'I know we can do better': Pastor suing Ottawa County gives invocation in tense meeting

OTTAWA COUNTY — In addition to taking a pair of actions related to Administrator John Gibbs, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners discussed and approved several items during a nearly five hour meeting Tuesday, Feb. 13.

More: Ottawa County hires attorney to handle Gibbs' warning to Moss

Months after filing a religious discrimination lawsuit against the board, Rev. Jared Cramer was in attendance Tuesday to give the opening invocation.

A pastor at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Cramer filed his federal lawsuit in October 2023 claiming Board Chair Joe Moss used his position as chair to “endorse a particular set of religious beliefs and exclude a particular set of religious beliefs.”

He claims to have emailed Moss in May and sent him a letter by certified mail in August requesting to lead the invocation and received no response.

More: Pastor files lawsuit against Ottawa County claiming religious discrimination

An invitation to lead the invocation was extended in November, after the lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit remains active.

In his prayer Tuesday, Cramer directly referenced previous actions of the board, including changing the motto and closing the DEI department.

“God, in particular I pray for those who have been and continue to be impacted by decisions of this board,” he said. “I pray for families in households that are struggling because of reduced resources in the health department, especially those who will be more food insecure, those who will struggle to get the mental health support they need.

“I pray for people of color in our country, who, when they saw our motto of ‘Where You Belong’ taken away, along with our department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, began to wonder once more if Ottawa County can still be a home for them, if they still belong in a place where freedom does not ring for everyone.”

He also prayed for members of the LGBTQ+ community “whose attempts to understand who they are have been maligned” and “increasingly don’t feel safe, much less welcome,” in the community.

“Above all, loving God, I pray that decency, love and justice would once more come to the forefront of how our county operates, how we treat one another and how those in power allocate resources and talk about vulnerable and marginalized groups,” he said. “I know we can do better, God, if we open our hearts to your love and let that love transform us into agents of your healing.”

Prior to approving the agenda, Commissioner Doug Zylstra introduced five motions to add items. Each was voted down.

The items included a contract with the Lakeshore Regional Entity for substance abuse prevention work that was tabled by the finance committee in December; a public health position approved by human resources, but not by finance; a resolution for funding the Ottawa Food coordinator; an ARPA funds audit approved by the finance committee last week; and a cost of service report also approved by the finance committee last week.

The first two motions were voted down 2-9, with only Zylstra and Roger Bergman supporting. Rebekah Curran and Jacob Bonnema supported the Ottawa Food motion, which failed 4-9. Zylstra was the lone “yes” vote on his final two motions.

Moss took issue with Zylstra presenting items that hadn't been mentioned to him beforehand.

“None of whatever these items have been brought to the chair before this point,” he said after Zylstra’s first motion. “I’ve told Commissioner Zylstra that I would simply oppose randomly bringing items back ... during the meeting without having any prior discussion with the chair.”

Zylstra said he's brought items to Moss in the past that haven't been placed on the agenda.

“If I have assurance that agenda items passed to the chair, with due consideration, will be placed on the agenda, I have no problem returning to that,” Zylstra said.

“Commissioner Zylstra, I’m not going to simply add any item that you ask to be put on the agenda,” Moss responded. “I consider each item independently. You have not given the courtesy of even that in this situation.”

The agenda for Tuesday was adjusted just prior to the meeting to add two items related to Gibbs, who did not attend. Those items — approval of an outside legal firm to address a letter from Gibbs and a hiring and transfer freeze for his office — passed 11-0 and 10-1, respectively. Zylstra voted against the hiring freeze.

Several items were taken off Tuesday’s consent agenda and discussed as separate agenda items.

Bergman motioned to remove the items from consent, saying they should've been brought as action items in the first place — since the committees that gave them initial approval no longer have a majority of commissioners.

Most of the items, including some staffing updates and parks construction projects, were approved without issue. Commissioners did make adjustments to a proposed budget calendar.

More: County approves audit of ARPA funds, but Ottawa Food request goes unanswered

A trio of work sessions around the county's capital improvement plan and budget planned for August were adjusted to be full board work sessions instead of committee meetings. That motion passed 11-0.

Bonnema motioned to table approving a request for proposals for strategic planning work, saying he had questions for Gibbs, who was absent.

That motion failed 5-6, with Bonnema, Zylstra, Bergman, Curran and Roger Belknap supporting and Moss, Sylvia Rhodea, Allison Miedema, Lucy Ebel, Gretchen Cosby and Kendra Wenzel voting against.

Issuing the RFP passed by a 7-4 vote, with Moss, Rhodea, Miedema, Ebel, Cosby, Wenzel and Curran supporting.

The board also heard department reports from Community Mental Health, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Although Ottawa Food wasn't added to the agenda, it was discussed later in the meeting.

Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley mentioned the program during her report. Bonnema asked corporate counsel Jack Jordan if the health officer was allowed to move unused funds to fill the coordinator position.

Jordan said it was “an interesting question” and he would work with finance to answer it. Bonnema asked if that could happen this week and Jordan said he’d talk to Fiscal Services Director Karen Karasinski later in the day.

Hambley noted funding the department receives from the state is restricted to certain areas of service. For example, she said, funds for septic system work can’t be rerouted to pay for the Ottawa Food Coordinator.

Following the close of the second public comment session, Moss offered a statement to the board. In general, the board does not respond to public comment.

“I’d like to thank the board for enduring the attacks and bullying by the left and Democrats,” Moss said. “I have heard attacks calling conservative Republican commissioners things like ‘heinous, stupid, dangerous, evil, morons, idiots’ etc.'"

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Moss acknowledged a member of the crowd yelling out “fascists” and alleged one public comment speaker was mouthing inappropriate words toward him during the meeting.

“Anyway, commissioners, thank you. Continue to do the right things, even in the face of bullying and attacks, verbal attacks, from the left. Focus on freedom and thank you very much,” he said before moving on to the next agenda item.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: 'I know we can do better': Pastor suing Ottawa County gives invocation in tense meeting