Special Board meeting

we working? There we go. Okay, it is 12 o'clock and I will call to order a special board meeting for Plainfield Charter Township for August 14th, 2026. Our first order of business is a little bit of a house cleaning thing. Our clerk is on vacation up in the Upper Peninsula, so he's not able to attend today. So the first thing we need to do is appoint a clerk pro tem. I would nominate Sue Morrill for that. Anybody else have any other nomination? Okay, hearing none, support please. Support. Okay, and I will do the roll call vote just to make that go. Frank? Yes. Kathy? Yes. Myself? Yes. Bob? Okay, thank you. All right, we are here today to consider action regarding a board member's statements. The first thing I'm going to do is ask Bob if you'd like to make a statement. Thank you, Tom. Yes.

That meme that was going around with my name pasted on it was not of my creation. I've got calls from a few of my people that said it was photoshopped and yeah, I wouldn't put anything mean like that up there. So that's basically it. Okay.

As most of you may or may not know, I'm sorry, as some of you may or may not know, neither this body nor the township has the authority to remove from office an elected official. That authority belongs to the voters in our community. I fully support any effort made by those voters to exercise their authority to recall Mr. Reminga. The only mechanism at our disposal is to censure Mr. Reminga. Thank you. Can I just ask that we not do that kind of thing, just soon get to the business of the day and move on?

So, upon posting the notice for the special meeting yesterday, I personally called Mr. Reminga to inform him of the meeting and told him my opinion he should resign immediately. As of this time, Mr. Reminga has not submitted his resignation. Once again, I will call on him to do so. The horrific post flies in the face of our mission statement and our guiding principles. The post has had a detrimental impact on this body, the employees of this township, the residents of this township, and even beyond that. With that being said, I make a motion to censor and call for Mr. Reminga's resignation from the township board.

Recommendation.

Support, please. Support. Thank you. Kathy, roll call vote, Susan. I should read it in. Oh, wait. Time out. Sorry. Before we do the vote on that, I'm going to have Cameron read the resolution that our township attorney has prepared for this. Thank you. Thanks, Cameron.

At a special meeting of the Plainfield Charter Township Board, Kent County, Michigan, held in the Township Hall on on August 14, 2026, the following resolution was offered for adoption by town board member Coleman and was seconded by town board member Beatty. A resolution to center township trustee Robert Reminga and to call for his resignation from the township board. Recitals. Mr. Reminga has been a township trustee for Plainfield Charter Township since November 20, 2024. The township has received an increasing number of complaints from concerned township residents regarding Mr. Reminga's abhorrent statements posted publicly on the social media website, Facebook. The remainder of the township board find these statements reprehensible and unequivocally condemned Mr. Reminga's behavior and actions. The township board has notified Mr. Reminga of the complaints the township has received and explained to him that the township board will not tolerate such behavior. The sole purpose of the township board is to serve the entire community. Accordingly, it is critical that the expected and expected that members of the township's governing body treat all individuals with integrity, dignity, and respect. The township board finds that Mr. Reminga's statements and behavior have failed to meet this expectation. The township board has determined that based on Mr. Reminga's statements and behavior, Mr. Reminga has brought the township board

and the township government into disrepute and that it is incumbent on the township board to express its displeasure with his statement. The township board has also denied Mr. Reminga and behavior with the means available to it. The township board believes that it is in the best interest of Plainfield Charter Township, as well as its residents, for the township board to censure Mr. Reminga and require that Mr., I'm sorry, and request that Mr. Reminga resign from his board position immediately. Under Michigan law, the township board is not authorized to remove from office, an elected official, or any other official from the township board. Accordingly, if Mr. Reminga does not resign promptly, the township board leaves it to the electors to take those steps available to them to remove Mr. Reminga from office. Resolution. It is hereby resolved as follows. For the reasons specified above, the township board hereby censures township board trustee Robert Reminga. The township board hereby provides formal notice that the actions of Mr. Reminga, as described by Mr. Reminga, is not in the best interest of Plainfield Charter Township Board. The actions described in this resolution are not a condoned by the township board and do not represent behaviors that reflect the values of Plainfield Charter Township or the township board. The township board formally requests that Mr. Reminga resign his township office in writing immediately. If Mr. Reminga does not formally resign as specified above,

the township board hereby approves prohibiting Mr. Reminga from serving on any committees of the board or the township until his term has expires.

ended. Thank you, Cameron. Before we do the roll call vote, Bob, do you have any comments you'd like to make about the resolution? No, not at all. No comment. Okay. Roll call vote, please, Susan.

Mrs. Beatty? Yes. Mr. Coleman? Yes. Mrs. Morrow, yes. Mr. Fath? Yes. Mr. Reminger? No.

Okay. Would anybody on the board like to make a comment at this time?

Yeah, I would. All right. Just gave you the opportunity, but go ahead.

First of all, that whole thing, that whole unfortunate disaster was not in my making, okay? Number two, I'm not going to resign. If the will of the people, you want me to, you want me,

then vote me out. Then vote me out. Please, please, please, folks, just let him,

let him do his thing. Vote me out if that's what you want to do, but I have gotten overwhelming support from people that have called me.

I had a sheriff's deputy at my house this morning because I had a death threat, which I thought was kind of cool. I guess I've never had one of those before, so I showed my wife, who is visibly shaken by it, so I kind of contacted Kent County Sheriff's Office, and I had a deputy out, and I feel, and they got the phone number, they got everything, so whoever it is is probably going to be prosecuted for that.

Here's the thing about, here's the thing about posts. Let me tell you something. One of the things that, I don't know if you've ever read our Constitution, but everyone has First Amendment rights to say whatever they want. Everybody.

Folks, folks, Bob, Bob, Bob, excuse me. Folks, can, can we please not engage, just let's let him say his piece, and maybe we can move on.

That's all I have. No, I won't resign. If you want, want me out of here, you're going to have to vote me out, because I've gotten phone call after phone call after phone call from people telling me, don't quit, don't give up, we support you. I said, well, all right, then I won't. So the yeas have been greater than the nays. Okay. What, darling? No, I didn't do it. So I don't know what else, I don't know what else to tell you. So that's where I'm at. I guess you have the exercise, your franchise to vote, and if you vote me out, you vote me out. That's all I can say.

Okay.

Are you, are you, I'm done. You're done? Okay.

Before, before I move on, Clerk McKellar did send in a statement. From somewhere in the UP. I'm just going to read that to you. Fellow board members and Plainfield Township residents. I fully support First Amendment right to freedom of speech and everyone's right to express personal opinions and beliefs. However, I am concerned when those views reflect on others and undermine the integrity and professionalism of the group. Mr. Remminger's recent and past social media posts are highly offensive and show a lack of professionalism. And integrity. Personally, I believe Mr. Remminger's social media posts are unacceptable and should be removed. He should also clarify that his beliefs and opinions are his own and do not represent the views of any board member. The Township Board only has one option when it comes to dealing with the behavior of Mr. Remminger. And that is to censure him. I would completely support my fellow board members if they choose to send censorship of Mr. Remminger. I also have a statement from Jack Hagedorn who had a medical appointment that he could not cancel. So he is not here. He wrote the following. I regret, I regret that I cannot be present at this special meeting, but I want my position regarding the recent posts by Robert Remminger to be clearly stated.

