Kankakee Times

Kerri Rolniak, 51, has been living in Manteno for the past 19 years.

She is one of the many community members who will be meeting with an attorney on Monday, Oct. 9 in a community meeting aimed at preventing the Community Chinese Party-aligned Gotion lithium-ion battery plant from opening in Manteno.

“There is a meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. at Steam Hollow,” Rolniak told the Kankakee Times.

“We hired a lawyer and they're going to do a Zoom meeting with the lawyer so that the people of Manteno and the surrounding towns because this is going to affect everybody. So that way they can see what's going on, they can listen to lawyers and know which way they can go, because the lawyers can go in different directions with this.”

“This way it's notifying the people and I really like this group because I feel like they want everybody, anybody [who] wants to be involved can be involved. There's always something for somebody to do and get the word out.”

Rolniak said she has been disappointed by the way Manteno Mayor Tim Nugent and the Village Board have acted in regards to the proposed plant.

“They won't answer any of our questions at all. There's been hush-hush about it. I've been to two village board meetings now. I spoke with the first one, the second one, I didn't speak actively. I spoke at the press conference, so I figured I'd let other people speak, but nothing. They sit there – the mayor's on the phone during the board meeting. He's texting or something, which is horrible. He's not even listening. We the people, they're supposed to be looking out for us,” she said.

Local residents have come together to hire Minneapolis-based attorney Robby Dube to represent them against the Village of Manteno and Gotion.

Rolniak and others will gather on Monday, Oct. 9 at Steam Hollow Brewing 450 S. Spruce Street Unit C in Manteno to discuss a lawsuit brought by residents to stop the plant. 

“This is just down the street from the purposed Gotion Plant which will be about 4 times the size of the present K-Mart site. Our Eckland & Blando attorney will be speaking by phone,” Outrage of Kankakee County said on Facebook.

The movement has notably spurred local candidates to run for office.

Manteno resident Ryan McHeffey, who moved to the town with his family, is running for trustee and spearheading efforts to remove current officeholders in opposition to the proposed lithium ion car battery plant with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

McHeffey and other residents are rallying against the plant, citing concerns about economic incentives, national security, and a lack of transparency in local government, calling for bipartisan action to address the situation.

Bobb Switzer, who is challenging State Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) in the 79th District also discussed his opposition to the plant.