BY LARRY SOBCZAK
EDITOR
In the past few weeks Westview Orchards in Washington Township has received more regulatory complaints at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development than it has in the previous 200 years of business.
It’s not that something has gone wrong with at the certified Michigan Bicentennial Farm. The owners of the business believe it is the target of a complaint campaign.
“We’ve had at least six complaints that we know of in the past few weeks,” said Abby Jacobson who co-owns the business with her husband Bill Jacobson and sister Katrina Schumacher. “Someone from the Department of Agriculture visited the farm and we were found in compliance with everything.”
Jacobson, who has served two four-year terms as township trustee, said that the complaints began shortly after she announced her run for trustee for a third term.
Jacobson’s farm and orchard has a cider mill, winery and petting farm in addition to acres of pick-your-own orchards and crops as well as a roadside vegetable and fruit stand.
Since Westview is a primarily an agricultural facility, it is regulated by the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
“We take complaints very seriously,” said Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director of Communications Jennifer Holton. “We were out there three times and we weren’t able to verify any of the complaints.”
She said the Department of Agriculture will consider complaints against Westview as a nuisance or harassment against a farm owner and will not return at least for the short term.
“We’re not police officers,” Holton said. “We spend our time in education and compliance to agriculture laws. Complaints like these (against Westview) take us away from that.”
The complaints against Westview ranged from dirty and neglected facilities to lack of bathrooms, hand wash sinks and handicap access to immigration violations.
“The complaints are very similar to one and another with only one or two things changed or added on,” Jacobson said.
Department of Agriculture Inspector Jereme Huss spoke with one of the complainants on the phone and tried to meet with her at Westview but the caller refused.
In his evaluation and inspection report of Westview, Huss noted that some of the complaints were outside of his jurisdiction so he decided to visit the Washington Township Hall to see if there were other types of violations.
“I met with Washington Township Supervisor Dan O’Leary and Building Inspector Michael Bommarito regarding the physical facilities for the business,” Huss wrote in his report. “They have not received any complaints against the business related to any of the allegations that have been made to (the Michigan Department of Agriculture.) They stated that to their knowledge Westview Orchard is in compliance with all aspects related to the building and plumbing code. They indicated the firm has pulled the necessary permits and sought approval as required. They stated that the firm has been proactive in regard to compliance and has made corrections and improvements to the property as required and/or suggested.”
Jacobson said the last complaint the Department of Agriculture investigated against her business was in 2014 when a customer took an unlabeled pumpkin loaf from a refrigerator in a private part of her business that was not meant for public sale or consumption.
Prior to that complaint, Jacobson said the Department of Agriculture investigated a complaint 15 years ago that was made by a former employee. She said inspectors found nothing wrong.
She said that the Macomb Humane Society has received complaints about the farm animals at a frequency of once a year but she said that is pretty typical for her type of business.
“They come out and inspect our farm and find the animals are well cared for,” she said.
Jacobson told Huss that she spoke with her staff to figure out if a customer had a bad experience but no one was able to remember a customer even being on site at the time of the alleged violations.
She said that after ruling out the complaints coming from customers or employees, she couldn’t help but think they may be politically motivated because of the timing.
“I don’t want to be guilty of making false accusations too. I will leave it up to people to draw their own conclusions,” she said.
Jacobson, who in addition to her eight years as township trustee, has been on the planning commission for most of the past 25 years.
She is one of eight Republican candidates vying for four open trustees seats in Washington Township. No Democrats filed for trustee. The top four vote recipients win one of the open seats.
The trustee position is part time, pays less than $8,000 a year and requires a lot time attending board meetings, subcommittee meetings and addressing constituent concerns.
The Aug. 2 primary election determines who will run as Republicans and Democrats in the November election. Washington Township historically does not have enough Democrats voting in the general election for the party to win any of the four trustee seats on the board of trustees.
Washington Township Trustee Art Grimes, who is also seeking reelection and a political ally of Jacobson, said that no one has filed similar complaints against him but he has heard rumors that some people are harassing other businesses in the township that have displayed political signs.
“I’m old school. I think people know better than to go after me,” he said.
Brandon Noll is also a Republican running for trustee for the first time and said that no one has filed similar complaints against him.
“This is something I would not expect in a local election. You are a weak person if you have to resort to slanderous ways and not stand on your own ideas,” he said.
Charrae Trocki is a first time candidate and decided to run for trustee after living in Washington Township for the past three and a half years.
She said that she has not had any negative experiences during her campaign and that she has not heard about any harassment in the township.
“I think if it is politically motivated, it is disgusting,” Trocki said.
Trustee candidates Sebastian Sam Previti, Bob Randall, Harold Miller and Stanley Babinski did not return phone calls for this story before press time.
##
RRS
