County Commissioner Seeks Erosion Help While In Washington

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coastalerosion-5

Berrien County Commissioner Ezra Scott is back home after spending some time in Washington, D.C. last week talking with federal officials about shoreline erosion. Scott introduced the county board resolution asking the governor and state Legislature to declare a state of emergency regarding Great Lakes coastal erosion. He tells WSJM News while in the nation’s capital he talked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Congressman Fred Upton, representatives of Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, and the liaison office of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Scott wasn’t exactly impressed with that last meeting.

“Everybody that was in the meeting, after we came out of the meeting, had the same comments that it appeared to all of us, to the five of us, that the governor’s office had no idea what we were talking about, about the shoreline erosion, and that was a little concerning.”

Governor Whitmer’s office sent a statement to MLive last week regarding a call from state lawmakers for an emergency declaration. It says the Michigan State Police and its emergency response team “will reach out to all county emergency managers in the areas represented by the lawmakers’ request.” Meanwhile, Scott says he handed off a flash drive full of pictures and articles about shoreline erosion to a Trump campaign official while in Washington. He says the campaign official told him the president would see the materials. Scott adds the campaign invited him to a rally in Battle Creek on December 18.