BY SCOTT SULLIVAN
EDITOR
Former mayor Ken Trester’s Oct. 16 complaint to the Michigan Bureau of Elections about EPIC (Empowering People Investing in Communities), a 501c4 nonprofit headed by another ex-mayor, Garnet Lewis, has apparently been resolved to the tune of a $1,000 fine.
Trester complained EPIC hadn’t filed a legal statement of organization with the state before funding re-election campaigns of city council members Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean and Lauren Stanton last November.
He finally heard back from BOE March 26, five and a half months later. Why the delay? First, some back story.
Trester’s October complaint was followed by letters to this newspaper and the Allegan County Clerk’s office from past listed EPIC board members stating they had no knowledge of the entity prior to seeing an Oct. 24 Facebook posting.
“None of us,” wrote Fechtig, herself an attorney, on behalf of signators Elizabeth Estes, Holly Leo and Julide Ridl, “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.”
Lewis and partner Vicki Cobb were the other listed board members.
Former mayor Dean, on behalf of himself, then mayor Stanton and mayor pro-tem Baldwin, at the time dismissed Trester’s charges as a “tale of two advocacy groups engaging in the debate over short-term rentals in Saugatuck.
“A group unhappy with the city’s (20-percent STR cap in the R-1 Residential district, passed by split vote last summer) 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.
Incumbents Baldwin, Dean, Stanton and Holly Anderson, whose term does not expire until next November, favored the cap, which they say will help preserve family neighborhoods.
Dean, Stanton and Gregory Muncey, who claimed the cap should not have been enacted absent an economic-impact study, were re-elected Nov. 5; but the fourth open two-year seat went to former mayor Chris Peterson, who too has questioned the cap, over Baldwin.
Also unsuccessful were cap critics Sherry Tedaldi and Joe Leonatti. The STR limit on “the hill” has been refined since then but remains.
Trester’s complaint was not Lewis’s first go-round with election law violations. A council member from 2019 to 2023 and mayor in 2021-2022, she pleaded guilty in August 2023 of failing to report a violation on a nominating petition.
Lewis admitted as much in court and agreed to pay a then $500 fine and court fees in lieu of a year in jail. She saw her case dismissed after six months Feb. 8, 2024.
Trester’s complaint about EPIC came eight months later. His response from the BOE last week read:
Dear Ken Trester: The Department of State received a response from Mr. (sic) Lewis on behalf of EPIC to the complaint you filed against them alleging a violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, 1976 P.A. 388, MCL 169.201 et seq. A copy of the response is provided with this letter.
You may file a rebuttal statement after reviewing the response. If you elect to file a rebuttal statement, you are required to do so within 10 business days of the date of this letter …
Sincerely,
Regulatory Division
Bureau of Elections
Michigan Department of
State
Attached were email responses from Lewis dated Jan. 2 and 9 this year The former noted she had been traveling out of the country since Nov. 27 and had just returned. In mail held at the post office. she found the Bureau’s Dec. 11 request she respond to Trester’s complaint within 15 business days. In lieu of that, Lewis asked for additional time responding.
The Jan. 9 email thanked the BOE for granting the extension and conceded:
Trester v. EPIC has merit. After realizing that a Statement of Organization had not been submitted for EPIC, one was filed with the Allegan County Clerk in early November and processed by the BOE in early December.
The standard Error and Omission notice, requiring a “wet” signature, was received upon my return to the United States and signed statement sent via snail mail on Jan. 3, 2025.
I understand that there will be a fine for delay in filing the Statement of Organization.
Trester was disappointed at the response, noting its tardiness, anonymity and lack of detail via the complaint’s current disposition. He was planning a response by press time.
“It’s a pretty straight forward issue,” Lewis told The Commercial Record Saturday, March 29. “I was late in filing the statement of organization form and have paid the fine ($1,000). The issue has been resolved and the campaign committee has been dissolved.
“Given all the hate in our country, I will not add to it,” she said.
