http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/BenzieHousing.mp3
Controversy over a migrant housing proposal in Benzie County got uglier Wednesday night.
A packed house showed up to hear village officials explain a decision to deny a permit for housing for migrant labor. The meeting had to be postponed because the required officials weren’t present. But on a table where people signed-in for the meeting someone put copies of a news article about beheadings in Mexico related to Mexican drug cartels.
The Elberta Village clerk says it was unfortunate and terrible and village officials are trying to find out who did it.
Fruit grower Loy Putney is suing the Village of Elberta. He says he’s been denied a permit based on racist attitudes. Last month, a council member referred to Putney’s plan to fix up an old building to house migrant workers as a “trash house.”
Putney’s attorney sent a copy of the article about drug cartels to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights where an investigation of the Elberta council already is underway.