I strongly condemn the sentiment expressed in his post. It does not represent the values. I believe our Township government should stand for and I hope this board, will reaffirm its commitment to respectful, lawful, and responsible conduct by all its members. We owe that commitment to every resident of our community.

Okay. So,

I asked, no, no board member comments.

Okay, go ahead Kathy. Just a brief one. With all the words that have been said, I would say absolutely in agreement of that. I also know that sometimes there are distractions from us doing the business of the Township that need to be addressed. So I would hope that those who are distracting from the quality of this Township would remove themselves, that they would make that option to step aside because it is not for the best interest of our Township. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Kathy. Anyone else? Go ahead Sue.

I do not want anything to be redundant. So I have in my hand the resignation letter and there it is. You just have to sign and date it.

Okay. Thank you, Sue. Frank? I don't have anything to add. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Okay. So, we will move on to the public comments portion of this. And I'm going to go through the rules for public comments. And I hope before I go through those rules, you all understand that we have taken whatever actions available to us today.

And I hope, as I said earlier, you all take the next action. So, rules for public comments. Comments will be limited to three minutes. I'll apologize right up front. We have a little technical difficulty here. We do have a time clock here on the screen. I'll try to give you a heads up as your three minutes goes. No individual may speak more than once. Public comments are not allowed. They are not a question and answer period. Please be respectful of others. No abusive, obscene, or irrelevant comments will be allowed. So, pretty simple rules. Here's the next part. If you wish to make a comment, please remain seated. And I raise your hand. I'll call on people as I can, one at a time. Look at them hands. And when you go up to the podium, I'm going to go make, is the microphone's on? All right. Please state your name and address for our record, if you will. I'm going to try to make sense out of this. How about if I do, like, we'll just go row by row. How about we start right there? Front and center.

Good afternoon. My name is Sarah Ballou. My address is 3741 Windwood Drive, Northeast, Rockford, Michigan.

Bob, you are a coward, a liar, and you are full of hate. Standing here and claiming this was just a meme posted by someone else is an insult to the intelligence of every resident in this room. Your social media profile proves this is not an isolated incident. It is a consistent pattern of anti-Islamic bigotry. Everyone gathered here today clearly denounced your stance and your statements. To anyone calling you in private to offer their support, they are cowards. They whisper their support in the dark, because they would never dare to come out in public and voice their hate, bigotry, and racism as blatantly as you have. A true public servant protects their community. A coward hides behind excuses when they get caught inciting violence against their own neighbors. The board has asked for your resignation, and the community is demanding it. Do the only honorable thing left for you to do. Stop lying, face the reality of the harm you have caused, and resign immediately.

Thank you very much. Next.

My name is James A. Stover. I live at 5545 Chauncey Drive, Northeast Belmont. I am a 24-year veteran of the Naval Enlisted Reserves Association and Service. I spent 18 months in Vietnam. I do believe in First Amendment rights, but if things are stated and they are not true, then you should remove them, and make sure that they are not causing problems for the township, the residents, and the board. Mr. Reminga, I don't know your background, but I'm asking you to resign. I didn't go to Vietnam so you could be a bigot.

Thank you. Let's go to row two. Yes, ma'am. If you're on that side, you wait a minute. I got a lot of rows to go.

My name is Becky Palmer. I'm a Plainfield Township resident. I live at 3837 Windsor Ridge Drive. I'm a taxpayer. I'm on the leadership team of Indivisible Greater Grand Rapids and statewide Indivisible Michigan Corps team. And I am appalled and heartsick that Trustee Reminga posted a social media message that effectively placed a bounty on our Muslim friends and neighbors. This was not an edgy joke, a careless repost, or a political opinion about foreign policy. It was a wanted poster aimed at an entire faith community, and a public official attached his name to it. Trustee Reminga has a First Amendment right to speak without being prosecuted by the government. But the First Amendment does not entitle him to hold public office, exercise authority over his neighbors, or retain the confidence of the residents he was elected to serve. Every Muslim resident, business owner, applicant, and family who comes before Plainfield Township now does so, knowing that a trustee who publicly endorsed violence against people of their faith holds a vote over matters affecting their lives. There is no plausible way for those residents to receive or to believe they have received an impartial hearing. That is the injury. It is not a matter of hurt feelings.

It is the destruction of the presumption of impartiality, which is the foundation of a township board's legitimacy. This concern is especially urgent in a climate where Care Michigan reported 495 civil rights intakes in 2025, and a 25% increase over the prior year. You have stated, as board members, that you have limited leverage to address Trustee Reminga's conduct. That cannot be the end of the matter. I ask the board and the residents of Plainfield Township to take the following steps. Create and adopt a binding ethics code of conduct for Plainfield Township officials that addresses conduct like this. Call on Trustee Reminga to resign immediately from the Plainfield Township board within 14 days of this meeting. That would be August 27, 2026. We will pursue removal by the governor.

Under MCL 168.369, the governor may remove a township officer chosen by the electors when satisfied by evidence that the officer has engaged in official misconduct after written sworn charges are filed and the officer has an opportunity to be heard. We will also support and resource a recall effort under Michigan's recall provisions, including MCL 168.951, which provides that elective officers except judicial officers are subject to recall by the voters of the district in which they were elected. Thank you for your time. Let me be clear. If Muslims in our community are not safe, no one is safe.

Thank you. As I go down the road. Yes, ma'am.

My name is Teresa Lewis, 4351 Northgate, Northeast. I'm not surprised by Robert Reminga's posts. The posts that he make indicate that he is a white supremacist, a hate-filled man that professes loving Jesus as he torments and laughs at and sends out announcements about hunting season against those who do not look like him, pray like him, or love like him. I'm paraphrasing our next Michigan senator, Abdul El-Sayed. I am... concerned that Plainfield Township even voted you in. I'm ashamed of myself because I knew this. I commented on one of his posts many years ago. I am ashamed for shaking hands with you every week at church. I discovered this true nature through your social media posts, and I feel a responsibility to call out your behavior and to stand firm with others and make sure that this man is arrested for hate speech and behavior and removed from office. Hate has no home here.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Hello. My name is Sharon Hickox, 2705 Rockhill Drive, and I echo everything that has been said before me, but I also just want to add that, I am a firm believer in First Amendment rights. Yes, we do have a freedom of speech, but not when it crosses the line of hate. And the Michigan Hate Crime Act that has recently been updated, I believe that you have definitely more than once crossed that line. And it is supposed to be State of Michigan's definition of a hate crime as a crime committed that is motivated by prejudice, hate, or bias. And you have crossed that line several times, sir, and we are calling on you to resign immediately.

Thank you. So we're row three. Yes.

