Van Buren Twp. recall petitions OK'd over data center plan, but appeal planned

Ire over a planned data center project in Van Buren Township has bubbled over into a recall effort against nine key elected officials there, including the township's supervisor and the entire Board of Trustees.

Wayne County's election commission on Tuesday approved language for petitions to recall Van Buren Township's supervisor, clerk, treasurer and Trustees Bryon Kelley, Kevin Martin, Donald Boynton Jr. and William Frazier.

"We can not let yet another negative industrial attribute come to our small town. The people deserve health and peace," Jenn Smith, the recall petitioner, said in a Facebook message to The Detroit News. "The development agreement with Google shows an inability to think creatively against knowledgeable developers for the sake of the residents, and we can not allow this Township Board to make the same mistakes again."

Smith spoke at the planning commission's June 10 meeting to announce she had started a recall effort against the board members.




https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2026/06/24/recall-petitions-van-buren-twp-officials-data-center-appeal/90662992007/