TRAVERSE CITY -- Erick Takayama and Frank Zarafonitis believe they were "bashed pretty good" by Meijer Inc. officials during a failed February recall attempt.
Now the Acme Township trustees want to know a lot more about Meijer's role in the recall and whether the Grand Rapids-based retailer violated state law that bars corporations from contributing to political campaigns.
"I hope we have the option to pursue this," Zarafonitis said. "(Meijer representatives) were pretty vocal, pretty nasty at meetings."
Documents produced through a lawsuit show Grand Rapids public relations firm Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc. billed Meijer more than $30,000 to secretly manage the recall attempt of the township board over ongoing zoning disputes.
State law prohibits corporations from contributing to political campaigns; it's a felony violation with a maximum fine of $10,000.
Takayama wants a complete investigation of all involved, from Meijer's local supporters to the retailer's attorneys and public relations firm.
"The people reading this on the outside might think I'm angry ... but being sued by a multimillion dollar corporation for doing the job people elected you to do is hurtful and painful and creates a lot of stress," Takayama said. "There's been a lot of damage done and it's not something you can sweep under a rug."
Meijer individually sued Zarafonitis, Takayama, former Supervisor Bill Kurtz and Treasurer Bill Boltres. The retailer alleged township officials had a conflict of interest in deciding a land-use permit for a proposed Meijer store on M-72.
Boltres then sued Meijer, claiming harassment and malicious prosecution. A mediation panel recommended Meijer pay Boltres $3 million to settle the suit. Meijer rejected it, but decided to settle after the Record-Eagle obtained documents from the lawsuit that detailed the unreported involvement of Meijer officials, attorneys from the firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, and Seyferth in the recall campaign.
Seyferth crafted recall language, devised election strategy, wrote campaign literature and used local residents as figureheads, according to the records. The contributions weren't reported to the state.
"Thank God for Bill Boltres. Without him we wouldn't know any of this," Zarafonitis said.
Township trustees expect to discuss their next step when they meet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8.
Takayama said he will push for investigations by the county prosecutor, Michigan attorney general and the state bar association.
"If there was a shoe on the other foot, (Meijer) would show no mercy," he said.
Rich Robinson, executive director of the campaign watchdog group the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said he's working on a formal complaint to file with the Secretary of State if local residents don't do so.
A formal complaint could prompt the Secretary of State's office to attempt to reach a conciliation, said Kelly Chesney, the department's spokeswoman. Their policy is to refer such matters to the state attorney general for criminal prosecution if conciliation fails.
Robinson contends the situation demands a criminal investigation.
"This is just too serious to be conciliated away," Robinson said. "I do believe this was an active criminal campaign and attempted coup d'etat. I don't know how much more serious you can get unless you try to take over the state Legislature."
Meijer officials declined to talk to the Record-Eagle, but in a prepared release said the company hired John Pirich, a partner with the law firm of Honigman Miller, to conduct a review of Meijer's alleged corporate involvement in Acme Township.
Meijer said it would comply with any state campaign finance reporting requirements, if needed.
"I think there is a chess game going on; they are bringing in Pirich to try and portray this as a matter of omission," Robinson said. "In my opinion, this was an active commission of illegal campaigning."
Meijer co-chairman Hank Meijer and President Mark Murray told the Grand Rapids Press they were not aware of Meijer's involvement in the recall.
But Hank Meijer signed a letter critical of the township board that ran as a paid advertisement in the Record-Eagle just two days before the election. Meanwhile, several of the Acme board's supporters said they sent letters to Murray and members of the Meijer corporate board and encouraged them to get personally involved in reviewing the unfolding recall campaign.
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