January 13, 2008 10:18 am Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider last week did what he absolutely had to do to preserve his own and his department's professional credibility. After being urged to action by Acme officials, Schneider asked the Michigan State Police to investigate whether Meijer, Inc. used corporate funds to influence a failed Acme Township recall election last February. He also made a declaration that, given the pathetic state of politics in Michigan and Meijer's considerable clout, was mandatory: "The investigation will take its own course," he promised. "Wherever the case leads, the investigator will follow those facts." We can only hope that Schneider, and the MSP, are as good as their word. There is much at stake here, and an aggressive investigation into what people knew and when they knew it -- and who called the shots -- is absolutely necessary to regain the public trust. A cover up will not be tolerated. As clearly outlined in depositions related to a lawsuit brought by Acme Treasurer William Boltres against Meijer, the recall was nothing less than an effort to unseat the entire Acme board because of its differences with Meijer over plans to build a superstore. There is deep-rooted Meijer arrogance here, of course. But there is also great contempt for our most essential values -- the right of the people to choose who governs and the laws that make that system work. We're used to manipulations of all sorts at the highest levels of politics. And everyone knows local politics can get as nasty and personal as any blood feud. But according to documents in the Boltres case, this was different. Meijer allegedly hired a public relations firm to essentially create a recall out of whole cloth. Documents show the public relations firm Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc. billed Meijer more than $30,000 to write recall language, create election strategy and a Web site and even ghost-write letters and op-ed pieces that some Acme residents signed and sent to the Record-Eagle as their own. Meijer's alleged contributions are a potential felony violation of state campaign finance laws. This was nothing less than a banana republic-style coup d'etat without the rifles, berets and cigars. But so far, Schneider seems to be the only person in an enforcement role who thinks it matters. Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, whose office monitors state election law and possible violations, didn't pretend she cared. Through a talking head Land said no one has filed any claims of campaign finance violations, and her office has no intention of launching its own probe. "The department is going to work with Meijer and wait to see what they provide to us," her spokesman said. ("Yes, Mr. Meijer, no, Mr. Meijer. I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Meijer.") For the record, Land was clerk in Kent County -- Meijer's home base -- for eight years. Attorney General Mike Cox, as he has done before, has apparently come down with situational deafness. Cox has his own ties to Meijer, in the form of a $5,000 contribution to a Cox political action committee last year. Meijer has told Land it is conducting its own internal investigation and will make results of that probe public. Meijer co-chairman Hank Meijer told the Grand Rapids Press (he won't talk to the Record-Eagle) that "top officials would not have condoned election-law violations" and speculated that a lack of "internal controls" led to the coup attempt. This is the same Hank Meijer, however, who signed a letter that appeared two days before the recall blaming Acme officials for "obstructions" related to the proposed store. In December, he claimed the firm's top officials knew nothing of the recall plot. Spin, spin, spin. Schneider deserves praise for launching an investigation. But he must realize that the public isn't going to accept a "no harm, no foul" outcome. Many facts are already on the record and people are angry. They're angry that a corporation decided it would choose who runs Acme Township. They're angry that a firm many of them trusted so betrayed that trust. Schneider's job, and that of the MSP, will be to honestly and openly follow the trail to wherever, and whomever, it leads.
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