Mount Pleasant residents confront village board about Foxconn

MOUNT PLEASANT (CBS 58) - Mount Pleasant residents confronted board members at Monday night’s meeting.

They are worried about the Foxconn deal and want to make sure board members are listening.

Most of the concern centers around a meeting in March where residents say they weren’t allowed to talk about Foxconn during public comments.

They were allowed on Monday but the incident added to their worry about Foxconn.

“We come here to hold you accountable, to ask questions and try to get answers,” said one resident who spoke during public comments.

Kelly Gallaher represents a group of concern residents who objected to being told they couldn’t talk about Foxconn during a recent public comments session at a meeting. “Of course the agenda related to the relocation plan for Foxconn development and the residents were homeowners that wanted to speak about that plan,” she said.

At the center of their worry is they village deciding to use eminent domain if homeowners won’t sell to make way for Foxconn.

“There are a large group of residents in which these negotiations are very important, they are being asked to sell their property,” Gallaher said.

The board isn’t allowed to address public comments that are about something already on the agenda, but residents want the village to know they are paying attention.

“We come here to ensure our voices are heard so you can’t say no one objected,” said a resident.

“We feel that the ability to have that opportunity to talk to their public officials is even more important,” said Gallaher.

Near the end of the meeting, a board member did bring up changing the rules so that there is more interaction during the public comments section, and hopefully that will lead to more questions being answered.