MASON — Exactly 1,409 valid signatures on recall petitions likely will give voters the opportunity to boot Councilwoman Elaine Ferris from office in November.
No Data Centers in Mason recently submitted recall petitions against Ferris and Mayor Russell Whipple because they voted to create a now repealed M-3 technology innovation district that would have established rules for data centers in the city.
Because of an issue with petition language, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum quashed a November recall effort for Whipple. Susan Elliott of No Data Centers in Mason said the group’s plan is now to get the mayor’s possible recall on the May ballot.
Regarding Ferris, “we’re happy with the results,” Elliott said.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum said in a July 14 release only 1,000 valid signatures are necessary for the Ferris recall effort to proceed, and her staff deemed more than 1,400 valid.
“It is my determination that the petition sponsor has collected sufficient valid signatures to proceed with the recall of Councilwoman Elaine Ferris,” Byrum said. “The review process was comprehensive, each signature was checked against the qualified voter file as required under law, and the determinations were independently verified by several members of my staff.”
Any challenges must be made by July 30, Byrum said, but if there are no challenges or at least 1,000 signatures remain valid, she would issue “a call of election.”
Terms for Whipple and Ferris now are slated to expire at the end of 2028. Whipple did not respond to requests for comment, but Ferris did by email.
“According to my oath of office for the four times I have been elected, the duty of a councimember is to consider what is best for the City of Mason,” Ferris said. “That includes over 6,300 voters, not just the people that show up in meetings with a mob mentality and very little respect for the process of government and the effort, training and research that goes with the job. It’s way more than ‘spending ten minutes on the internet’ before speaking.
“I personally voted on more than 150 resolutions, ordinances and other items over the prior year. To be put up for recall because I voted for one ordinance that was intended to preserve and protect the citizens of Mason is disheartening.”
She said that other states have had technology districts for decades and Mason staffers began researching for and supporting a proactive ordinance last year, when she said the White House promoted the need for artificial intelligence.
She also mentioned Michigan’s tax incentives for data center developers.
“I’m sorry some people are afraid of change,” Ferris said.
No Data Centers in Mason’s recall campaign grew out of a controversy involving a since-repealed ordinance to establish rules for data center locations as both officials and community members worried about a potential data center proposal.
Whipple and Ferris’ votes regarding the M-3 technology innovation district were mentioned in the recall petition language approved by the Ingham County Election Commission on March 25.
Several months of contentious meetings had led to the council’s 5-2 vote in February to create the new technology innovation district. Critics viewed that district as a welcome mat for data center developers, even though it established rules for noise, setbacks and other concerns.
Council members argued that under current zoning rules, a data center could locate in any M-2 area zoned for manufacturing, but with less stringent standards than the ones in the M-3 ordinance. The city had not yet designated an M-3 district.
The council in March voted to repeal the ordinance, choosing not to let it go before voters. They said the city and community instead could start working on alternatives and restrictions for data centers.
Between the approval and repeal of the M-3 ordinance, a Bloomfield Hills attorney Alan Greene, of Dykema Gossett PLLC notified city officials that his client, who has not been publicly identified, was “evaluating sites for a potential hyperscale data center development within or near the City of Mason.”
The data center developer is promising an investment of more than $1 billion and a cash infusion that would more than double Mason’s present-day tax stream if the hyperscale project goes up in neighboring Vevay Township, City Manager Deborah Stuart told council members June 1.
Township trustees unanimously rejected the idea of entering discussions to explore a Public Act 425 agreement involving a conditional land use transfer for the potential site — about 400 acres at West Columbia and College roads — at a June 10 meeting, and Mason officials are expecting the property owner will file an annexation request with the state.
Susan Vela contributed to this report. Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ingham County clerk lets recall effort against Mason councilwoman advance
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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By Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