Hello. My name is Mary Barzak, and I'm a homeowner at 4880 Weber Court. I echo everything everyone has said, so I will not repeat it, but I do want to add this. This is the second time I've stood before this board about Trustee Remminga's public conduct. In February, I asked how this board holds members accountable for speech that undermines public trust, even when it's legally protected. I received and the public witnessed no action. Trustee Remminga made a public statement yesterday denying responsibility, but we all know here that we have many, many examples, including what I showed in February about your behavior over time. We understand that free speech protects them from removal from this board. It obviously does not protect them from accountability to his residents, and we will continue to proceed as stated previously. This includes our Muslim residents of this township, who we adore. I had an ask of you, and I am proud to say that you gave it before I asked it. Silence was the response last time. From what we saw, it was not today. I want to add one thing, though. Trustee Remminga was voted in by her neighbors, and I hope this moment is a reminder to all of us that local elections matter. We had good options. We need to pay careful attention to those options available to us during elections and make thoughtful decisions about who we elect to represent this community. Not always going straight ticket,

not always saying this gives me this many spots to fill in and there are this many people, so I will do it. I ask you all to pay attention next time. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

I came totally unprepared without a speech. I was curious. I wanted to see what was going on. I was very concerned what's happening here in my own township, in my own neighborhood. I am a neighbor. My name is Catherine Malkowitz. I live at 2469 Omega Northeast. I've driven past the signs for years and years that talk about Trump derangement, that talk about how wonderful he is. I've seen it all. Over years. I know someone in your family

that warned me about you a long time ago, Ms. Wing.

My real purpose, I want to move the focus just a little bit here. I think I have a couple minutes left. I want to give you, the township board of Plainfield Township, a standing ovation for the steps you have taken here that restored my faith in our government. Your censorship, your removing him from committees, asking for his resignation. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Yes, ma'am.

Helen Fizer, 6468 Living Good Street, Northeast Rockford, Michigan. Plainfield Township resident. Good afternoon, members of the board. Oddly enough, my talk is not on the subject. I am speaking today to record a formal objection to the conduct of this special meeting. Under the Michigan Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.265, a special meeting of a public body requires advance public notice posted at least 18 hours for an emergency session precisely stating the date, time, and place. This meeting was convened without providing the full statutory advance notice required by law to ensure meaningful public observation and participation. Calling a special meeting on short notice bypasses the transparency citizens are guaranteed under state law and undermines the public trust in board governance. Because the procedural notices requirements of the Open Meetings Act were not satisfied prior to this call to order, I object to the legality of the holding of this meeting today. I call upon the board to adjourn this session immediately without taking action. I request that any items

on today's agenda be re-noticed in strict compliance with state law for a future regular and properly noticed special meeting. Please ensure that this formal objection makes it and takes note of the notice of the defect are explicitly recorded in the official minutes of today's proceedings. Last night at 8 p.m., this morning at 7 a.m., you had residents all around this township hall. Those signs were not on this building anywhere. I would like to know, and I will be requesting in writing, when the signs were posted. The smartest thing for this board to do is to adjourn this meeting. There are many, many other township residents that wanted to be here pro and con of the conversation today. They had already left town, they already had appointments made, they already had other things going on, and you did not properly notice this public meeting. I also ask for fairness. When our group was here protesting the water contamination, when we did not silence the crowd, our crowd, when we kept applauding after you said don't do it, you threatened to clear, close down the meeting, and usher us out of the building. Think about it.

Okay. I think I'm in row four now. I can't tell you. Sometimes you're going back far enough that I don't know what row. I'm just going to go over here. Come on.

Tom, speaking of adjournment, my work day, because I really didn't know the whole breadth of the meeting, I have to leave. If you want to conduct the rest of this, let me know. You're welcome to go.

I'll give you one more opportunity to do the right thing.

Not a chance.

Sir, do you mind, at least before you leave, stating whether or not you believe in the same message that that post, regardless of whether or not you posted it, said?

In fact, do you not hate Muslims? Of course not. Of course not what?

That's not my message and that's not my belief.

Can you use your own words, please, to tell us what you believe?

What I believe is everybody's got a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. If you're here legally, God bless you. My people came here, couldn't even speak English. We're not talking about you right now.

Your people, the people who came from Europe came here with nothing.

They came here with nothing.

Bob, Bob, Bob. It's a suggestion. If you're going to leave, please leave.

Find out who did this to you. Who did this to you?

Get to the bottom of it.

Folks, folks, hey.

Wow. My own son.

The recall

will go on the ballot next November and it will be on the presidential election issue. The party will be talking to you. Your party.

They already have. I'm sorry. My favorite trash

takes itself out.

Okay. Well, how about... Thank you. Thank you for doing that.

Don't talk to me. Don't talk about it.

I am the moderator. Everybody else.

Okay.

No statement on my face.

Please, please, folks. I'm almost to the point where I'm just going to call a recess and we're going to ask you all to leave if we can't have appropriate behavior. Okay? Having said that, we're still willing to listen to your comments. If you think this is still the right time to make them. Again, I'll tell you that we have done as a board what we legally can do. The rest of this story lies in your hands. Okay?

Yeah. Okay? So, anybody else like to make a comment at this time? Okay, so we're going to keep going. Oh, you didn't... Where did you come from?

I walked in here right when he decided he needed to leave.

Okay, sorry about that. Go ahead, finish.

That's all right. This message is actually for everyone, so it's fine that he's not here. As trustees... Sorry, my name is Catherine Kelly. I live at 633 Cornelia Drive Northeast in Comstock Park, Michigan. As trustees, you are to, quote, serve the public with integrity and respect in a local government created for the sole purpose of serving our entire community. You ensured us that you would take care of our community. Your guiding principles state integrity as our cornerstone. Professionalism is our practice. Safety is our pledge. Respect will be shown to individual differences. But where is your integrity when you stand silent as a member of your board shows just how unprofessional and disrespectful they can be by threatening the safety of your own residents because of their individual differences? In this case, simply being of Muslim faith. To try and avoid accountability for members publicly stated racism should be tolerated and regarded without due consequence is deeply harmful to your community. You cannot stay silent until your community screams. You need to take action yourselves as well and be aware of what is happening within your board. This happened today because we found out and we talked. But it was posted for what? Over a week? Longer? We can do better. Thank you.

Okay, anyone else? Yes.

Thank you, everyone who stayed. Plainfield Township, I have never been prouder than when I was seeing all the cars turning in to the parking lot. Sorry, my name is Chandra Bowman. I pay property taxes and horrendous water bills at 4145 Willow Drive Northeast. I'm a little behind. Don't hold that against me. I'm scrambling. Bob says he didn't do it. Looking at his past social media, he didn't write on brand. No one is believing he didn't do it. I think it would be in the public's best interest to maybe hire a digital forensics specialist to find out what IP address and router that post came from, which probably would be just a few hundred bucks. I think we could probably pull it together ourselves if there's no discretionary funds there. I don't know what else I wanted to say. Oh, y'all did great. As much as you can do. I would ask, maybe print a little info flyer or tell us where to go to best go about a recall. I'm an atheist, pagan, former Catholic. Me standing up for someone else's freedom of religion is kind of messed up, but I love foreign food. I love different people. I grew up in a very diverse area of Flint, Michigan and maybe that I just grew up with tolerance. I don't know. I'm really proud to be part of this community

after seeing this response, after feeling very ashamed and very nimby, like not in my backyard because that's not who we are. Thank you to everybody. Thank you for you all doing what you can. If someone could just make a quick note of where to go and how many signatures and whatnot need to be collected because no one's buying the, like get out of here. All right, so thank you everybody.

