Ginop removed from Board of Health seat following ethics hearing

PETOSKEY — The Emmet County Board of Commissioners have voted to remove Rich Ginop as one of their two representatives on the Health Department of Northwest Michigan’s Board of Health.

The decision was made following a Code of Ethics and Conduct public hearing during the board’s meeting on Monday.

Three of the commissioners — Neil Ahrens, Matt Koontz and David White — had asked for the hearing because they believed that Ginop had acted in violation of the board’s Code of Ethics and Conduct relating to his assignment on the Board of Health.

Specifically, the commissioners noted an exchange between Koontz and Ginop at the board’s Aug. 17 meeting where Koontz questioned Ginop about his refusal to support grant proposals at the Aug. 10 meeting of the Board of Health’s Program and Evaluation Committee.

That exchange included:

Koontz: “And in the spring, the board of commissioners endorsed a resolution to guide those serving on the board of health with clear expectations to support the health department of Northwest Michigan in its endeavors that comply with the Michigan Health Code and to serve in a way that honors the stated mission of the health department. Since your actions, or in this case really lack thereof, on these grants appear to violate that resolution, you owe it to the people of this county to articulate your positions. In fact, one of the most basic duties of public officials in the interest of transparency is to communicate their positions on issues to the public. If you’re unwilling to follow the code of conduct of this body or are unable to articulate the positions that you take in your service on the Board of Health, then you sir are bound by honor to resign from your appointment to that board, and I respectfully request that you do so.”

Ginop: “Thank you Matt.”

Koontz: “You’re welcome. So I guess we can assume that you intend to continue to operate in violation of the board of commissioners’ code of conduct?”

Ginop: “Yes, I do.”

During Monday’s public hearing, Koontz said this “pronouncement was, in itself, a violation of the code of ethics.”

“The citizens of Emmet County are entitled to have fair, ethical and accountable local government that has earned the public’s full confidence for integrity,” he said. “In announcing his intention to continue to violate the code of ethics … Mr. Ginop acknowledges not just his intentions moving forward but his awareness of having violated the code of ethics previously.”

Koontz also noted the code of ethics allows the commissioners to apply sanctions if a violation has occurred, including removal of board and committee assignments.

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In response, Ginop said he felt “attacked” by Koontz’s questioning at the previous meeting.

“I said that out of the feeling of attack and I apologize for saying that and I don’t mean that,” he said. “I will follow the Code of Ethics and Conduct and I will follow the resolution to the best of my ability. Again, I felt like I was being attacked … he was badgering and badgering and badgering and attacking.”

Ahrens said he was “dumbfounded” by Ginop’s statement, which was directly in violation of their code of conduct and made clearly in a public meeting.

“I was dumbfounded that you actually said you wouldn’t do that. I was really surprised at your statement,” he said. “I do not think that Commissioner Koontz was badgering you or anything. He was holding you to task for your statements, and I think that was fair. We are in a public forum here.”

The meeting was well attended, with the commissioners’ chambers filling to capacity and many people directed to an overflow room to watch the proceedings. In total, 36 people spoke regarding Ginop and the health department during the first public comment section and 26 people spoke during the public hearing.

The meeting was contentious at times, with members of the audience repeatedly reminded to allow the speaker their full turn at the mic without interrupting.

People spoke on both sides of the issue, some backing Ginop’s integrity and saying the health department needs to be more closely governed, while others questioned Ginop’s sincerity and defended the health department’s work.

“What I’m hoping for is that we can come to some kind of agreement that there are of those of us who can support the health department without supporting every single thing that they do,” said Emmet County resident Brenda Kulbieda. “To try and remove someone that you disagree with or there’s things that you think that they said or they did, it’s wrong. It’s wrong. And I would be so awfully disappointed to see this happen in Emmet County, to remove someone from a board who is actually effective and cares because of a disagreement like this.”

Emmet County resident Rebeca Otto quoted from Tamara Renaye, saying “Accountability feels like an attack when you’re not ready to acknowledge how your behavior harms others.”

“I have stated this before in other meetings, accountability is not an attack on your personal character,” she said. “If you choose to do something and someone disagrees with you and has a reason for it and brings it up, that is called accountability. And that’s OK. If you’re wanting to have civil discourse inside of a government structure, it’s OK to have that happen, that you’re held accountable for things.”

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After public comment closed, Ginop said “I know that there’s hurt on both sides of some of my votes.”

“I did not take this position to be a bottle head or a rubber stamp,” he said. “I take my position seriously, and I put a lot of thought into the way I vote. I’m taking a lot of backlash, I know. So be it. Again, I did not commit a crime here.”

Commissioner Don Mapes, the other Emmet County representative on the Board of Health, said he was torn while considering the issues at hand.

“I think what we’re here to do tonight is a little forced,” he said. “I think there’s probably other ways we could deal with it. I think there’s other opportunities other than removing Rich from the board, but I don’t know what they are at this point.”

Koontz made a motion to remove Ginop from the Board of Health, with Ahrens providing the second. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-1, with Commissioner Charles Laughbaum voting no and Ginop abstaining.

The commissioners then approved appointing Ahrens to fill the vacated seat in a 5-2 vote, with Laughbaum and Ginop voting no.

The next Emmet County Board of Commissioners meeting is at 6 p.m. on Sept. 21.

The Board of Health meets at 10 a.m. on Sept. 18 at the Charlevoix County Shirley Roloff Center.

— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Ginop removed from Board of Health seat following ethics hearing