Meeting Notes 11-8-22

Meeting Notes for the November 8, 2022 Meeting of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.

Ratification of Contracts: The Board voted to ratify all contracts currently pending on the post-execution ratification list as appears above.

Final Version of Proposed 2023 Board Rules: The Board approved 9-2 the final version of the proposed 2023 Board Rules.

Summary:

Section 4.4 of the 2022 Board Rules states in part: "At the first September meeting of the Board of Commissioners, the Rules Committee shall report on the proposed rules for the Board of Commissioners to use the next year. At the first November meeting, the Rules Committee shall report a final version of the rules to be presented for adoption at the organizational meeting of the Board of Commissioners in January." The Rules Committee met on September 6, 2022 and is not recommending any changes to the Board Rules.

I voted No on the measure, as I have in the past, as I was disappointed that the rules package continued with section 3.6, which posits that our primary duty is to “advance the County’s corporate, legal and financial interests” and not the public good. I believe this interpretation has the continued strong potential to prevent Commissioners from fully exercising their duties to the residents of Ottawa County, which I believe should be first and foremost. It is my hope that we can continue addressing this so that we may have a Rules package that better allows us do our to job, not hinders us in doing so.

I am also concerned that the Resolutions section, instead of either allowing all resolutions or prohibiting all resolutions, continues to attempt to define Resolutions in a way that can be easily ignored when convenient, as we saw the past year with the Resolution against Vaccine Mandates.

Resolution to Declare Tuesday, November 22, 2022 as “Michigan Adoption Day in Ottawa County”: The Board approved and authorize the Board Chairperson and Clerk/Register to sign the Resolution declaring Tuesday, November 22, 2022 as “Michigan Adoption Day in Ottawa County.”

Summary:

To promote and support adoptions in the County of Ottawa and highlight adoptions and the need for additional adoptive homes in the media.

Motion to Direct Counsel to take Legal Action regarding the Michigan Opioid Settlement: The Board approved a motion to direct Counsel to pursue legal action regarding a more fair disbursement of Opioid funds for Ottawa County.

I voted yes because the current plan does not take into account per capita as part of the formula, the current version of which disadvantages us finanancially compared to many other Michigan counties.