A neighbor-run page for Baldwin Township
We share the same roads, the same lake, the same township hall, and the same light bill, whatever yard signs we put up in October. Baldwin Neighbor keeps track of the meetings, the people who represent us, and the questions worth asking each other.
Why “Common Ground”
Baldwin Neighbor is the name on the door. Common Ground is the idea inside it. This page leads with what neighbors share and saves the arguing for after we know each other.
Fair bills, decent roads, good schools, honest local government. Most of us agree on more than the national news suggests, and agreement is a fine place to start.
Baldwin Township is literal common ground: Monument Road, Tawas Lake, the bay shore, the back roads we all drive. We were neighbors before we were voters.
The township hall, the fire protection, the schools, the ballot box. These belong to everybody here, and everybody here gets a say in them.
Baldwin Neighbor wears the broad hat. It is for everyone who lives here, full stop. If a meeting is happening, a bill is changing, or a road is getting paved, it belongs on this page whether you vote red, blue, or not at all.
The person running it is a Democrat, and that is not a secret. You will find Iosco County Democratic Party meetings listed here alongside township business, clearly labeled. The bet behind this page is simple: meet people where they are, talk about the things we all pay for, and let trust do the persuading.
No national outrage feed. No dunking on neighbors. Just Baldwin Township, covered like it matters, because to the roughly 1,600 of us who live here, it does.
Coming Up
Almost every decision that touches daily life here gets made in a room with empty chairs. Here is where the chairs are.
The township board’s regular monthly meeting, at Baldwin Township Hall, 1119 Monument Rd in Tawas City. The public is welcome: sit in, listen, and speak during public comment. This is where township business actually gets decided.
The regular monthly membership meeting, third Tuesday of the month. Meetings are usually at headquarters, 224 Newman St in East Tawas, with a Zoom option. Confirm the location with the chair or HQ before you head out.
The township board meets at Baldwin Township Hall, 1119 Monument Rd. Agendas and minutes are posted at baldwintownship.org, and the hall answers at 989-362-3742 (Tue to Thu, 9 AM to 4 PM). One visit will teach you more about how this township runs than a year of national news.
Read · The Latest Piece
Short explainers on the votes and bills that show up in your mailbox and on your bills, written for neighbors first.
Explainer · Ballot Proposal 26-2 · Nov 2026
Before the people who set your electric rate could ask Lansing for anything, they were some of the biggest campaign donors in the state. Proposal 2 ended that arrangement.
Every month, your electric and gas bill arrives set by rates that a state body, the Michigan Public Service Commission, approves. The companies involved, chiefly DTE and Consumers Energy, are regulated monopolies: you cannot switch to a competitor if you do not like the price.
For years, those same companies also wrote campaign checks to the lawmakers and officials whose decisions shape their business. Nothing about that required a smoke-filled room. It was legal, disclosed, and routine, which is exactly what Proposal 2 set out to change.
The proposal, put on the ballot by citizen petition under the name Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, bans regulated electric and gas utilities from making campaign contributions, directly or indirectly, to candidates and officeholders who affect them. It applies the same ban to companies holding more than $250,000 a year in government contracts, and to people and groups with substantial ties to either.
It also closes a disclosure gap: spending on political ads that clearly identify a candidate now follows campaign finance disclosure rules even when the ad carefully avoids saying “vote for” or “vote against.” Utilities that break the new law face fines of up to ten times the contribution.
You do not need a party label to have a stake in this. If the referee is being paid by one of the teams, the score stops meaning much, whether the call goes your way or not. Whatever you think the right electric rate is, it should be argued in the open, not sweetened by campaign money.
Proposal 2 passed on Nov 3, and because it is a statute rather than a constitutional amendment, a simple majority was all it took. The arguing over rates will continue, as it should. It will just happen with one less thumb on the scale.
Signed, a neighbor in Baldwin Township
Your Representatives
If you vote in Baldwin Township, Precinct 1, these are your districts. Phone numbers are listed for the township and county offices, where a call gets you a person. State and federal offices are listed by district, and the voter center link below confirms your own record.
Township Hall, 1119 Monument Rd · Open Tue to Thu, 9 AM to 4 PM
Your commissioner is District 4. The township spans Districts 3 and 4, so check your voter card if you live near the line.
Both incumbents were reelected on Nov 3, 2026.
Federal offices that cover Baldwin Township.
Not sure who to call? Start with the township hall. If it is a county, state, or federal matter, they will point you to the right office, and the township and county numbers above will get you started either way.
The Neighbor Questionnaire
This started as a doorstep questionnaire: a few honest questions, no gotchas, no party test. Answer what you like. When you finish, copy your answers and bring them to a meeting, share them with a neighbor, or keep them for the next time someone asks what people here actually care about.
Plug In
In a township of about 1,600 people, showing up is not a drop in the bucket. It is a noticeable percentage of the bucket. Ranked from easiest first step to biggest commitment:
The baseline, and honestly a favorite role. Confirm your registration at the Michigan Voter Information Center, and know your precinct: Baldwin Township, Precinct 1.
Township board at the hall on Monument Road, or a county party meeting in East Tawas. Sit in the back. Leave whenever. You will still know more than most people by the end.
Placing signs, dropping literature, setting up chairs. No persuasion required, no script to memorize. This kind of help is always short-handed and always appreciated.
Take notes at a meeting and share them, or write a letter or a short piece from a Baldwin Township point of view. A red county has plenty of stories the rest of the state never hears.
Door-knocking and real conversations, when you are ready for them. Start with the questionnaire above: what matters to you, who represents you, how to reach them.