.
“In fact, a recently-established 501c4 nonprofit called Saugatuck Neighbors with ties to the real-estate community has been actively lobbying against STR caps and filed a lawsuit aimed at overturning the city’s cap on them (voted in this summer).”
Incumbents Baldwin, Dean, Stanton and Holly Anderson, whose term does not expire until next November, were in favor of a measure they said would help preserve family neighborhoods.
Gregory Muncey, also up for re-election, and Russ Gardner, claiming the cap should not have been enacted absent an economic-impact study first, were opposed. Tuesday council challengers Joe Leonatti, Chris Peterson and Sherry Tedaldi confirmed that conviction too.
This was not the first rodeo for Lewis with local election complaints. A council member from 2019 to 2023 and mayor in 2021-2022, she pleaded guilty in Augst 2023 go failing to report a violation on a nominating/initiative petition.
Lewis admitted to as much in court, agreed to pay a $500 fine and court fees in lieu of a year in jail and saw her case dismissed after six months Feb. 8 this year.
She first planned to run for council again in November 2023, but left the race after moving to Saugatuck Township. EPIC’s most-recent state Licensing and Regulatory Affairs submission this August still lists her as living at 987 Lake St., a Saugatuck city address.
Lewis declined comment on the case.
Sunday, December 22, 2024
