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(Editor’s Note: Mark Nadolski, president of Protect the Peninsula, writes that PTP is simple activism, not a “shadow government,” as some members of the Old Mission Peninsula community believe. Read on for his thoughts. -jb)
Recently, some members of our community have accused Protect The Peninsula (PTP) of acting as a “shadow government” and impeding community progress.
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This comes up because PTP took the role of informing residents of the winery lawsuit, and stepped up to the Herculean task of intervening in the lawsuit to avoid the devastating financial and other harms that a loss in the suit could bring.
Shadow government? Hardly!
The world and cultures have always evolved, and activists have been responsible motivators of that evolution. In our country, from the American revolution, to abolition of slavery, the women’s vote, civil rights and the environmental movement, citizen activists have historically played a critical role.
Here in Peninsula Township, it has been a similar story. In the 1980’s a Chicago-based development company bought up farmland and planned a 1000-acre mix of commercial malls, residential housing and a golf course. It took years of dedicated citizen activism to avert that.
Then, in the 1990’s, citizen activists supported and pushed forward our nationally-recognized farmland preservation program, Purchase of Development Rights (PDR). Soon after that, citizen activism brought us the beloved Pelizzari Park and the Bowers Harbor Park expansion.
As it happens, board members of Protect The Peninsula drove those efforts forward, or in the case of the Bowers Harbor expansion, played key supporting roles. Does that constitute a “shadow government”? No, rather it shows how some hard working citizens, by informing the citizenry, can make a positive difference in a community.
It is simple activism, not “shadow government.”
-Mark Nadolski, President, Protect The Peninsula
(Read all Peninsula Township Election 2024 News, Opinions and Candidate Questionnaires here. Read all winery lawsuit news and opinions here. -jb)
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Mark claims that PTP is merely a hard working group of citizens who inform the citizens. On 10/21/21 PTP filed in U.S. District Court a motion to intervene. In those court documents the following statements/wording can be found:
“PTP is the self-proclaimed “watchdog” of the peninsula and it asserts that IT HELPED DRAFT THE ZONING ORDINANCES IN THIS ISSUE”.
“even though PTP PARTICIPATED IN THE DRAFTING OF THE ORDINANCES AT ISSUE, the Sixth Circuit Court held that “an organization INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS of leading to the adoption of a challenged law”
Simple activism… it appears not.
Mark indicated that PTP intervened in the lawsuit to avoid devastating financial harm. Although I cannot quickly refer to the exact court documents, my recollection was that the PTP had no financial stake in the lawsuit as monetary damages would solely be on the township. Thus, PTP could not challenge any monetary damages which Mark claims they are so actively defending. PTP also could not use expert witnesses to challenge WOMP’s figures because it is irrelevant to them.
Willy’s shadow government idea is ridiculous. He is perverting his power to try his own obnoxious overthrow of our elected government. Trump won the electoral college 312 to 226 and the popular vote as well.The Dems had 4 years and now it’s our turn to restore law, order, and sanity.