Published in the June 1, 2018 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — For the second year in a row the normally routine annual approval of the Wakefield Farmers Market contract took an unpleasant turn as an ongoing feud between market manager Wendy Dennis and one of the vendors, The Bread Shop, went public again at last night’s meeting of the Town Council.
The contract between the Town of Wakefield and the Wakefield Farmers Market for the upcoming 2018 season was on the agenda for last night’s meeting. The Farmers Market has for years been operating on Saturdays from June to October on town-owned land at Hall Park on North Avenue.
Last year, The Bread Shop’s request to participate in the Farmers Market was initially denied by Dennis, who maintained that adding another bakery to the mix would saturate the market and hurt existing vendors who sold similar items. At the time, then-Selectman Edward Dombroski appealed to Dennis to allow the local artisan bakery to participate. The issue garnered a good deal of attention on social media and in the Item Forum.
Eventually, Dennis relented and agreed to allow The Bread Shop to participate in last year’s Farmers Market with certain conditions.
Meg Shimek, who with partner Lauren Donati co-owns The Bread Shop at 411 Main St., addressed the Town Council last night during the public participation session early in the meeting.
Shimek reminded the board that the conditions imposed on The Bread Shop last year included a prohibition on selling certain items on The Bread Shop’s regular menu, such as cookies and granola, so as not to duplicate other vendors. They agreed to the conditions and abided by them through the entire season, she said. But as the market season went on, she added, they began to notice that other vendors were allowed to expand their bakery offerings — adding items that were similar to what The Bread Shop was selling at their table.
Shimek said that this was discouraging, as The Bread Shop had abided by all the rules and had a perfect attendance record during last year’s Farmers Market season.
She said that she was concerned that the Council’s approval of the 2018 Farmers Market contract may allow the market manager to impose similar restrictions on The Bread Shop this coming season, so she wanted to bring the matter to the Council’s attention.
Rada Frohlichstein, owner of Rada Boutique in the downtown, spoke in support of The Bread Shop, saying that it was unfair for the Farmers Market to place restrictions on a local business’s participation when it is operating on town-owned land.
When the Farmers Market contract renewal came up for discussion, Dennis responded to what she said were falsehoods uttered earlier. For one, she insisted that other vendors have also had restrictions placed on what they can sell at the market.
Councilor Ann Santos said that she didn’t see giving Wakefield businesses preference as a purpose of the Farmers Market. However, she pointed out that she has seen multiple vendors at the market selling very similar items.
“I don’t know why we’re arguing over granola and cookies,” she said, adding that it “seems so silly.”
Dombroski argued that because the Farmers Market uses town land there should be preferential consideration given to local businesses that fit the market criteria. He alleged that Dennis was pre-selecting which vendors would even get to apply to participate. He said that he felt the process should be more open.
“It feels quite elitist,” he said.
Dennis insisted that any business was welcome to email her if they wanted to participate but added that changing the system of selecting vendors would result in “a lot more work for an underpaid market manager.”
With that, Dennis announced that she was not feeling well. “I have a four-minute statement and then I am going to leave and you can vote as you see fit,” she said.
Dennis said that The Bread Shop only listed “bread and pastries” on their application for this year.
“I would think they should have come to me with any additional requests,” she said, “versus doing to through the Town Council.”
Dennis said that it was her job to see that the market remained strong and vibrant, which means keeping the vendors and shoppers happy. She said that she had spoken to two other vendors that sell baked goods and informed them that approval of the Farmers Market contract might depend on allowing the bread shop to sell granola and cookies. She said that both of the vendors felt that such a decision would have “a strong potential to really hurt each of their businesses.”
She said that if the Council made the existence of the market dependent on The Bread Shop being able to sell granola and cookies, she would abide by the decision. But she warned that it would mean that “our market risks losing two long-term, very well-liked vendors.”
“I know that, no matter what,” Dennis said, “this meeting will be followed by a repeat of mean-spirited comments about me on Facebook pages, and I will again receive hate emails and phone messages as I did after last year’s signing of the contract.
“But, since I am often told by just about every one of our vendors that ours is one of the best-run markets around, I must be doing something right. I am just doing my job.”
After she concluded her remarks, Dennis said, “I’m done with being criticized. I’m out of here.” With that, she stormed out of the room.
The discussion of the Farmers Market contract continued among Town Council members.
Julie Smith-Galvin noted that the town enters into contracts with many groups that operate events within the town but doesn’t insist that they must include local content.
“I don’t see the point of micromanaging one local entity,” she said.
Councilor Mehreen Butt agreed. “It’s not our job to tell her how she gets vendors,” she said. “We shouldn’t be getting involved.”
Councilor Paul DiNocco said that if the Town Council wanted to impose conditions on the Farmers Market, it should make them part of the contract.
But Dombroski pointed out that the Farmers Market is different than a one-time event like a road race or an event on the Common.
“This is 18 weeks,” he said, adding that the Farmers Market is competing with merchants in the downtown, which is less than a mile away. He said that it was within the Town Council’s authority to regulate the Farmers Market. He further maintained that it was not micromanaging to ask the Farmers Market to allow a local business to fully participate in the market.
Santos raised another issue.
“There is a personal animosity between these two,” she observed. “I am not doing this again next year,” she added, calling the situation “ridiculous.”
In response to a question, Town Counsel Thomas Mullen said that the town had the right to amend the rules for the Farmers Market at any time.
After some further discussion, Dombroski made a motion to approve the Farmers Market contract with the condition that any participating Wakefield business will be allowed to sell any products that they have identified on their submission with the Department of Health.
The motion passed 6-1, with Butt opposed.
