For more than 20 years, I have been a newspaper reporter talking to and writing about people in small and large communities. I also once was on the Caledonia Township Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Kathy Vichunas.

Caledonia is that lovely community wrapping the northern shoulders of Hubbard Lake. But its politics are brutal. The key conflict right now is the Aug. 4 primary. Kathy is running for township supervisor against incumbent Cyndi Apsey, who beat her soundly in the last election. Republican versus Republican. What shocked me at the Planning Commission was Kathy’s attitude. If people didn’t attend meetings, they didn’t deserve to know what was going on, she’d say. Kathy also wouldn’t let us talk to anyone about what we were doing — including our work on a cell phone tower and the township’s recreation plan update. Our job was to edit ordinances and update plans she presented to us. There was no imagining the future, no real planning; it was a haunting experience.

Lately, I’ve seen political bullying under the banner of Caledonia 2020, which supports Kathy’s run. One key target of their online campaign is public access to Holcomb Creek, a wetland at the end of the road Kathy lives on. They don’t want residents to visit this site and have resorted to physical intimidation. It’s been so bad that at the July 8 township meeting, the Alcona County undersheriff pleaded for calm.

If the choice is between Kathy and Cyndi, we need to elect Cyndi. Despite a polarized board, and a learning curve as a first timer, Cyndi’s gotten things done. We also need to elect four additional board members, who know how to work together.

BETSY LEHNDORFF,

Hubbard Lake