UPDATE, 8/1/22: Marquette City Commissioner Jenn Hill responded to an item in Rep. Cambensy's letter. Her statement can be found at the bottom of the page.
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MARQUETTE, MI— 109th District Representative Sara Cambensy has sent a letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel regarding the sale of the old Marquette General Hospital site.
It says several of her constituents have expressed concern over what appears to be a conflict of interest, including the possible misuse of state and local public funds involving acquisition of the site by former NMU Board of Trustees member Bob Mahaney with the assistance of the NMU Foundation. Mahaney is President of the Veridea Group—the only developer to bid on the project.
Cambensy wants to know if the Foundation is considered a public body, and if so, subject to the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act. She wants the Attorney General to indicate what documents could be released regarding the sale of the property and project plans.
Cambensy also questions the role of the Foundation’s involvement in the project, and she wants appraisal and tax information about a sale that fell through between Veridea and Lifepoint in 2019 to be made public. The Marquette Democrat is looking for reassurances that the deal didn’t try to devalue the property by selling it to the NMU Foundation for $1.
The full letter is here:
Marquette City Commissioner Jenn Hill, who is running as a Democrat for the 109th District seat, released the following in response to a portion of Rep. Cambensy's letter to Michigan AG Dana Nessel:
STATEMENT: Jenn Hill on Rep. Cambensy’s Dirty Political Games and Misuse of Taxpayer Dollars
Hill: “Voters of the Central UP Deserve More than Political Attacks”
MARQUETTE, MI – Today (Friday, 7/29/22), Jenn Hill, candidate for Michigan House District 109 and Marquette City Commissioner, released the following statement regarding Rep. Cambensy’s recent letter to Attorney General Nessel. In the letter, Cambensy erroneously alleges ‘conflict of interest’ around a campaign contribution, in a desperate attempt to boost Hill’s opponent whom Cambensy endorsed, less than a week before election day.
I am deeply disappointed by Rep. Cambensy’s false accusations against me and one of my supporters in a letter to Attorney General Nessel. One of the donors to the campaign is named Mahaney. However, this person is not married to the CEO of Veridea, Robert Mahaney. Rep. Cambensy could have learned this herself by simply comparing the address on the campaign finance filing to the address for Robert Mahaney's wife's and seeing that they do not match. This error needs to be corrected.
Our current State Representative showed us how little work she is willing to put in before lobbing false information to help a political ally via a letter of complaint on official letterhead to the Attorney General. This misuse of taxpayer dollars cannot stand, and the people deserve better. If elected, I will spend my time addressing real problems impacting families' daily lives: the need for affordable housing, reproductive rights, worker protections, access to child care and lowering costs of utilities and prescription drugs.
People want more from their elected officials than attacks. As I knock on doors in all four counties of the 109th district, I am hearing again and again that people are so tired of the fighting and the sharp partisan divide. We need leaders who bring people together to find solutions for the tough problems we have. I wiIl work to ensure that no one is left behind.
Jenn Hill for State Representative