Hi everyone, I'm Leslie Schoen. I'm actually one of Bob's neighbors. My address is 4888 Cedar Ridge. I live right around the corner, so sorry that Bob missed this, but I have had the rare pleasure of living near Bob for 30 years and this is part of a pattern of weird, divisive, and at times unsafe behavior in our neighborhood. Following the 2017 hate crime in Charlottesville, Virginia, Bob tended tiki torches in his front yard for nearly a month in solidarity of the senseless murder of one and injury of 35 others, only stopping when he literally lit his front yard on fire. Literally happened. There's footage. He's put spotlights and cameras up on his house, signs in his yard threatening any neighbors that dare to set foot on his property in the middle of our residential neighborhood. This is Rock Hill. Lots of kids, not great.

Having more than the maximum four allowed by the township and has maintained them in his yard well beyond the 60-day pre-election and 14-day post-election ordinances of our community. So you could address that. He has a long history of troubling behavior and to flatly deny it insults our intelligence and shows us what a coward he truly is. He does not represent our mission as Plainfield Township. My hope for Bob is that we ask him to leave. My hope is that we actually stand up, we work through the recall process because this has been going on for a really long time. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I assume you're raising your hand, yes? Okay.

Buenos tardes, amigos. Me llamo Joe Spalding. My pronouns, and this was for Bob, are he, him, and his. Decades ago, I used to rent videos to you all out of the Hollywood video on Northland Drive. Since then, I moved back to Holland and have appeared in a documentary about the petition that ended gerrymandering in Michigan. You can rent it if you can still find a video store.

I'm the strategist in there that gets his head shaved. Thanks to the board for your swift, decisive action that was taken today. And it does look like you are open to more considerations about other areas of enforcement or containment on the damage that Bob has caused, and I am very appreciative of that. I'm here because I think that the First Amendment is fascinating. It doesn't protect hate speech, but it does protect five things, including freedom of religion and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances that is expressed in Michigan's recall laws and statutes. I'm personally proud of being one of the best petition strategists in the state. And I'm proud of the 13 local elected officials I have helped unelect because they are bad people.

I'm also proud of the four executive administrators who serve or used to serve at the pleasure of boards across the state that I've helped get out of the house for the same reason. I'm here to tell us what the past forward looked like when we run through a recall and beyond, and I gave Bob a little glimpse of it when he walked out the door like a chicken shit coward. Sorry. The recall process in Michigan allows us to recall any public official who serves a four-year term after they've served the governor. The number of signatures we have to get will be set by the governor's race. It's going to be probably a high turnout race. I don't know for sure. The number of signatures is probably pretty high. That's okay. I spent the last seven months programming the best possible petition tracking software that also verifies automatically signature validity against the qualified voter file and we get to use that for free against Bob if he doesn't resign.

I'm not trying to sound like a geek and I do brag a lot. I'm just saying that Bob wins against some pretty crooked politicians. Bob is in for a world of hurt. If we recall him, we start that when the snow melts after January. When that goes through, we've got 60 days to get the ink on paper. We will get the ink on paper. When that ink gets submitted, he will get put on the November ballot for the next cycle. That's an odd year election. That will be news moving through the 2028 election and I am going to make it as painful as possible for the people of Plainfield Township that have boxed Bob in this psychotic silo where he thinks he can go around making violent threats against everybody. I'm sick of politicians being able to do this and I know the people of Plainfield Township are sick of this because dozens of people have already signed up for the petition. Please go to the Facebook group Recall Robert Reminga and sign up to help us. We're going to get this done next year.

Yes, sir.

I'm Robert Reminga and I have the pleasure of serving as state representative for half of Plainfield Township and though I'm not lucky enough to be a resident of Plainfield Township it is my honor to serve you all and I wanted to first, again, thank you for the actions you've taken today. I do want to commend, I've had the pleasure of getting to know several of you. You're all very thoughtful, dedicated public servants up on this dais currently though I unfortunately can't say the same about those who have left.

I have seen people in office say distasteful and harmful things and rude things on social media or to my face and ultimately that is their discretion but there is a line when that crosses into violence and that line has been crossed just to be perfectly honest. I have seen politicians, both Republicans and Democrats say things online that I cannot stand that are hurtful that are rude, that are distasteful but we draw the line when they incite violence especially at a time when political and religiously motivated violence are on the rise in this country and that is why I commend the actions that you have taken certainly wish that you consider to find other options as well to hold him accountable but ultimately know that the easiest way to get you all back to the business that you have to take care of is for Mr. Reminga to resign and so I am formally calling on the trustee to resign so that you all being the Plainfield Township Board can get back to the important business that you are handling every day because being a local elected official is hard enough so thank you for your service and thank you for having this meeting.

Thank you. I know there's people filtering in as people leave and I've been trying to kind of go around the room I haven't hit this side at all yet so I feel bad for my right hand side people so why don't yeah, go ahead

Hi there, my name is Sean Heising I'm a resident at 2871 Manitou Drive It's a shame that Bob isn't here because I had some wonderful talking points that I wanted to talk at him obviously since this isn't a response but it's a wonder to me that he could that someone that we've elected could sit up here and lie directly to our faces as if we are unintelligent it is obvious that we are an intelligent group of people and we should not sit here and take that from the politicians that sit here and lie the recall is obviously going to be what we need to do but I think it is also important that we need to make sure that we treat Bob the way he treats others do not give him necessarily treat him with kindness but not respect it is important that everyone deserves the amount of respect that they give everyone else and the golden rule is something that everyone should very much follow the golden rule is that treat others as you would want to be treated and if that is something that we can sit here and follow I think that would just make the world a better place so thank you

thank you, yes sir

my name is Dave Marshall I live at 4860 Rock Hill Court Plainfield Township I came here today after seeing the post on Facebook I must say I'm I don't know disappointed in some of you here kind of reminds me of lynch mobs back in the old days yeah let's go ahead go ahead you can speak your piece come on up here and talk you're assuming somebody's guilty without evidence show me the evidence not what's on Facebook who posted it you guys should do your diligence and research and find out for sure who you're hanging before you hang them it's very easy to do oh you know he posted that how do you know that I can post on your Facebook page

you want me to do that folks folks let him have his time and we can move on you people are a lynch mob it's a joke

trust me your 100 votes here is not going to get Bob re-elected or taken down you're one voted well trust me ladies there's a lot of votes out there that's how he got into office

he's sitting at the table sir sir sir you're out of order if you have something to say to us say it do not engage with the audience I see the way this works

they can come up here and say anything anybody that's standing up for Bob can't so with that being said

I asked you not to engage with the audience you can say whatever you want to say pretty simple

fine say what you have to say I've said what I had to say you folks when the truth comes out I expect a lot of apologies

yes sir

ok yes ma'am

my name is Karen Heising Inman I reside at 2871 Manitou Drive Northeast I would like to thank

folks I'm going to say it one more time we're getting awful close to me calling a recess and asking you all to leave ok that kind of behavior is just not going to be tolerated that gets us all nowhere

