Page 2 — Thursday, September 22, 2022 — The Hastings Banner
Lakewood Area Choral
Society to perform
Anniversary Gala ConcertThis Saturday, Sept. 24, the Lakewood
Area Choral Society will celebrate 35 (plus
two) years of bringing music to the com-
munity and beyond. The choir, directed by
Dr. Robert C. Oster, was established in
1986 and has had more than 540 singers in
its 37 years. This iteration of the choir con-
sists of about 85 singers hailing from near
and far.
The 35th anniversary concert, now with
two extra years to celebrate, is slated for 7
p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Hastings
Performing Arts Center.
The concert will feature all-time favorite
pieces performed by the group, including
“For Spacious Skies” by David L. Brunner,
“How Great Thou Art” arranged by Dan
Forrest and “One World” by Mark Hayes,
to name a few.
In addition to old favorites, the choir will
perform the world premiere of Jill Gallina’s
“His Masterpiece,” originally commis-
sioned by Oster and the Choral Society for
the 35th anniversary concert two years ago.
The piece was commissioned by the choir
to be a “tribute to music.”
Gallina and her husband will attend the
concert Saturday and will be available to
greet in the lobby following the perfor-
mance.
Following the long-awaited concert, the
Choral Society will be celebrating its
35-plus-two-year anniversary in the ball-
room of Walldorff Brewpub and Bistro for
a reunion dinner on Oct. 1.
More information about the concert and
the Lakewood Area Choral Society can be
found at lacsmusic.org.Celebrate autumn at
Historic Charlton ParkThe Charlton Park Gas and Steam
Engine Club is presenting its annual Fall
Harvest Festival at Historic Charlton Park
on Sept. 23 and 24.
Event activities will run from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. both days. Volunteers stationed in the
park’s historic village and throughout the
grounds will be offering pumpkin painting,corn shelling, apple cider, along with rope
making and numerous kids activities,
including a peddle pull in the gas and
steam barn.
A tractor parade will take place daily.
Saturday will include a pancake breakfast
and farm tractor pull, along with a mini-
horse pull. Wheat threshing, antique saw-
mill, shingle mill and many other demon-
strations and activities will take place
throughout the day, as well.
Spectators should plan to bring lawn
chairs and blankets for parade seating.
Food vendors will be serving festival
favorites along with a swap meet and flea
market both days near the Gas and Steam
Barn. Spaces are still available for $
each.
Daily admission to the event is $5 for
ages 13 and up. Children 12 under are free.
Charlton Park is located between Hast-
ings and Nashville, north of M-79, at 2545
S. Charlton Park Road. More information
can be found at charltonpark.org.Hastings Public Library
receives grant funding to
conduct local digital
literacy trainingsThe Hastings Public Library has been
honored as one of only 160 public librar-
ies nationwide awarded funding by the
Public Library Association (PLA) to con-
duct digital literacy workshops using Dig-
italLearn.org resources. The PLA Digital
Literacy Workshop Incentive, supported
by telecom giant AT&T, provides support
to libraries of all sizes to conduct digital
literacy training in their communities and
help close the digital divide.
The library will hold six monthly classes
on a range of topics from computer and
internet basics, to cybersecurity, tablets
and more. Classes are open to anyone and
will be held the first Wednesday of each
month starting Wednesday, Oct. 5. New
laptops received from another grant earlier
this year will be available to use, or patrons
can bring their own.
More information on the workshop can
be found at the library’s website at hast-
ingspubliclibrary.org or by calling 269-
945-4263.NEWS NEWS BRIEFSBRIEFS
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sion to join the lawsuit. Olson said she was
approached about the lawsuit and only had a
few hours to digest the information and respond.
“I just felt like, with the oath that I took,
that I needed to say ‘yes’ to pursuing this and
to ask the courts to make a ruling on what are
we supposed to do? Are we supposed to fol-
low the federal law that I have read saying we
need to retain certain records or go by the
(Michigan) Bureau of Elections telling us to
destroy certain records,” Olson said. “They
put us all in a bind at a federal level when we
do a federal election.”
Olson did not specify who approached her
about signing on to the lawsuit. However, addi-
tional plaintiffs in the case include the Macomb
County Republican Party, non-profit organiza-
tion the Election Integrity Force and Byron
Center-based Donna Brandenburg, who is the
2022 governor candidate for the U.S. Tax Pay-
ers party. Individual voters Jason Ickes and
Ken Beyer are also listed as plaintiffs.
