Letters to the Editor: Health dept cuts all about revenge politics

Health dept cuts all about revenge politics

I have already sent an email to my commissioner, Gretchen Cosby, asking why the health department, and no other county department, is being asked to substantially cut their budget for the next fiscal year.

I do not expect an answer, as previous emails to my commissioner have gone unanswered. I have not seen reports of fiscal shortfalls that would necessitate any significant cuts to county administrative services. Has a study been done that indicates the department has been wasteful? Are the services that will be impacted found to be unnecessary for residents? Absent fiscal shortfalls, evidence of inefficiency or unnecessary or redundant services, the substantial cuts being imposed on the health department seem like revenge politics and nothing more.

I am not sure why Ottawa County taxpayers would accept potential negative impacts to services from the health department because Ottawa Impact commissioners want to impose retribution on the health department for mitigation actions taken during a global pandemic that these commissioners deemed unnecessary or intrusive.

County residents want to continue receiving the vital services provided by the health department without interruption and with the current high level of responsiveness and outcomes. Imposing substantial budget cuts will mean this is unlikely to occur going forward. I have seen no information in meeting minutes posted to the county’s website to indicate why these cuts are being proposed.

Since the OI commission members do not agree to media interviews (so much for transparency), The Sentinel cannot get this feedback from them to share with us. The residents of Ottawa County deserve to know WHY the commission wants to cut the budget so substantially for the Health Department. Absent a clear statement as to the necessity of these actions, we can only assume revenge politics are at play here.

Marsha Manning

West Olive

Ottawa Impact continues to tear our county apart

Last week, I watched while Joe Moss and the Ottawa Impact majority on our county board of commissioners summoned Health Director Adeline Hambley before them, swore her in, then grilled her before an audience and a bank of TV cameras.

The fact that no one seemed shocked by this tactic says all you need to know about Ottawa Impact and its approach to governing. With every new outrage, Ottawa Impact treats our county government and its employees like expendable characters in its own private political drama.

What about this unnecessary exercise in political posturing was aimed at delivering better health services to the 300,000 residents of Ottawa County? How can we believe, based on Ottawa Impact’s origins as an outgrowth of COVID-19 backlash, that this was about anything other than intimidation, retribution and vengeance?

What message does this send to other county employees? They must be thinking that their next decision — perhaps in an effort to comply with the county board’s ridiculously ambiguous “childhood innocence” resolution — could make them the next contestant on “Judge Joey.”

By now, we can only conclude that repelling skilled, capable public servants is part of the Ottawa Impact plan. Each vacancy is an opportunity to reward another unqualified political crony (see John Gibbs, Jordan Epperson and Nate Kelly) with a high-paying patronage job.

As the capable public servant that she is, Hambley admirably fielded questions from Ottawa Impact’s kangaroo court. Contrast that with the Ottawa Impact members of the board, who are afraid to answer questions from the media, county commissioners with opposing views, or even some of their own constituents.

Hambley and the hundreds of other employees who have made Ottawa County a bastion of good government are guilty only of doing their jobs. The Ottawa Impact majority, determined to let no good deed go unpunished, every day tears at the fabric of our county government and pushes it closer to ruin.

Jerry Morlock

Grand Haven

Never forget what Ottawa Impact has done come next election

The Ottawa Impact (OI) cabal and their functionaries are armpit-deep in culture wars, and they’re determined to redirect or otherwise budget new monies to provide jobs to far-right lackeys.

With zero accountability.

John Gibbs was the beginning of a litany of ill-equipped hires. There’s no explanation for his whining about "drinking from a fire hose" other than ineptitude. His predecessors seemed to handle the load just fine.

Gibbs has since hired a "senior executive aide" who fell far short of the county’s defined criteria for the position — and then doubled that aide’s salary. [Note: Gibbs passed on a candidate that checked all the boxes save one …MAGA flunky.]

Now the cabal is deliberating a fourfold increase for the Veterans Affairs budget. Their decision may well be taken before this letter is published and will likely conclude with the hiring of yet another political hack.

The OI cabal might be too self-absorbed to sense the obvious just yet, but they should be concerned. As should their clown car employee hires. Cronyism and the incompetence it spawns never bode well for job longevity.

The ink spilled regarding OI will continue to tell the story of their misdeeds and mismanagement, all in service to their personal ideologies. The difference this time around is there will be no "down ballot" cover. Their anonymity is blown.

So, remember these names: Moss, Rhodea, Cosby, Ebel (if not recalled), Belknap and Miedma. Terpstra, Curran, and Bonnema claim to have distanced themselves from OI, but they all accepted OI’s endorsement and continue to vote with the cabal with disappointing regularity.

Never forget that OI kicked aside our county’s welcoming motto of “Where You Belong.” Come next November, OI (and its toadies) should be kicked aside.

Because, in Ottawa County, authoritarians don’t "belong."

Richard Wolfe

Park Township

Gibbs' lack of professionalism an embarassment

Mr. Gibbs,

I am a resident of Park Township and attended the board of commissioners meeting on Sept. 12. There were a number of things that I saw/heard that concerned me, but one in particular at the end of the meeting stands out.

Mrs. Rhodea asked you a question about how budget changes would be reflected. You answered in a very professional manner fitting of the position you were hired for, suggesting a couple of options for how her request could be fulfilled and stating you were flexible in how to present things.

A short time later, Mr. Bonnema added on to Rhodea's request, simply asking to be notified by email or text when the updated budget was released to the public. This is a simple and straightforward request and clearly a best practice in terms of transparency.

Interestingly, your answer of "we'll see ... we'll see what we can do there" doesn't reflect the same level of flexibility and willingness to do the job that you were hired to do. One has to wonder, Mr. Gibbs, why the difference in your response? It certainly wasn't due to the complexity of Mr. Bonnema's request.

Are you employed by Ottawa County (a county in which you don't even reside, last I checked) or Ottawa Impact? The county website says one thing, but your words and actions say another. Stop using Ottawa County as another stumbling block in your political career, Mr. Gibbs. The people of Ottawa County deserve better.

Do better.

Luke Sanner

Park Township

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters to the Editor: Health dept cuts all about revenge politics