I would like to start with thanking all of you for being here today and everyone else that is here today in a rather short time period for dropping what I assume were previous plans to make it here to be in support of our community I would like to also add that I am embarrassed I am embarrassed that Plainfield Township is in the national news for this for this we have so many good things going on here and this behavior is shameful shameful shameful there is no home for hate here in Plainfield Township I applaud the previous person that spoke about regarding some ethics and having that be something that is introduced I think it is a very reasonable action that our trustees follow ethical pre-made list and that that is part of your duty I think that people here should be ethical I am sorry that his spouse was upset by death threats however the death threats were made to everyone in the Muslim community by that post again I applaud you

for taking the efforts that you have done today with your censure and removing him from any committees and boards it is now our turn as a people to go further that we can all stand together and do that and show the Muslim community and anyone else that looks different worships different behaves differently that that is not what Plainfield Township is made of thank you

okay thank you yes

Hi my name is Cody Angel 8040 Linden Avenue, New Ago, Michigan I want to be clear about why I am here today this should not come down to one screenshot or political disagreement I am posting this so-called Muslim hunting permit image and it suggested that the image was manipulated or his account or identity may have been misused if that is true then this should be taken seriously if someone compromised the account of an elected official or manufactured content under his name records should be preserved available account activity should be reviewed and the facts should be established but there is another part of this that cannot be ignored there are multiple older screenshots circulating now that appear to show posts or comments from the same Rob or Bob those include materials describing Islam and Sharia law as incompatible with the constitution and immigration as an invasion by enemy forces another image depicts a Muslim looking man holding a blade behind a crying child surrounded by American symbols another says liberalism is a mental illness and perhaps most concerning is that these screenshots appear to show comments about tribunals and executions people dropping through a trap door and hearing the snap followed by comments saying piano wire I'm not claiming every screenshot has been forensically authenticated that is exactly why this deserves review

if Bob's account was compromised establish it and if these posts really did from his account then he needs to own it explain what was meant explain whether those views still represent Islam and explain how residents who are Muslim immigrants, liberal, conservatives or simple people who disagree with you are supposed to have confidence that they are being represented fairly this is not about punishing someone for being conservative the issue is whether there is a platform of rhetoric that crosses from political disagreement into portraying groups of people as enemies, threats, or legitimate targets of violence this is a question about judgment and public trust

determine whether an account was truly compromised examine the broader history examine which posts are authentic and which are not if someone falsely attributed this material to Mr. Remeda he deserves to have his name cleared but if this is his record then the community deserves honesty about that too thank you

good afternoon Brian Walters 3810 Holtman Court here in Plainfield Township I first want to start by thanking you all for your service to this community I had the pleasure before I moved to Plainfield Township of being on the City Commission in East Grand Rapids so I appreciate how much time and energy and commitment it takes to be a public servant so thank you all for that I'm very thankful for the actions that you've taken today already and for the openness to consider other things that could be done to help rebuild our community restore us from the harm that has been caused by these hateful comments I would encourage the board to consider a couple of additional possibilities one is to explore what type of restoration efforts could be taken as a board and as a community with regards to this whether that involves inviting people from the Islamic Center or from that faith community to come speak to the board to speak to the community with regards to their faith with regards to these issues and also taking a look at our communications beyond what's happening here today in terms of making sure that Plainfield Township residents are fully aware and fully informed as to what's happening here and as to what the board and the community is doing in response

because as great as this response is here today and I'm so proud and thankful for everybody who came out here today there are also thousands and thousands of Plainfield Township residents that I'm sure have absolutely no idea about anything that's going on here today and while we all have individual responsibility and what have you I do think that the board has an obligation to elevate this conversation throughout the community to communicate transparently about this through newsletters, emails, websites you name it that this is not just a snapshot moment in time this is an opportunity for an important and clearly necessary community dialogue and I think you all can be leaders in that effort and I really encourage you to take this horrible moment and turn it into a positive for our community Thank you

Okay, thank you Yes ma'am

Hi, my name is Taylor I live at 3649 Balsam Avenue Northeast I'm not on social media right now but I did find out about this post last night through my mom I'm here today because this issue hits very personal for me I have a nine year old beautiful daughter who attends Northview Public Schools and she is Lebanese her father is Muslim her grandmother is Muslim her four year old cousins, five year old cousins twelve year old cousins are Muslim her friends are Muslim I am so thankful that my daughter is not on social media right now and when I read this post I cried for them I cried for her and I cried for everybody in our community who identifies as Muslim I am worried for her I have been since she was born and I'm so thankful for all of you who have showed up in support this is something that I have talked to her about because unfortunately it is something she will probably have to deal with it is something that her cousins already deal with it's something that her father deals with and so I wanted to say thank you for the action that has been taken but one thing I want to ask is that when we leave this room it doesn't stop here it is really easy when the momentum is going and everybody is excited to be pumped up I'm guilty of this

and then you leave the room and it just kind of falls flat so for her future and for the kids in this community and the families in this community I just really ask that when we leave this room we continue this fight and we continue this momentum and it doesn't stop here I just want to personally thank you all from the bottom of my heart I know this means a lot to my daughter if she were here right now she would be so thankful for all of you that are fighting for her sister for her cousins, for everybody in that community and I will personally continue to fight I'm young I'm unfortunately just getting into politics and I've been kind of naive unfortunately being my age which I'm really ashamed of but I can start now and I am going to start now and I'm thankful for all of your support and like I said I just ask that and we continue to do more we need to take a stand now because if we don't then things will continue to happen we need to prove a point today that this is not going to be allowed in our community and that this is not going to continue and this needs to be an example of this not ever happening again so thank you

Christy Kodos at 3430 Hogue I'm a third generation resident living here most of what I wanted to say was but listening to her that breaks my heart it makes me here to hear her speak her existence for her kids and how scared she is I applaud you for standing up and doing what you can do and we will fight back we will protect these kids and these families and our community members I just want to remind Bob because I'm sure she's going to watch this later hate speech is not free speech and it does not eliminate any consequences for his words and his actions I gave him six screenshots of his posts I will email them all to you as proof it goes very far back Thank you for everybody being here

Thank you Yes ma'am

Hi my name is Annie Dotson I live at 3792 Frazier and I've got my kids here with me today I've got Beau and Max and first of all I want to say thank you to you guys for the action you've taken today it's clear where you stand and that means a lot to all of us who are really horrified right now I also want to thank Rachel Crowther and Steven Wooden for being here today seeing leaders or intended leaders show up for us it means a lot I really appreciate it Obviously Bob was too cowardly to stay and listen to what we had to say but I'm still going to say it to him anyway My grandfather used to have a saying he would always tell us which was don't do anything you wouldn't want to see

until that moment for that exact type of conduct and I do think it's really rich for him today to appeal to everyone on his fear this morning presumed death threats that he received whether that's true or not I think we could call anything that he's saying into question at this point when you lie you may be lying about anything but it is very rich for him to say and appeal to the public for their concern or their care when he did not have any concern or care for the Muslim neighbors in this community or communities around our community bringing death threats to their door and I would say to anybody listening today it's hard being a parent right now it's hard to have the president elected leaders going and engaging in bullying conduct my kids see it on the news my kids see it on the news they if they had social media they would know these kinds of things were being said but they are here today and they know it and it contains gravitas and it's hard to have a president or an elected leader say things and it's shaping children and it's changing the way that we think we can treat each other and that's not something I ever want to see it's back to school time and we're having conversations with our kids it's changing sorry it's back to school time and we're having conversations with our kids about how they should treat friends how they should act if they see someone being bullied in their school and how they should upstand and I'm really really proud of all the upstanders here

