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What is "Back the Blue?"
It's on City of Saginaw's ballot this year. It's an amendment to our charter.
"The proposed Back the Blue Public Safety Priority City Charter Amendment, if adopted, would honor, better protect, and provide victim compensation for Fire and Police Officers, Emergency Medical Technicians and other First Responders and their families."
Well, that doesn't sound too bad. Let's check the full text.
Source: Saginaw County Records
Not a whole lot of content here, all things considered. Honoring first responders is all well and good, as is "prioritizing" training and safety, and "prioritizing" life insurance benefits. "Emergency cash benefits" is not defined, nor is any funding mechanism. The "Victim Compensation" seems very legally broad and dubious. Also, first responders employed by the city generally have compensation and life insurance policies spelled out in their contracts.
So what's this about?
Who is "Back the Blue?"
"Back the Blue" is not supported by any police or firefighter unions or professional organizations. It's an independent, right-wing coalition funded by shady out-of-state organizations.
Let's take a look.
The first place to look for a shady local organization is the county records. Campaign committees (like a local ballot initiative) are required to file Statements of Organization, that are public records, with the County Clerk.
Source: Saginaw County Campaign Finance Lookup
The Statement of Organization identifies Cole Starke of 1632 Stanley St as the Treasurer, with that same address as the committee's mailing address.
Source: State of Michigan Corporations Division
In a State filing, Cole Starke owns a property firm based out of this same Stanley Street address, with the mailing address forwarding to a location in Saginaw Township, 48638.
More about Cole...
Source: Facebook
So, Cole just so happens to publicly identify as the current Deputy Campaign Manager at Paul Junge for Congress, a Republican candidate running in the Saginaw area. There he is at a recent Trump rally.
Now, let's look at the money.
Local ballot initiatives are required to file July Quarterly Statements with the county clerk, showing their money spent and it's sources. Here is that July statement from Back the Blue Saginaw.
Source: Saginaw County Campaign Finance Lookup
$40,000 for "petition services" from Georgia paid to an LLC in Saginaw.
Needless to say, that is very strange. Also good luck finding anything about "The Center for Voter Turnout" from Athens, Georgia. Or that "RRTT LLC."
Back the Blue is a national network of seemingly-grassroots local chapters...
Here's their Arizona website.
Source: Backtheblue.vote
And their Michigan website (Saginaw isn't there).
Source: Backthebluemi.com
...with a LOT of money.
$205,000 through Back the Blue- Sterling Heights to Arizona
Source: Macomb County Campaign Finance Lookup
$210,000 through Back the Blue- Grand Rapids to Arizona
Source: Kent County Campaign Finance Lookup
$200,000 through Back the Blue- Warren to Arizona
Source: Wayne County Campaign Finance Lookup
$200,000 through Back the Blue- Livonia to Arizona
Source: Macomb County Campaign Finance Lookup
Did you notice that all that money runs through a nonprofit in Saginaw?
Source: Michigan LARA Corporations Lookup
The Back the Blue Michigan 501c3- which isn't required to disclose donors- is allowed to spend unlimited funds on local ballot initiatives. That organization is run right here in Saginaw, through Gregory Schmid of Schmid Law, PLLC, at 1840 N Michigan Ave Ste 200.
But wait, there's more.
Source: Facebook
This Thursday, there's a "Back the Blue" fundraiser with an NFL guest at the Trillium (in the township, of course). It's being run by America First Works, ANOTHER right-wing dark money group.
Source: AmericaFirstWorks.com
America Works First is a well-funded evangelical group, hiring county-level organizing positions in Michigan for a "Project 19"
Source: AmericaFirstWorks.com/careers
Check out these Mother Jones article clips to learn more about that effort.
Source: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/evangelicals-have-a-plan-to-flip-19-key-counties/
Saginaw, something is clearly going on here. Share this information with your neighbors and friends so they can be an informed voter.
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