“I appreciate the support showing up to
confirm, for me, that was a good decision to
make on such a short notice,” Olson said,
followed by a prolonged period of applause
from the gallery.
However, because Olson signed on in her
official capacity as Irving Township clerk, it
also drags the entire township board, and
township residents, into the lawsuit.
Township Supervisor Jamie Knight said
she had consulted with the township’s attor-
ney about the matter.
“In most circumstances, acting in her offi-
cial capacity means she is talking on behalf
of the entire township – not just the board,
but every citizen in this township,” Knight
said. “It was never brought to the board’s
attention that this was happening. I’m not
saying I’m for the lawsuit and I’m not
against the lawsuit – I’m following what our
attorney is guiding us to do.”
Knight outlined three potential options laid
out by the township’s attorney.
They included ignoring the lawsuit alto-
gether or adopting a resolution that the boardis not taking a position on the lawsuit.
Or, “we can file an action in court in which
the township seeks formal recognition that
they are not a party of the lawsuit and should
not be held responsible for any claims arising
from the lawsuit,” Knight explained.
That’s when Irving Township treasurer
Doug Sokolowski chimed in, advocating that
the board take action to support Olson.
“One option that I did not hear was the
board can also support the lawsuit,” he said.
“...Our clerk would not be in this position if
it weren’t for her exercising her duties as
described by the constitution. I think that any
of us could find ourselves in the same posi-
tion that the clerk did by overreach.
“Our responsibility moving forward should
be that we have faith and confidence in the
person that we have in position of clerk. If we
do anything other than that, and what we say
publicly is that we do not support our clerk, I
could not sign on to that.”
This elicited applause from the gallery.
Ultimately, the board did not take any
action on the matter as trustees Dean Bass
and Mike Buehler wanted to review the
information.
Olson released a statement at the time the
lawsuit was filed, outlining the information
and evidence she is aware of that would sug-
gest the results of the 2020 presidential elec-
tion were tainted.
Much of her statement centered on claims
that electronic voting systems used through-
out Michigan were not certified by an accred-
ited entity.
“Why does it matter? The certification pro-
vides federal standards for security and trans-
parency in our election systems. There are
many safeguards that were missing for a free
and fair election,” Olson’s statement read.
“Without this, the 2020 election was not
lawfully able to be certified,” Olson argued.
“Should we just pretend that it was? I think it
should be re-run without the electronic vot-
ing system.”
Olson also cautioned that state officialsmust preserve electronic data such as audit
and security logs.
“There is no requirement in federal or
state law to destroy or delete election data,”
Olson said in her statement. “Considering
the interest and this controversy, we are
asking the court to order protection against
an SOS order or voluntary optional destruc-
tion of evidence – too many people still
want access and this is part of a free and fair
election.”
Olson has been accused by the state of turn-
ing over one of Irving Township’s voting tabu-
lators to a third party for inspection at the
behest of Leaf, who has been the most outspo-
ken county official in regard to voting integrity.
As part of the state’s investigation against
Leaf, Michigan State Police raided Irving
Township in April to seize the tabulator.
Last month, Michigan attorney general
Dana Nessel petitioned to appoint a special
prosecutor to potentially charge Leaf and
eight other individuals criminally for alleged-
ly gaining unauthorized access to voting
tabulators and conducting tests on them.
Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson
was eventually named the special prosecutor
and is reviewing the case.
Leaf was at Irving Township Hall on Tues-
day, echoing that there are indeed flaws and
fraud associated with the voting process in
Michigan.
“There is a major, major problem with
this,” Leaf said during public comment. “We
have three ballot proposals coming up (in
November’s general election) that I’m really
worried about. ...Two out of the three all
have gone too far.
“I don’t know where everyone stands –
and I don’t really care, it’s your own person-
al opinion – on this right to life stuff but they
took it to where, the government and schools
have the power to take your child without
your knowledge to get an abortion or treat-
ment for transgender stuff. That’s my fear. If
we don’t get this under control, there is more
of this stuff coming down the pipe.”Hastings Twp. supervisor continues to press
Sheriff’s Office for money to cover FOIA expenses
Jayson Bussa
Editor
Jim Brown believes that the Barry County
Sheriff’s Office owes his township money,
and he is not backing down.
Brown appeared in front of the Barry
County Board of Commissioners last week to
remind them that he had submitted an invoice
months ago, seeking re-payment for expenses
incurred from a FOIA request submitted by a
member of the Sheriff’s Office.
