TRAVERSE CITY -- Robert Carstens didn't get what he considers justice from state authorities, so he'll try to do so himself.
Carstens, an Acme Township planning commissioner, on Thursday filed a circuit court motion that seeks permission to sue Meijer, Inc., the Village at Grand Traverse LLC, and Dickinson Wright PLLC, the law firm that represented both in a would-be development in Acme.
"Something has to be done to shed some light on all of the perpetrators, to see that justice is enforced," Carstens said. "The job hasn't been done."
Meijer and the Village sued Carstens and other Acme public officials on three occasions over a zoning dispute. Meijer and its agents also funded and helped organize a citizens group that hounded township officials.
And Meijer also spent more than $100,000 to illegally influence two separate township elections, including a 2007 recall designed to remove the entire township board.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land said she struck a deal with Meijer regarding its campaign violations. Meijer was directed to pay $190,000 to settle a series of state campaign finance violations it committed between 2005-07.
Land said she also referred the case to state Attorney General Mike Cox for possible criminal investigation.
Cox promptly announced the agreement precluded him from pursuing criminal charges.
To sue Meijer, Carstens must first convince a Grand Traverse County Circuit Court judge to set aside a release -- a pledge not to sue -- that Carstens and other Acme officials agreed to in November, before Meijer's illegal behavior became public knowledge.
In a 25-page motion filed with the court, Carstens' attorney, Michael Dettmer, of Traverse City, argued that Meijer obtained the release through fraud.
"In procuring the subject release Meijer employed not only your garden variety of 'artifice' and 'wile,' but also every subspecies of 'wile:' trickery, deceit, cunning, strategem, trick, chicanery, dishonesty, plot, ruse, hoax, deception, scheming, dodge, artifice," Dettmer wrote.
In court documents Dettmer alleged Meijer officials, its attorney Timothy Stoepker of Dickinson Wright, and local residents lied in court depositions to hide Meijer's illegal involvement in the two elections.
A party to a lawsuit that intentionally withholds relevant information has committed fraud, according to court rules, Dettmer said.
Dettmer also alleged that Meijer officials knew they would be forced to turn over incriminating documents, based on subpoenas filed in a lawsuit against Meijer by township Treasurer William Boltres.
Meijer in November agreed to dismiss lawsuits against seven township officials, including Carstens, in return for a release from future lawsuits.
"Within 30 days of dropping the lawsuits against the Acme officials, it became obvious that Meijer, Dickinson Wright and the Village at Grand Traverse were involved in illegal, secret activities meant to intimidate, harass and remove these officials from office," Dettmer said in a written statement.
If Carstens' motion to set aside the release succeeds, it will open Meijer to lawsuits from the remaining six township officials, Dettmer said.
Meijer attorney James Brady could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Carstens said money isn't the focus of his potential lawsuit.
"The thing that induced me ... is to ensure that lawsuits and intimidation like this are not continually used by big money interests to get what they want," Carstens said.
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