AUGUST PRIMARY ELECTION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT

There might not be many contested issues on election ballots this year, but make no mistake-elections past, present and future continue to be a hot topic in Southwest Michigan.

This year’s elections started off with a Royalton Township fire equipment millage election in May and continues next week with elections in two Berrien County municipalities. Elections will be held in November for seats on the Benton and St. Joseph City Commissions.

Next week’s August primary election features a millage request in Oronoko Township and a primary race for the St. Joseph City Commission.

Oronoko Township residents are being asked to renew the four mill millage levy for the operation of the Berrien Springs-Oronoko Township Police Department. It was last renewed in 2018 with that levy running for three years through last year.

If approved by voters, the millage is expected to $1,060,258 when levied later this year. The millage will be levied for three years, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Funds raised through the levy will be used to defray the cost of the operation of the department as well as for the purchase and housing of police apparatus and equipment.

The police department is housed in the Oronoko Township public safety building on East Snow Road. The department is comprised of nine full and part-time police officers with a complement of a reserve division of citizen volunteers. The department offers a full slate of services including fingerprinting and local background checks for nominal fees.

St. Joseph city residents will be asked to narrow down the field of candidates for three open seats on the St. Joseph City Commission. A total of nine candidates have filed to run for the three seats.

The top six vote-getters will face off in November with the top three elected to the commission. The top two will receive four year terms and the third place winner getting a two year term.

Candidates running for the St. Joseph City Commission are Michele Turner-Binkley, Thomas Jennings, Chris Lannert, Ben Rimes, Michael Sarola, Brook Thomas, Elizabeth Thomas, Tess Ulrey and Marc Williams.

People will be seeing at least two new faces on the commission as incumbents Mike Garey and Jeff Richards did not seek re-election. A third commissioner, Peggy Getty, resigned from the commission earlier this year and Binkley was appointed to that position. It is Getty’s unexpired term which is the partial term.

Binkley is a certified special education teacher, while Jennings is a local businessman and longtime city volunteer on boards and festivals. Lannert is the owner of the Lannert Group consulting and landscape architecture firm.

Rimes is the director of technology for the Coloma Schools, while Sarola is the senior sales director for Peterson Farms. Brook Thomas is a forensic interviewing specialist.

Elizabeth Thomas is a branch director at the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph YMCA, while Ulrey is the Shadowland executive director at the Silver Beach Center. Williams is the owner of two small businesses.

Brook Thomas, Chris Lannert, Michael Sarola also were among those who applied for the commission vacancy in February when Turner-Binkley was chosen to fill that short term vacancy.

Besides the St. Joseph city commission race, the November ballot will also feature city commission races in the city of Benton Harbor.

The seats currently held by Fourth Ward City Commissioner Ruthie Haralson, At Large Commissioners Ronald Singleton and Duane Seats and Third Ward Commissioner Juanita Henry are open this year.

In addition to this year’s local elections, area residents still are talking about the 2020 election as well as the upcoming elections in 2022. The 2022 election will feature races for governor, state offices including state representative, city and village councils, county commissioners and school boards.

Both the 2020 and 2022 elections will be the subject of an Aug. 7 program being sponsored by the South County Republican Club. That program will run from 1-3:30 p.m. at Lehman’s Farmhouse at 204 N. Red Bud Trail in Buchanan.

That program will feature remarks by Michigan Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo and former State Sen. Patrick Colbeck. In addition, others will speak including Berrien County Commissioner and 6^th District Congressional candidate Ezra Scott.

Karamo challenged the 2020 election results in Michigan and testified before the state legislature. She is now running for the Republican nomination to challenge Jocelyn Benson, the current Secretary of State. The Secretary of State office is responsible for administering election law.

Colbeck is an aerospace engineer, author, former elected official and former gubernatorial candidate. He served two four year terms in the Michigan Senate before being term limited to run again.

He was on the front lines of the 2020 election as he observed the 2020 election as a poll watcher. He has reported on the findings of his investigation to audiences around the state. In past interviews, he’s described how he noticed Dominion voting systems connected to the internet and was told not to worry about it when he questioned it.

He also was among those who audited the Antrim County, Mich. elections where an error initially had Joe Biden winning that county over Donald Trump. He discovered there that the systems were also connected to the Internet via a cell phone chip.

He also saw instances where ballots were dropped off in the middle of the night with no chain of custody and where other uncertified software was installed on voting machines.

Scott is speaking with David Yardley on his Ezra Scott Awareness Tour. They have investigated what they’ve found happened with Berrien County elections in relation to the money infused into local municipalities by a Mark Zuckerberg funded organization.

Others expected to take part in the Aug. 7 program and speak on election integrity are Matt Seely, Jon Rocha, Mellissa Carone, Curtis Clark and JD Glaser.

The South County Republican Club’s late June gathering featured two gubernatorial candidates and other Sixth District congressional candidates. The club’s regular monthly meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at Heritage Hall in Three Oaks.