Published: January 28, 2008 11:00 pm      

More fallout in Acme-Meijer dispute

Amendment foes didn't file finance reports on time

TRAVERSE CITY -- Rules that govern state campaign financing continue to trip up opponents of Acme Township's Board of Trustees.

The latest incident involves a proposed zoning ordinance amendment that appeared on the Jan. 15 ballot in Acme. Opponents defeated the measure by a 31-vote count, but their leaders failed to abide by state finance reporting laws, echoing a February 2007 recall campaign that turned out to be improperly funded by Meijer, Inc.

One of those leaders, Whitewater Township resident Gene Veliquette, purchased a full page ad in the Elk Rapids News that ran Jan. 10 and urged township residents to "vote no" on Acme's zoning Amendment 138.

State law requires Veliquette to report independent expenditures over $100 to the county clerk within 10 days. Cost of a full page ad in the Elk Rapids News is $504.

"I thought the reports didn't have to be filed until February," Veliquette said. "So shoot me."

Failure to file violations are to be referred to the Secretary of State for conciliation and are punishable by up to a $1,000 civil fine and reimbursement of the money expended, said Grand Traverse County Assistant Prosecutor Bob Cooney.

Filing late carries no penalty, said Grand Traverse County Clerk Linda Coburn.

Opponents of Amendment 138 also delivered fliers to residents and made phone calls under the pseudonym Acme Farmers for Property Rights.

There is no such organization listed as a ballot committee with the county clerk or the state.

Coburn said a ballot committee must file a statement of organization if it spends $500 and file a campaign finance report if it spends over $1,000.

The address listed on the flier for the Acme Farmers group is the home of Tyler Veliquette, son of Gene Veliquette.

Tyler Veliquette said he didn't know how much the group spent or how much it collected. He said finances were handled by Margie Goss, wife of developer Jim Goss, an investor in the Village at Grand Traverse, a would-be sprawling Acme-based project that's engulfed in numerous lawsuits.

Goss did not return messages left at her home.

Coburn also reviewed an unsigned letter mailed to Acme residents that encouraged voters to sign petitions to put Amendment 138 on the ballot.

The letter included copies of letters to newspapers authored by township board opponent Ron Reinhold and Gene Veliquette that criticized the ordinance. That letter also should have been declared as campaign literature, Coburn said.

Gene Veliquette was out of town last week but said he'd be home Tuesday to make necessary filings. He declined to answer why he and other Amendment 138 opponents failed to identify themselves as sources of the mailings.

Paul Brink, a supporter of the township board, said the unsigned letters caused concern among township residents.

"What people want to know is who paid for his ad and whether Meijer had anything to do with it," Brink said. "One would assume (Veliquette) paid for it himself, but of course you don't know for sure unless there is a filing."

Documents obtained through a lawsuit show Reinhold, and Margie and Jim Goss worked with Meijer, Inc. officials and Grand Rapids-based public relations firm Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc. on a failed attempt to recall the township board over a zoning dispute.

Seyferth billed Meijer more than $30,000 to secretly manage the recall campaign, craft recall language, devise election strategy, write campaign literature and use local residents as figureheads, according to the records.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Al Schneider launched a criminal probe into Meijer's involvement.

The Seyferth invoices included two billings for editing drafts of the "Veliquette letter."

Just before the 2007 recall, Gene Veliquette mailed a letter to Acme residents that harshly criticized the township board.

Gene Veliquette doesn't live in Acme, but said its residents are his neighbors because his family's business owns property there.

The business also sells a "significant portion" of its farm produce to Meijer, according to one of the Veliquette letter drafts.