While the five men and women gathered in the shadow of the historic Cass County courthouse Wednesday morning have different backgrounds, careers and interests, they share two important things in common.

They’re all residents of Ontwa Township, and they all believe that the public’s voice had been ignored in the township board’s controversial decision to build a multimillion-dollar sewage treatment facility in their community.

That morning, the group officially added their names to the Nov. 4 ballot, where they will run against the five incumbents on the board up for recall in the general election. The five will run as independents for the following positions:

• John Bossler, supervisor (opposing John Brielmaier)

• Teri McNaughton, clerk (opposing Paula Ralph)

• Danelle Searfoss, treasurer (opposing Meryl Christensen)

• Leon Gilliam and Mike Mroczek, trustees (opposing Nathan Brousseau and Norman Krupp)

The recall comes as the result of petition circulated throughout the township, which was created by citizens group Save Our Resources and Environment (SORE) in May in protest of the board’s decision to construct an $8 million wastewater treatment plant near Garver Lake. The petition called for five of the seven existing board members to be placed on the ballot for recall; Trustees Jerry Marchetti and Jerry Duck were not named in the document.

The five candidates running against the incumbents said they have been attending township meetings since February, when the board initially approved the project. They have voiced their opposition to the building of such a plant, claiming that many questionable choices were made without any prior input from residents.

“It was all a deception of the public,” Mroczek said. “They also deceived the [county] commissioners, telling them project had already been properly vetted.”

Both the township and county have placed moratoriums in recent months on any further progress. Bossler is one of the members of the seven-person wastewater board that was formed in June to evaluate whether or not the township should build the new plant.

Based off his prior experience managing sewage plants during his career with Siemens, the Edwardsburg resident said that the treatment of the township’s sewage would be better off remaining in the hands of Elkhart, rather than building a new facility.

“I think it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.

If they win the recall in November, the candidates said their first priority would be to permanently suspend all work on the project, Bossler said. In addition, they said they would want to repair the resident’s trust in their local government, which they claim has been shattered by the fighting seen in recent months.

“It’s all about change,” Mroczek said. “People want to see change, they want an alterative. We can provide them with that.”

The five incumbent members of the Ontwa Township Board did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.