for anyone who's here to support Bob I would ask you to really consider the message that he puts out on his Facebook and I really just want to cover the point that it happened we all know it's a lie if anyone here wants to exist in a fantasy land that he is contriving to try to get out of trouble and not have any accountability for the situation I think that's really shameful and I would really urge anyone to open your eyes and think realistically if that's the case but ultimately is this what you want to see my kids hear is this what you want to see your nieces and nephews or your grandkids hear from elected leaders is this conduct that you think that they should bring to their schools and how they should treat their friends this is unacceptable and we have to move beyond it and for the mom that was up here before me I just want to say I'm really really sorry I'm as shamed as everyone else is here today and I saw somebody say recently that ADHDers don't need therapy they just need a villain and they lock in and I just want you to know that I am locked in and if you want to say anything what did you want to say

bye bye

really

really sorry

ok thank you mom and boys

my name is Catherine I live in 558 lane northwest in Grand Rapids I am Grand Rapids ward one precinct 9 delegate and I do want to put emphasis on really how important local elections are and we we've understood that today and I really want to follow the when ADHDers lock in we lock in because I had no uh no idea I was going to run for anything until one day I woke up and it was the deadline to file so something upset me and now I'm here uh so but I am also a Christian minister and uh as an elected official and a fellow Christian um Bob needs to pay attention um every single human being bears inherent dignity um I'm very upset about this uh so for Christians that's foundational to our faith and human beings are made in the image of God and Jesus tells us to love our neighbors when he was basically asked who counts as a neighbor he told a story about where the neighbor is somebody from a different religious and cultural group that his audience had been taught to distrust he didn't teach us to decide which neighbors were the right ones to love and who were the wrong ones to love and who were the right ones to love and who were the wrong ones to love and who are the right ones to love and who

he taught us to become neighbors so our Muslim neighbors here in in Grand Rapids and in Dearborn and all throughout the state of Michigan should not have to wonder whether they're elected officials at any level see them as folks who they were elected to serve or as people whose existence makes them targets for jokes about being hunted um I grew up in a rural area uh right after 9-11 happened and I heard the words coming out of my neighbor's mouth And I know that as an elected official, the things you say have influence, and when you hear your politicians say certain things, sometimes some people take that as free agency. So it's not just hate speech. It's inciting violence, and that's disturbing. So I know that some of the responses in general to these words, and we hear it over and over. Somebody always points to the extremists or the 9-11 or pulls these out-of-context passages from the Quran to say that Muslims hate women or hate dogs or refuse to eat pork or they secretly want to take over and impose their whole religion on America. Somebody always takes nearly 2 billion individuals and makes them into the scariest example that they can find responsible for representing all of them. That's disturbing. We don't like when Christianity gets judged like that. I don't like when somebody points. I don't like when somebody points out Westboro Baptist and says that that's what Christianity is.

I don't like when somebody brings up a Christian terrorist that quoted scripture or a pedophile pastor and tells me that this is what Christians believe. I definitely wouldn't want somebody pulling an isolated verse from the Bible about slavery or women or warfare or execution or killing kids and telling me that because I identify as a Christian, that's what I secretly believe. And that passage would have been taken out of its historical. Theological context and had this huge diversity within Christianity ignored, as well as what most Christians do actually believe. You know, what we hear loud in the media is not what most of us believe, but most of us are not brave enough to say it. You know, we're scared to go against what our own community says.

And I hate to interrupt, but your three minutes is.

Sorry, that's OK. I had something to say to Robert, but that's the rest of it doesn't matter at this point because he's already gone. But thank you.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Hi, my name is Megan Kaiser. I live at 5644 Saddlehorn, just up the road. Walk by this building all the time, but I think it's the second time I've been in here, which is kind of nice. So I have some notes and I'm going to kind of change them as I'm as you know, the chicken is gone. But I have spent the last 16 years in information security as a career. And there's a phrase that we. Use from time to time and might have you might have heard it's the Internet is forever. There are websites that are literally way back machines and you can go. It's kind of fun. You can find stuff like the late 90s and go, wow, that's pretty awful. And my my husband also has a phrase that he likes to use, and it's play stupid games and win stupid prizes. And I think Bob has set him up for a stupid prize and that he's going to be recalled. He's going to be removed from this office and he doesn't deserve. To have the opportunity to execute responsibility over this community, because this is awesome. You guys, I just I love this community. I've raised my kids here. They're all old and jaded now, but I'm really glad that everyone came out. Someone else referenced it, but this is embarrassing to be in the news. I think it was you. I don't know for this reason, because we really are cool people and we we tend largely tend to get along and respect each other. But we're in a weird spot as a country, right?

The tone is set at the top for leadership. And what we're seeing on a national level is that certain individuals are not held accountable regardless of what their behavior is. And so we need to make a difference at this level where we can in our community. And I learned a lesson. Shame on me. I didn't do a lot of research when you all were running for your seats and I'm going to going forward. So it's really cool to see parents here and littles here. And being brought into the process at a young age and hopefully they'll be civic minded as they grow up is why I certainly with parents like this, I'm sure they will be. So I'm asking you guys as the board to continue to hold him to account and lead from the top and be very careful about the other folks that we bring into your fold. And that's on our responsibility to I'm going to look into these down ballot elections matter. If that hasn't happened. Because if this hasn't demonstrated that this certainly does so what I wanted to say to chicken little is you know he needs to stand up and be the man that he pretends to be behind the keyboard he needs to look at you and apologize he needs to look at us and apologize and if he watches this later Bob you need to stand in front of us and with your full chest resign from your position pack your shit and go.

Okay one more seated person and on this side.

I I am I carry Wilkinson people online know me as CJ and I just wanted to thank you guys and I received. Response emails from the superintendent and from trustee Coleman what yesterday afternoon evening and they really left me feeling very disheartened and that. Left me feeling like you guys weren't taking this. Seriously and I'm I just really thank you for being here for being willing to do the right thing. My family moved to playing field last year we're from Utah where it's in the national news all the time for our state board of education. But at a time where just weeks at a mall just weeks ago in in. Salt lake county. Where my kids and I would frequent there was a of muslim and stabbed several several times as a hate crime and when this rhetoric is allowed to continue particularly from leadership it puts.

Muslims in danger it puts all of our kids and all of our community in danger so I just thank you for doing the right thing I also don't want to ignore the comment that was made about. Um. Not posting. The meeting within a specific time frame and as I understand it there are. Situations like this when it comes to community safety that it is not. Within that sort of time frame that it doesn't have to be so I just didn't want to ignore that and and I just thank you guys for doing the right thing.

Okay thank you. I'm like. Cover the back wall yes ma'am.

