Meeting Notes 6-27-23
Meeting Notes from the June 27, 2023 Meeting of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.
Meeting Packet https://www.miottawa.org/CalendarDocs/2023/1687643678646-packet.PDF
Meeting Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lstdbmjhY&t=13s
Sentinel Roundup: https://www.hollandsentinel.com/story/news/politics/county/2023/06/28/ottawa-county-commissioners-vote-6-5-to-censure-jacob-bonnema/70361639007/
Tweet Thread: https://twitter.com/SentinelMitch/status/1673821815846715394?s=20
Resolution to Protect Childhood Innocence: The Board voted 9 to 2 to approve a Resolution entititled ‘Resolution to Protect Childhood Innocence’.
Summary:
Board leadership put together a Resolution which states that ‘no county staff or resources shall be allocated to activities, programs, events, content, or institutions which support, normalize, or encourage the sexualization of children and youth’.
I voted no on the measure because there was no list nor guidelines provided as to which specific activities, programs, events, content, or institutions staff is prohibited from attending or allocating resources towards. This lack of specificity creates a potential trap of staff being prohibited from engaging with certain activities, programs, events, content, or institutions but not having defined guidance on which events and activities it is prohibited from attending, and which content and institutions it cannot allocate resources towards. In the end, I don’t believe we can have a Resolution without a policy that gives staff clear guidance on what is and isn’t specifically recommended under the resolution.
Resolution to Censure Commissioner Jacob Bonnema: The Board approved 6 to 5 a Resolution to Censure Commissioner Jacob Bonnema for Abuse of Power.
Summary:
The Resolution censures Commissioner Jacob Bonnema for the supposed abuse of power in his request for an HR investigation into Administrator Gibbs conduct at the March 14 Board Meeting. It also requests Commissioner Bonnema be removed from a Committee assignment for the remainder of 2023.
I voted no on the measure which I believe is an attempt to squelch freedom of speech and infringes on an employee’s basic rights to seek redress. It also is a disenfranchisement of all residents of District 4 who would no longer have Commissioner Bonnema representing them. There is no process at all in our Board Rules for Censure and Removal and to my recollection, would be the first time the Board has even contemplated such a maneuver.
During the meeting, I offered two amendments to the Censure Resolution, one to remove the recommendation to strip Committee Assignments from Commissioner Bonnema altogether, which failed. The other was to have the recommended sanction simply be removal of Commissioner Bonnema as Vice Chair of Finance, which passed. Both of these amendments would have kept Commissioner Bonnema on all five committees as a fully voting member. Although Chair Moss made a subsequent successful motion to recommend removal of Commissioner Bonnema from one of the Committees he serves on, it is my hope that the Chair recognizes that removal of Commissioner Bonnema from even one Committee assignment constitutes a grave disservice to District 4 residents and does not apply the recommendation to the fullest. Silencing the voice of Commissioners who want to serve is not the path forward for the Board at this critical moment.
Veteran’s Affairs Committee – War Veteran Seat: The Board voted to appoint Eric Johnson to fill one (1) War Veteran seat vacancy beginning January 27, 2023 and ending December 31, 2025.
Post-Execution Ratification of Contracts: The Board voted to ratify all contracts for the period of May 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023 currently pending on the post-execution ratification list as authorized under Section IV(D)(2) of the Ottawa County Contracting Authorization and Form Policy.
