Protestors Fill Smolenski Park Against Foxconn, Republicans

MOUNT PLEASANT, WI — As President Donald Trump was joined by Wisconsin politicians Scott Walker, Paul Ryan and others, several hundred people gathered at Smolenski Park Thursday several miles away to stage a demonstration and march of their own.

The Gaia Coalition Network, made up of nearly 40 organizations, had several hundred people attend "Operation: Shake the Ground!" at Smolenski Park several miles away to voice their objections to a perceived misuse of public funds, to seizing the property rights of landowners and homeowners, to siphoning off water from Lake Michigan as well as posing other environmental threats, and to granting contracts to some of Walker's biggest donors.

"Luring Foxconn to Wisconsin is the biggest mistake of Scott Walker's tenure as governor. The factory has been promised a record-setting incentive package that will burden taxpayers for decades to come," organizers said in a prepared statement. "Funneling money to Foxconn takes away resources that should be going to fund our public schools and universities, to repair roads and bridges throughout the state, to fix the state's segregation and incarceration problems and to protect Wisconsin's natural areas."

The group then marched approximately half an hour to Mt. Pleasant Village Hall for a second rally featuring voices from all over the state concerned with the economic, political, social and environmental repercussions from the Foxconn deal and the Legislature that approved it.

Several local representatives and candidates for office turned out at the event, including State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff and State Sen. Chris Larson.

Of those seeking elected office this fall, Gina Walkington, State Assembly candidate, District 61, Joel Jacobsen State Assembly candidate, District 63, Kevin Booth State. Assembly candidate, District 52 and Aaron Comacho State Senate candidate, District 31 also were in attendance.

Democrats Matt Flynn and Mahlon Mitchell, who are both running for their party’s nomination for the governor's office were also in attendance.

“We can’t have weakness with these people,” Flynn said to the Daily Reporter on Thursday, referring to Foxconn. “We’re going to pollute lake Michigan, they have filled in wetlands, they didn’t have to file an environmental-impact statement and they are exempt from the court of appeals’ jurisdiction. I will go in and stop it.”

Homeowners Speak Out

Jim Mahoney, who lives in the area that Foxconn wants to build in, said that he and his wife recently completed building their dream home when the Village of Mount Pleasant enacted eminent domain over surrounding properties in order to make an Aug. 1 deadline to acquire the land needed for the plant.

"We built a brand new house and you would think that you would never ever have to move if you didn't want to," he said. "We built a nice house in the country, it was really lovely. I just want people to know that if they can take my brand-new house, they can take your house, and it's not right."

He and spouse Kim Mahoney said they are continuing to negotiate with the village in order to get the money they say they need in order to move.

"I'm just going to keep living there until I can rebuild a new house in a similar location, I don't know what else to do."

Patch Photos by Scott Anderson