A parks commissioner in Laketown Township has resigned following an altercation between herself, her husband and staff members from a local plant nursery in May.
Jeff Busscher, owner of Alpha Nurseries, told commissioners during a meeting May 20 that a team from his business was harvesting seeds at Huyser Farm Park when Sherry Sirko and her husband, Mark Rubino, confronted them. Busscher said Rubino was “out of control” and made him feel “violated” and “unsafe.”
Busscher said his company has a longstanding, but unwritten, agreement with Laketown Township to occasionally harvest native plant seeds from local parks, adding he’d notified officials before doing so May 20.
Busscher said he went to the park himself after receiving a “frantic” call from staffers, and arrived to see harvested seeds being thrown to the ground and a man, reportedly Rubino, shouting.
“Every attempt to engage him with a normal conversation was totally unproductive,” Busscher said.
Rubino reportedly “demanded” registration of the company’s truck and searched through the lunches of employees. Busscher said the man’s actions prevented he and Sirko from talking through the problem.
“I found these behaviors to be totally unacceptable,” Busscher said.
Sirko briefly addressed the matter May 20.
“I’m very sorry for the altercation and I’m sorry for what happened,” she said. “I was just very concerned to see someone up high in (a) lift and not have proper safety strapping in. It concerns me because it’s on public property.”
What led to the resignation of Sherry Sirko?
Parks Commission Chair Brad Laninga said the incident was unacceptable.
“Our lack of knowledge and understanding does not give us the right, even as elected (officials) … to take matters into our own hands,” he said.
The body voted unanimously to allow Alpha Nurseries to harvest seeds from local parks, pending an opinion from the municipality’s attorney.
A resolution to censure Sirko was originally placed on the body’s agenda for June 17, but the item was removed following her resignation June 12.
The resolution indicated Sirko was asked to apologize to Alpha, but declined. It also stated Sirko “failed to stop or even attempt to stop the confrontational acts of her husband.”
The measure would’ve censured Sirko, urged her to apologize and encouraged her to “do better in her treatment of individuals.”
Officials addressed the resignation briefly June 17, with Commissioner Michael Teekamp calling Sirko an “outstanding board member” and advocate for local parks — adding he was sad to see her go.
Sirko was elected to a four-year term in November 2024.
The Laketown Township Board will consider accepting the resignation during a workshop July 1, opening a 45-day window to appoint a replacement. Officials will then collect applications and conduct interviews.
The appointed individual will serve the remainder of Sirko’s term, which runs until November 2028.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Laketown plant nursery says commissioner’s husband was ‘out of control’
Reporting by Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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By Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