You guys. Oh that's how sorry. I kind of have a loud voice to start with so I'll kind of step back a little bit. So my name is Tracy I live in Comstock Park I'm in on lantern drive. And I have a whole thing here and I'll probably read some of it but. I ended with three things I was asking for you guys to do and you have done that today so thank you very much. For doing that you've done what you could within your realms and we really do appreciate it. I wish we as a community come together over things that weren't about. Violent is like this but I'm I think we're working on that. Mr. Remington's post demands more than like a quiet apology or an attempt to dismiss it as humor or even for him just an outright denial that it exists. I don't think Mr. Remington realizes that there are people within his friend group that also do not care for what he posts and I was contacted by one of the. And she was able to find me the original post with his original posting on it and I didn't make copies of that if anyone is interested I do have a copy of that. The image he shared as we know is styled as a hunting permit. It identifies Muslims as a species to be hunting it says no bagging limit it says no tagging requirement. And if you can get past that part which is pretty gross. Down on the bottom there's some small print there that refers to.

Mosque destruction permit and instructs users to notify the fire department before the supposed destruction. And this meaning isn't subtle. The image dehumanizes Muslims depicts killing as a sport and endorses the destruction of their houses of worship. And calling it a joke does not change what the joke asks its audience to find funny. Which is murdered Muslims and destroyed masks. And this is anti-Muslim hate speech obviously but it's also elimination rhetoric. And whether it meets. The layer of narrow legal requirements for a prosecutable threat it's that's a separate question. The standard for holding public office is much smaller than that. And he has a trust to the public that he has violated. And it makes me wonder who else does Bob hate who else does Bob want to target. I happen to be an atheist and I on Bob's list I think I'm on Bob's list. And that's what's scary because now we we know one group. That's on Bob's list but we don't know the rest of who's on Bob's list so thank you guys again. I'll be passing around a petition for the recall I've already signed my name up to do so. If we all can get Bob out of here that'd be fantastic thank you guys I appreciate it.

My name is Claire Ewart and I'm actually a resident of Allegan County. I'm here to speak about a couple things I first of all I commend you for reacting. Quickly thank you I commend all of you for showing up and doing what responsible citizens do. Thank you I'm also of the same genetic descent as Bob and somehow I didn't grow up that way. I don't know how that is I mean my family came my mother's family came from Friesland too. And somehow we didn't evolve to become like this I don't get it. Since there are people like Bob functioning in our society. We need to do what we can to isolate them and their hateful rhetoric. And the last thing that I'd like to say is that coming from outside of Plainfield town charter township. I have a little bit of an outside perspective and I have to say that this was horrifying and hateful. It was disturbing to me it makes me sick for my Muslim friends and people I've known for many years and new friends as well.

And I think that the people of this township are probably well aware as are the trustees. That there can be an economic impact if this place is perceived as a hateful racist place. And I see this. There's ample evidence that there are many people who don't believe in that and don't want that. But coming from outside of this area I mean I'm in the area but I'm a little bit removed. I've seen it I've seen the growth of that kind of rhetoric and how it can spread very quickly and demonize and a full area and a whole group of good people. And so I just think we all need to be aware of where these things can go. And I think that we need to be aware of where these things can go. And one way to shut them down is by businesses applying pressure on people who are misrepresenting the views of the community. So you know just think about that. Thank you.

Thank you. For those of you who this is Jack Hagedorn who was absent earlier. Glad you're doing well. I did read your statement. If you would like to add to that you're fine otherwise I read it. Okay thank you. Yes sir.

Greetings everyone. My name is Ryan. I'm a resident of Cedar Springs. I'm a Navy veteran and a graduate of Northview. My parents still live in the township. Very proud of that. I wasn't going to speak today but then I saw that my mom showed up independently so now I have to make her proud.

Bob Sotts I wish he was still here. He had to run back to work. I'm actually technically still at work. Don't tell my boss. I wish he were here for this but hopefully he reviews it or hopefully everybody reminds him of it. He did ask for sympathy for the reported death threats made toward him. And I think we should provide it. I do. I think that's terrifying. To hear somebody threaten your safety. I think it's awful that statements would be made that made you feel less safe in your home or your community. And I wonder I wonder what Bob would have done this morning when he called the sheriff if the sheriff said oh they had a permit.

He probably wouldn't have cared for that. Right? But he doesn't see it as everybody. He sees it as him and as he said his people. That's not what this country is founded on. That's not what I went and fought for. And I'm glad to see participation today. I'm proud of this is always going to be where I'm from. And I'm proud that where I'm from has shown up. I'd ask that you keep this energy. I'm tired of all this too. I'm exhausted. But the only way out is through. So please keep that in mind. And thanks. And hi mom.

Hello. My first name's Shannon. I'm about to make statements that I'm trying to protect an individual that's a victim. My daughter was assaulted by Afghan Muslims youth in the county community where they picked her up and proceeded to talk and arrange about raping another Afghan Muslim female that they were picking up. On the way after they picked that young lady up they decided they were going to assault my daughter by knife point and throw her out of the car. This is a reported incident. She recorded them threatening her. The police law enforcement have it but Chris Spector and his selective application of prosecuting did not move it any further. And then following that my daughter got an eight month relationship with someone that's Honduras and he was beating the living shit out of her. Which is pending for trial right now. And I would really like to address the public safety of Americans by the narrative of allowing these types of people to establish on our soil. We have a right to defend and address these issues and not allow this to happen. There have been tons of sleeper cells that throughout Michigan regarding terrorist activity with Muslims. To not address the other hand of why Americans

are standing their ground and making such statements is just insane. That's where you get the retort of this looking like a lynch mob because you're not addressing any other fact and then people like my daughter that's an American is being constantly victimized because it's not being upheld the public safety for Americans. So as much as you guys want to you know I'm not here to debate whether he made this statement or true or post or whatever I think the board should have waited until the Kent County Sheriff's Department finished their investigation. I think this was very premature to do this and you should have just issued a press release. That way more people could have been afforded to come here on both sides. So that's kind of where I come from. You know where is the sympathy for those who are victims and being harmed because immigrating to America used to be a proud thing in that you're an outstanding person and now it's become all types of violent people and they don't even come in the correct way that they're supposed to. They're just coming here and seeping through the cracks. So as much as you're addressing this issue I afford you to address the public safety regarding Americans as a whole. Thank you.

Hello everybody. Thank you for hearing me out board. You able to hear me? Okay there we go. My name is Miguel Diaz. I'm a 13 year military intelligence NCO. I'm the co-chair of the Kent County Latino Caucus and you know I have experienced living in Muslim and Islamic culture as a soldier. One thing that they told us is that we end these wars with winning over the hearts and the minds of people. And so when we get into the rhetoric and the divisiveness of our inability to cohabitate this country together we get in this back and forth. This hate speech is not permissible. We need to speak to the humanity of people and we need to see people as people and not post things online that appeal to the darker sides of our human nature. Thank you.

Yes ma'am. And I think that ends I'm going to go around the room and see if there's anybody left but I've made my circle I think.

Hello. Thanks for letting me speak. I'm from Grand Rapids. My name is Alicia. I live on Kellogg Street in Grand Rapids. I'm here because I was shocked to see that post.

