Published: February 06, 2008 11:00 pm      

Meijer: State laws probably violated

Retailer says rules may have been broken in '05 election, too

TRAVERSE CITY -- Meijer, Inc. isn't off the hook for alleged campaign financing crimes in Grand Traverse County.

The Grand Rapids-based retailer's bombshell admission Tuesday that it likely broke state laws by secretly financing Acme Township election campaigns in 2005 and 2007 both heartened and created concern among some local officials.

They worry that Meijer's statewide political and financial clout may prompt the Michigan Secretary of State's office to take control of the case and halt local authorities' probe.

Not so, said county Prosecutor Alan Schneider, who last month asked the Michigan State Police to investigate Meijer's behind-the-scenes role in a failed 2007 recall election that targeted Acme Township's Board of Trustees.

"The short answer is no. That's all I'm going to say," Schneider said. "Not from my point of view."

Schneider said he wasn't aware until Tuesday that Meijer may also have broken state campaign laws in a 2005 election over a proposed big box moratorium in Acme.

"This is news to me, and it's too early for me to say what we might or might not do on this admission of impropriety in 2005," he said. "Right now we're focused on the (2007 election investigation)."

An attorney hired by Meijer to review its secret campaign financing activities in Acme reported his findings to the Secretary of State on Monday. The attorney, John Pirich, of Lansing, said Meijer committed "likely campaign finance violations."

Acme officials last month asked for a criminal probe, and township attorney Chris Bzdok objected to the notion that the Secretary of State's office might decide Meijer's fate.

"There is clear and convincing evidence that felonies have been committed ... that needs to be investigated and prosecuted by an independent arm of the law," Bzdok said.

Meijer's political action committee contributed about $130,000 to state politicians between October 2006 and October 2007, and gave Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land $6,800 in contributions since 2002, state records show.

Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's office, said Meijer's letter has been forwarded to the department's legal and regulatory services bureau for review. She downplayed concerns that its investigation would be impacted by Meijer's political connections and monetary contributions to Land.

"This is being reviewed by dedicated public servants that have worked for three different administrations, both Republican and Democrat," Chesney said. "I think it will be given a fair review."

County should control probe

Rich Robinson, executive director of the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said if Meijer amends its campaign finance reports, the documents should be filed with the Grand Traverse County Clerk, not with the Department of State.

"No complaint has been filed, I don't know what basis there would be for the department of state to get involved in this," Robinson said. "Now the whole issue is to make way for the prosecutor and state police to do their investigation. They have to look at bank records and determine who all touched (the money) on its way into the campaign."

Denny Rohn, a member of the Concerned Citizens of Acme Township, said she wasn't surprised to learn of Meijer's involvement in the 2005 zoning election on the township's proposed moratorium on big box developments.

"We always were suspicious," Rohn said. "Nothing was ever reported, and they would be continually using the same people for their campaigning ... the whole campaign was 'vote no on the moratorium, we need a Meijer'."

CCAT supported the big box zoning moratorium that eventually was overturned by seven votes in August 2005, and backed the township board in the 2007 recall election. It also sued twice to block proposed Meijer stores along M-72 in separate development projects.

Rohn also said a criminal probe into campaign finance violations needs to be completed before she's ready to put the issue to rest.

"I think it's important to go all the way with this to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said. "This is a national issue, it's going on all over the place and Acme got nailed this time."

'Likely violations'

Pirich's letter to the Secretary of State's office read, in part:

"(W)e discovered that certain expenditures that should have been made by the Meijer PAC were in fact made by Meijer, Inc. directly," wrote Pirich, an attorney with Lansing firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn. "We also found that necessary reporting of expenditures did not occur.

"Our review showed what we believe are likely campaign finance violations that occurred in connection with both the Acme Township August 2, 2005 Moratorium Election and the February 27, 2007 Recall Election," Pirich wrote.

Corporations are forbidden from contributing to political campaigns in Michigan, and evidence of the Grand Rapids-based retail giant's alleged illegal manipulation of the 2007 recall emerged from depositions and subpoenas in a lawsuit Acme Treasurer William Boltres filed against the retailer.

In an unsigned statement, Meijer on Tuesday said it "accepts full responsibility and we apologize for the violation of trust these actions caused."

Record-Eagle articles on Dec. 23 detailed Meijer's use of corporate funds, activities that could constitute a crime. Meijer suddenly settled its suit with Boltres two days before those articles were to be published. Boltres sued Meijer after the retailer targeted him and other members of the township board in individual lawsuits.

Meijer spent at least $30,000 on a failed attempt last February to recall Acme Township's board over a zoning dispute.

Grand Rapids-based public relations firm Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc. was paid to craft recall language, devise election strategy, write campaign literature, and use local residents as figureheads in the recall.

'Very disappointing'

Former Acme Supervisor Bill Kurtz resigned last summer, citing in part stress of the ongoing battle with Meijer over its development plans. On Tuesday he said he was surprised the retailer acknowledged its involvement in the August 2005 big box moratorium.

"It certainly would appear that without their involvement, the moratorium certainly may have passed," Kurtz said. "It's very disappointing they were also involved with that effort."

Kurtz said he still wants to know when and how top Meijer officials learned of the company's political activity in Acme Township, and said "at the very least" it should reimburse the township for the cost of the special recall election last year.

"I think the goal here is to make sure as much as possible that Meijer never ever again files lawsuits against government or appointed officials ... this is not the way to pursue development in attempting to get their own way," he said.

Meijer spokeswoman Stacie Behler said Tuesday the company won't disclose any other information concerning its internal review of the situation until the Secretary of State's office completes its review.

"When the state's review is over, we may be able to discuss this further," Behler said.

The 2005 moratorium election wasn't about Meijer, township Clerk Dorothy Dunville said, despite what the company seemed to think. She added that she isn't surprised to hear Meijer might have funded its defeat, knowing what she knows now.

"It was nothing against them at all, and they took it that way," Dunville said. "It really hits you hard when they try to make your life miserable for just trying to do your job."

Robinson, of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said the Meijer probe could serve as a test case for campaign fiance laws in the state.

"Now the only good that can come of this is deterrence and unless this case is taken seriously there won't be any deterrence," Robinson said. "I want to see this thing investigated and prosecuted with all due vigor."

Record-Eagle staff writers Lindsay VanHulle and Art Bukowski contributed to this report.