Eviction angers market vendor

Association tight-lipped about Jan. 8 meeting

The local vendor who says she was evicted from the Peterborough Farmers’ Market claims she wasn’t voted out by fellow members at a meeting Jan. 8 — she says she was ejected later without a vote. Sax Lynn Francisco, who once sold tea at the market under the business name Necessitea Elixir, says the market’s board evicted her — and she’s furious. “I’ve honestly never been this angry over anything,” she said. Mark Jones, the marketing director for the Peterborough and District Farmers’ Market Association (PDFMA), wasn’t available for interview on Thursday. Neither was Gabriel Poliquin, one of the PDFMA’s lawyers. When asked by The Examiner last week whether Francisco had been evicted, Jones declined to comment. Francisco was one of seven local growers and artisans who was facing potential eviction at the meeting on Jan. 8 over allegations of aggressive behaviour. The allegations were made by 16 fellow members, but no details were ever made public; in January, one board member told The Examiner that was to protect the privacy of those who had come forward with

I’ ve honestly never been this angry over anything. SAX LYNN FRANCISCO Necessitea Elixir

concerns. But Francisco said on Thursday she never got any details of the allegations. Meanwhile the meeting on Jan. 8 was closed to the public and reporters were barred; those in attendance were told not to talk about the proceedings to the media. But Francisco talked Thursday about what happened: she said the original plan at the meeting had been to vote to evict all seven vendors on a single ballot. But she said that idea was rejected by the vendors, who wanted to vote on evicting one at a time. Meanwhile they only had time to vote on one vendor that evening, Francisco said: Otonabee Apiary. It was 11 p.m. by the time the votes were cast and counted, she said, and the result was never announced. After the vote they closed the meeting and planned to reconvene again within 30 days to finish voting on the rest of the vendors, Francisco said. But when asked last week why a followup meeting never took place, Jones didn’t answer. Nothing relating to the matter could be divulged, he said. “The resolution to the issues are confidential and discussions to resolve the matter are ongoing at this time,” he wrote to The Examiner. “The PDFMA board of directors hopes its members conclude a positive resolution on the matter and is assisting their members in this process.”