I couldn't even move after I read that post. And I surely if I were you would not want to be associated with somebody who wrote such a thing. I think it's if he is not removed it smears all of you and I think that's really sad.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I because I taught them that word and we created community in whatever classroom including my severely cognitively impaired students at Lincoln School who had never well who had recently not been treated like humans by the teacher before me the love in that room was palpable there's no reason on God's green earth why we can't love each other it's really easier than hating each other it really is you don't have to come up with anything except here we are we're all here and we're all family and that's the bottom line so I came here because hate like water doesn't stay where it's poured and I'm also really concerned about the environment right now

I'm a supporter of Abdul El-Sayed and I'm very concerned because from DC on down there is so much hatred being spread about Muslim folks and it's just wrong and I think maybe it behooves every community to have workshops and meetings and I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't lessons, instructions on what is, what is the religion called Islam. Some of the most beautiful people I know, that's their religion. Oh, and one last thing was, I looked up freedom of speech after I saw that post. Okay. And there's three conditions that cut off the point at which you can have freedom of speech. And one of them is inciting others to commit a crime. And if murder

is not a crime, what is? Okay. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to see if I can do a last second circle here. You've,

you've been patiently waiting. Go ahead. Good afternoon. My name is Brent Fields. I'm the law ranger in this community. I came here today to listen. I happen to sit next to his wife and that doesn't make me for or against. I'm against hate. I think lives matter. I don't think black lives, specific lives, lives just matter. Love is important. I'm here to fact find and gather, not to take a side. I wanted to understand what was going on. Also, the last two elections, I was on the ballot to represent you guys. I don't know if I will be again. Tom's doing a great job. So I don't know if I can compete with that, but I was running against Tom or with same purpose. So that being said, I don't know if I'm going to be on the ballot. I may. And I feel like, and I've been coming to meetings. I'm here today to continue to grow. So I understand everybody. So I can possibly represent everybody, everybody. And now somebody commented that I was sitting next to Lori. Ban his company,. Come on, I'm just here like everybody else. I don't hate anybody. I don't even hate the person that said that, and I understand they go to church too. I love God don't go every week. So I'm here as potentially your future representative to some degree,

whether it be a trustee or something else, but that's why I'm here. I know Bob. I don't really know his wife too well, but I do know Bob. Everybody knows who Bob is. If he's getting bob i apparently don't know bob real well because i don't support what that lady just gave me by any means so i want to make that very clear i happen to be sitting next to them i do know his son i knew his son before i knew bob and uh he's a great young man he also works in the community cutting grass so um thanks for listening to me but i'm said i'm here and a fact-finding mission to support against hate that's what i'm here for and i happen to sit as i walked the room with a few chairs left next to laurie reminga that wasn't a plan and i don't support or negate nothing i'm just here listening so lawn ranger and brent fields are here to gather information for current and the future thank you for listening okay anybody else on this side of the room

oh i'm sorry come on up uh dan hesse grand rapids uh spent a lot of time in plainfield township uh i just wanted to say um thank you for uh swiftly acting on this matter uh if it wasn't evident enough from everybody who's seen his prior posts uh to now um i just see this post as the tipping point and i think based on all of his past uh comments that he's made that that is action ENOUGH TO ME TO SUPPORT A RECALL PETITION OR JUST A GOOD REASON IN ITSELF, SO I WANTED TO MAKE THAT COMMENT JUST FROM ANYBODY WHO IS WAITING FOR MORE EVIDENCE TO COME OUT THAT JUST THE REPUTATION IT GIVES YOU AND IF THERE IS ANY QUESTION, YOU KNOW, HE SHOULD JUST RESIGN ANYWAY. THANK YOU.

OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. LAST CALL. OKAY. I SEE YOU. WELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD.

HI. I'M SHERLYN. WEST MICHIGANDER HERE. I WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE BOARD AND YOUR SWIFT CALLING OF A MEETING AND YOUR OPERATING IN THE BEST WAY YOU COULD WITH THE CENSORSHIP, REMOVING FROM COMMITTEES AND INQUIRING HIM TO RESIGN. AS WELL AS. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, SUSAN. AS A REALTOR, I WANTED TO SHOW WHO SELLS IN THIS COMMUNITY AND OTHERS AROUND MICHIGAN, WE HOLD OURSELVES TO A HIGHER STANDARD THAT ALL OF US ARE WELCOME AND APPRECIATED AND EVERYONE IS IN THE FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. AND WE JUST, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE HERE TODAY, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THIS ONE ISSUE. item in this one time in order for us to really make a difference is the action after this so go to your talk to your precinct delegate so it honestly doesn't matter a political affiliation either if you would like to make change in these non-partisan positions you can do so by organizing talking to your neighbors and supporting those who want to make it better thank you okay anybody on this

side of the room okay we're all set okay okay I got 500 hands and only one person that's good you're okay name and address at the microphone I don't know

if you just came in I'm sorry 6795 Peterson Valley Drive these these are my beautiful granddaughters from Saudi Arabia one was born here at Corwell Hospital almost 11 years ago I am so blessed to be the grandma and they're so blessed I I tell God in them I am so blessed that you are my granddaughters and that I am your grandmother I am the luckiest person blessed they were here last week and left last Thursday you think God they're not here to see what's going on or my daughter I just I can't believe this is going on we went to visit them in Saudi Arabia twice the people there are wonderful I had some an a woman helped me use the bathroom because I couldn't speak the language they don't hate us they're very curious about us they like us they want to know more about us and my granddaughter both of them when they came here they're worried about the color of their skin because they're too dark they think they're too dark it should be like this it I don't understand and how somebody can hate someone they don't even know.

They don't even know these people, and yet they hate them. When my granddaughters are here, we take them to church with us, and my ex-sut-in-law knows this. So they get something out of Christianity. They learn Christianity, and they can't have pork. Big deal. A lot of us shouldn't eat pork. It's not good for us. That's the only thing. The only thing. They don't cover up. They're as American as we are. And not only that, but my nephew married a gal from Morocco, and she's just a sweetheart, a sweetheart, her and her brother. So I have two great nephews, grandnephews, who are Muslim. I have two granddaughters. I just look at them, and I don't see anything, just love. And I was... I wish this guy, he could just get past a person's religion, culture, color, and just look at the person for who they are. It's just, it's sad. It's very, very sad that we live like this. And I will say something, but I blame Trump because he started all this crap. He started it. And everybody thinks now they can do the same thing because he can get away with it. And... This guy needs to step down. He just needs to step down.

And I want to be the first person that is on that sheet to recall him or get rid of him, whatever. I want to be on that list. Thank you.

Okay. I'll go one last time, and then... All right, I'm going to close the floor for public comments, and I'm just going to state again. We did what we could today. That's the only arrows in our quiver. We need you to do what comes next. That's all up to you. I also want to emphasize what I said earlier. This is just a tremendous embarrassment for everyone. Everyone. This is no reflection on this board. This is no reflection on the employees of this township, which you all should be grateful for the people who work at this township. We have some of the best in this state.

I want to thank the sheriff's office for stepping up and helping us out today on very short notice.

I want to thank our fire department, who managed the intake and overflow and all that fun stuff.

But I also want to thank all of you. I ask this at different times when we're trying to get people to be on committees and do things in this township. Get involved. That's what I did. I don't know how many years ago now time flies when you're having fun. I've lived in this town. I've lived in this township almost my entire life. I'm very proud. I'm a Northview graduate. Go Wildcats. We can't lose track of all of that. So many people said it. I'll say it. And then I'm going to adjourn the meeting. Let's be nice to each other.

We're adjourned.