“This bill has not been paid and is now
overdue for more than 90 days,” Brown said
in front of the Board of Commissioners, read-
ing from a letter he submitted to each com-
missioner. “Please authorize payment as this
unnecessary legal cost should not have been
paid by Hastings Township taxpayers and
potentially leads to unwanted legal costs to
the county and all Barry County taxpayers.
Sheriff’s Department investigator Mark
Noteboom sent a FOIA letter to Hastings
Township Clerk Anita Mennell on March 30
tied to the 2020 election, when Donald Trump
lost his presidential race to current president
Joe Biden.
Noteboom had been commissioned by
Sheriff Dar Leaf, who has long spearheaded a
county-wide investigation into alleged voter
fraud, to look for improprieties and fraud in
the election process.
This request was issued to other townships
throughout Barry County, as well.
Ultimately, Hastings Township did not turn
over the requested information on the advice
of its legal counsel and incurred $1,309 in
legal expenses processing that request.
Ever since then, Brown has been prodding
both the Board of Commissioners and the Sher-
iff’s Office on who will pay the expenses. He
said his requests have been met with silence.
“They’ve all been ignoring it,” Brown told
The Banner.
Instead of public pleas, Brown said he is
now working to issue a formal request to the
Board of Commissioners in hopes that it will
be added to the agenda for consideration. He
wants to see the board weigh in on whether
the county will pay the tab or not.Brown estimates that he has about a 50/
chance at success but still feels that, on prin-
ciple, it is the right thing to do.
“I am speaking on (constituents) behalf –
I’ve had more than a few people stop me and
tell me that at least someone is trying to do
something about this,” Brown said.
“The people that are having the biggest
stake in the game are all the clerks,” Brown
added. “They should not have to be going
through this. We hold probably the cleanest
elections in the world but we have people like
Dar Leaf that want to keep things stirred up
for whatever reasons. It should not happen.”
However, when speaking with Ben Geiger,
the county board of commissioners chairman,
the likelihood that the county will foot the bill
is not good.
“We do not have a precedent of paying
local government FOIA bills and the county
board does not have an interest in starting
one,” said Geiger, who approves the board’s
agendas. “I understand the point SupervisorBrown is trying to make, but it’s not on the
county board’s agenda.”
In March, Noteboom submitted the request
to Hastings Township, asking for various data
from the 2020 election.
“Please provided the date and time stamps,
voter IDs and election that the information you
provided is from,” his request read, in part.
“This is a criminal investigation, so no informa-
tion shall be redacted from requested materials.”
The letter also requested a waiver of all
fees tied to the FOIA request “as the disclo-
sure of the requested information is for my
own personal use and knowledge and/or in the
public interest and will contribute significant-
ly to the awareness and/or understanding of
the information contained within the afore-
mentioned document(s) or files.
The letter gave the township 20 days to
respond to the FOIA. On April 18, the town-
ship, through its attorneys, Fahey Schultz
Burzych Rhodes PLC of Okemos, sent a letter
of denial to Noteboom.
“To the best of the Township’s knowledge,
information, and belief, under the information
provided by you or by any other description
reasonably known to the Township, the
requested ‘Electronic Poll Book’ data is not in
the possession of or retained by the town-
ship,” the letter said.
The letter further goes on to state that the
FOIA release releases to the disclosure of
certain public records, and that computer soft-
ware such as the electronic poll book is not
considered a public record.
Between April 5 and April 18, there were
eight communications involving the township
and attorneys William Fahey and Kendall
O’Connor from Fahey Schultz Burzych
Rhodes. The interactions totaled 6.3 hours, at
rates ranging from $190 to $225 per hour,
according to an invoice submitted by the law
firm to the township dated May 1. The total
bill came out to $1,309.
On May 17, the township initially sent the
bill to the Sheriff’s Office in the exact amount
that it was billed for the legal consultations.
Staff writer Greg Chandler contributed to
this reportIRVING, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Irving Township board conducts its business during Tuesday night’s monthly meeting. The meeting was filled with supporters
of township clerk Sharon Olson. (Photo by Jayson Bussa)Jim Brown is pictured at a Barry County
Board of Commissioner’s meeting earlier
this year. Brown, the supervisor of
Hastings Township, is seeking over
$1,300 from the Sheriff’s Office to cover
expenses incurred by what he deems a
frivolous FOIA request. (File photo)