![]() The move created division in the group’s ranks.Ĭounty commissioner and former Ottawa Impact member Rebekah Curran said she was “blindsided” by the changes.Ĭounty commissioner and former Ottawa Impact member Jacob Bonnema wasn’t present for the first meeting after he said Ottawa Impact leadership assured him it would be a routine meeting. 3 or that the group had been fielding candidates for the county leadership roles. Ottawa Impact gave no public indication the new majority would be making the changes Jan. The Ottawa Impact majority selected Nathaniel Kelly, a safety manager at an HVAC company in Wyoming, to replace Hambley. Under Michigan’s Public Health Code, local health officers are not at-will employees and require cause to fire. 3 by the new board is still pending: the replacement of Ottawa County Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley. Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss sits in silence as they wait for Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley to return on the fourth day of Hambley’s termination hearing on Monday, Nov. Moss has said there is no conflict of interest. Kallman Legal Group, a law firm best known for championing conservative causes, was selected to replace Corporate Counsel Doug Van Essen as the county’s attorney.Ĭoncerns about a conflict of interest between Kallman Legal Group and Moss were later raised, as Moss is business partners with Joel Kallman, who is related to the two primary attorneys at Kallman Legal Group, according to the Holland Sentinel. The county’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – a longtime campaign target of Ottawa Impact – was dissolved and all of its employees, including former-DEI Office Director Robyn Afrik, were fired effective immediately. The county’s motto of “Where You Belong,” which Ottawa Impact members alleged had been used to “promote the divisive, Marxist ideology of the Race Equity movement,” was replaced with “Where Freedom Rings.” What was supposed to be a mundane organizational meeting with new board members taking the oath of office quickly turns into a surprise house cleaning.Īt the meeting, Ottawa Impact board members introduced a series of resolutions to the agenda mid-session that passed with the new majority.Ĭounty Administrator John Shay was fired and immediately replaced by failed Republican Congressional candidate John Gibbs. Here’s a look at how Ottawa Impact majority commissioners spent their first year governing. It is situated along the shores of Lake Michigan with its county seat about 28 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. ![]() ![]() Ottawa County is the state’s fastest-growing county and has long been a conservative stronghold, seeing Republicans comprise its governing board almost entirely. Led by Hudsonville resident Joe Moss, the Ottawa Impact majority board of commissioners has heard public comment ranging from unwavering support to strong opposition since taking power, cleaning house administratively and changing how the county board does business. Ottawa Impact’s rise to office was fueled by anger over state and county pandemic restrictions and mask mandates as well as culture war issues. Incumbent County Commissioner Doug Zylstra, a Democrat, also wasn’t challenged by the group. Incumbent County Commissioner Kyle Terpstra, a Republican, wasn’t challenged by Ottawa Impact. Those two candidates won handily.Ĭounty Commissioner Roger Bergman was the sole incumbent Republican to face a challenge from Ottawa Impact in the primary and win. In deep red Ottawa County, only two of the eight Ottawa Impact members faced a November challenge from a Democrat. ![]() 3 after clobbering their more centrist Republican incumbent rivals in the August 2022 primaries.Īll but one of nine Ottawa Impact Republicans won their respective Republican primaries, ousting seven incumbents from the 11-member county board. The Ottawa Impact commissioners were seated Jan. The government takeover extended from its first meeting in January - firing the county administrator, hiring a Trump-endorsed congressional candidate to take his place and dismantling the diversity office - to its last meetings in December - still working through the process of trying to remove the health director. That group of political newcomers called Ottawa Impact was busy in its first 12 months of two-year terms. They’ve prompted multiple lawsuits, and may be on the hook for a $4 million payout with taxpayer dollars. Their actions, many deemed controversial, have been met with praise from some and heavy criticism from others. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – In their first year of governing, the commissioners who make up the new ultra-conservative majority on the Ottawa County board have dramatically changed the way the county operates.
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