Zeeland city council member Kevin Klynstra spoke with a clean conscience when he criticized a Zeeland retail store for violating the city’s ordinance regarding takeout alcohol sales.
And he had no qualms about voting “no” on moving forward with the store’s liquor license renewal.
Klynstra admitted at Monday’s meeting, before he voted against endorsing the license renewal of AJ’s Grocery, that his brother owns a party store in Holland Township that could be considered a competitor. Klynstra said he has no financial stake in his brother’s business.
“It had nothing to do with my vote,” Klynstra said Friday afternoon. “It doesn’t surprise ... me that people would think that. But it doesn’t bother me.
“It was clear in my thought process that it was no problem for me to vote on anything like that.”
AJ’s Grocery, Zeeland’s first takeout alcohol outlet, in January was found to be in violation of the city ordinance allowing no more than 25 percent of a store’s floor space be dedicate to alcohol sales. A second inspection showed the store’s owner, Ajay Sehgal, had reduced the space dedicated to alcohol significantly, but was still not in compliance.
The council voted 5-2 not to interfere with AJ’s liquor license renewal if the store comes into compliance within 14 days. Klynstra and Glenn Kass cast the dissenting votes.
“If we have an ordinance that says you have to have a set amount of groceries, then you should go by it,” Klynstra said.
He also said he never considered abstaining from the vote, and none of his fellow council members thought he should have. The Sentinel asked all six remaining members of city council, and all said Klynstra should not be compelled to abstain because he did not gain financially as a result of his vote.
“It’s not about his brother. It’s about enforcing the ordinance,” Kass said. “He doesn’t gain from this whatsoever. There is nothing hanky-panky about this.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Sally Gruppen has likely abstained from more votes than any council member because her husband, Bill Gruppen, is the city’s fire chief. She didn’t give Klynstra’s vote a second thought.
“Because I am so in tune to that piece of it because of Bill’s position and my position, I always think of that,” Gruppen said. “This is something that did not bother me in any way, shape or form.”
Most council members said it comes down to the individual’s conscience as to whether they should abstain or not. The one line they would not cross is if they stand to gain financially from the council’s decision.
City manager Tim Klunder said it would be hard for council members to abstain from every vote that involved some type of personal connection.
“If they abstain (because of) every type of possible connection, you might not have enough council members to vote on a particular issue,” Klunder said. “That’s just the way it is in a small town.”
