Antrim County Commissioner candidate reports alleged election infractions

Jul. 24—BELLAIRE — A candidate for Antrim County Commission filed a formal complaint to the Michigan Secretary of State office against her opponent, alleging election infractions.

Melissa Zelenak and Jarris Rubingh are facing off for the District 2 seat for Antrim County Commission in August, and Zelenak has filed an official complaint to the Secretary of State's office against Rubingh for alleged election infractions related to his campaign.

Rubingh, a dairy farmer, is serving his first term as Antrim County Commissioner. He previously served as a Precinct Delegate in Banks Township. Zelenak, executive director for Antrim Conservation District, served one term as a Central Lake village trustee and one term as an Antrim County Commissioner.

One of the alleged infractions is that Rubingh has "re-elect" on his campaign signs that are spread throughout town. This, Zelenak said, is misleading and only serves to confuse voters due to recent redistricting in Antrim County.

"I think it's wrong to get people to think that you're an incumbent in a district that you're not an incumbent in," Zelenak said.

Zelenak said that the other current commissioners who are running again in this year's election have not put "re-elect" on their signs.

In September 2021, redistricting brought Antrim county down from nine commissioners to five for the upcoming term. Rubingh is currently serving his first term as a county commissioner in District 1, which, when he was elected, included Banks and Torch Lake townships.

The new district that Rubingh is running for is labeled as District 2, and it includes Banks, Torch Lake and Central Lake townships.

Rubingh said he can see where there may be confusion, but he did not think much of putting re-elect on his signs as he was previously elected to the commission.

"I mean, I guess I can kind of see it when we have new districts," Rubingh said. "Two-thirds of the people have already voted for me two years ago. So the other third ... they haven't voted for me before, so they aren't re-electing me, but I am a county commissioner and I have already been elected to office."

"It didn't didn't cross my mind," he said.

According to section 168.944 if the Michigan Election Law Act 116 of 1954, "Any person who advertises or uses in any campaign material, including radio, television, newspapers, circulars, cards, or stationery, the words incumbent, re-elect, re-election, or otherwise indicates, represents, or gives the impression that a candidate for public office is the incumbent, when in fact the candidate is not the incumbent," is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be punished by a fine of $500 or less and/or imprisonment for up to 90 days.

In her complaint to the Secretary of State's office, Zelenak also alleges that Rubingh failed to provide "paid for by candidate/commission" verbiage in his official mailed campaign letters, pictures of which were provided to the Record-Eagle by Zelenak.

Rubingh said that he knows he put that disclosure on his signs and the t-shirts he has been selling, but he thought he put it on his campaign letters as well.

"It may have been an oversight," he said. "I'd have to check into that."

He added that he hasn't spent much money on his campaign.

Whether or not either of Rubingh's actions are infractions is a legal question for the Secretary of State's office to figure out, said Sheryl Guy, Antrim County Clerk. She said she was unsure whether or not either of the allegations would qualify as infractions.

Oftentimes, if there's a problem with someone's campaign, the state advises the clerk to have the candidate amend the problem, Guy said.

Zelenak said she doesn't necessarily want to see Rubingh face a hefty fine, but she does want the state to tell him to take his signs down. She said she was on the fence about filing the complaint, but she felt the behavior was wrong, and she wanted Rubingh to be held responsible.

Zelenak said she also feels that this is part of a string of Rubingh's wrongdoings as commissioner, including his alleged involvement in a violation of the Open Meetings Act in response to actions by Lisa Peacock, former Health Officer of the Health Department Northwest Michigan.

In October 2021, Peacock filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General's office that the Health Department of Northwest Michigan's health board subjected her and her staff to aggressive, threatening behavior during the meeting and in emails, social media and phone calls before and after a September board meeting.

The complaint also accused board members of violating the OMA when one board member — Rob Pallarito, an Otsego County commissioner — sent an email to Peacock and Dr. Joshua Meyerson demanding that the health department's K-12 mask mandate be rescinded immediately and that Peacock present the rescission to the board of health at a September meeting, as previously reported.

The email statement was signed by Pallarito and four board members, including Rubingh, with a fifth member discussing the demand via phone and violating the OMA, which says all board business must be conducted in full view of the public, the complaint states.

"I think the people need to know what they're dealing with here and misleading them is not truthful," Zelenak said. "It's wrong. He's just not doing the right stuff."

The Secretary of State's office and the Michigan Bureau of Elections did not respond to requests for comment.

Primary elections will take place on Aug. 2. The winner of the Antrim County Commissioner District 2 Republican primary will face off against Democrat Raymond Kuiper in the November general election.