KENTWOOD, Mich. — While phone calls are going out at the PROACTIVE office, four days before the primary election, Kathi Harris still wants a call back.
Since 2020, the executive director of PROACTIVE, a Grand Rapids-based voter education group, has tried to meet in-person with Kentwood City Clerk Dan Kasunic.
She says— apart from a few online interactions— it's been "crickets."
"It's always been difficult with Kentwood," Harris said. "I just don't understand why."
When she founded PROACTIVE in 2004, Harris met with the Grand Rapids City Clerk at the time, establishing a working relationship with their office. In 2020, she expanded her voter "registration, education, and mobilization" efforts to Wyoming and Kentwood.
"I always stress how important it is to have a relationship with the city clerks," said Harris, wanting to be "transparent" about PROACTIVE's work in various neighborhoods.
Despite connecting with Clerk Kasunic in a group Zoom meeting and exchanging emails with him, Harris says he never made time to meet in-person. She made multiple requests and recently visited his office at Kentwood City Hall.
"He wasn't there," Harris said. "Why are they hiding?"
In a statement to FOX 17, Clerk Kasunic mentioned the Zoom meeting and emails, saying in part:
"I run the elections in accordance with Michigan election law and as you know there have been many changes to the process this year including early voting, giving voters many options and opportunities to vote.
"We appreciate the efforts of nonpartisan groups to help educate our residents on voter registration and voting options. We are committed to engaging all eligible voters in the election process. We provide information via our website, social media pages, and other resident communications to ensure community members have up to date elections information."
In an interview with FOX 17, Harris reacted to Kasunic's statement: "That same information he sent to you, he could have sent to me."
Reaching out to the Kentwood mayor for assistance as well, Harris says she still wants to work with Kasunic and the clerk's office.
"If they want to communicate, call us, let us know, send me an email, say something," Harris said. "We're going to do the work."
For more information on the primary election in the city of Kentwood, click here.
