Letters to the Editor: Ottawa Impact took things too far too fast

Ottawa Impact took things too far too fast

I was raised in a very conservative family with traditional values. As an adolescent during the war in Vietnam, I believed our government must have known its business and had valid reasons to continue drafting members of my generation. I now understand how valuable it is for citizens to question such assumptions. Decisions are sometimes misguided. Motives are not always pure. People in powerful positions are not perfect, even if they mean well, and some have turned out to be incredibly self-serving.

As an adult, I grew increasingly skeptical. My mother found this somewhat offensive; my father, who had cultivated cynicism of his own, was sympathetic. Learning how I had voted on one occasion, he said, “It’s become too one-sided for you, hasn’t it?” As certain politicians leaned further to the right, it seemed to me that my state — or even my country — could lose its balance.

I have always felt safest relying on a government that embraces lively debate and thoughtful compromise. Radicals alarm me. Extremists rarely respect — or even tolerate — dissent, yet differences of opinion are essential to dealing productively with complex social or economic issues. Too much power on either side makes me nervous; I lose sleep any time a particular faction is fully in charge. Things go too far, too fast, and the damage is difficult to undo.

This brings me to Ottawa Impact: In 2023, they took things too far, too fast. They forced substantial, costly change despite creditable opposition; they proved themselves unwilling to accept constructive criticism even from those who seem to share their views. In 2024, will they REMAIN too one-sided? OI commissioners should act immediately to restore some balance to county government: Assign two standing committees to each commissioner and limit involvement by the chair.

Mary Baine

Tallmadge Township

Committee assignments another example of unequal representation

The recent Ottawa County Board of Commissioners committee and local board and commission assignments for 2024 reek of schoolyard exclusion and childish games.

The choice to assign Commissioners Bergman, Bonnema and Zylstra to one standing committee each and a minimal number of local boards/commissions is a clear attempt to silence viewpoints that do not align with those of Ottawa Impact and retribution for their not supporting the Ottawa Impact agenda. The number of standing committee assignments that each commissioner received was as follows, local boards and commissions were even more heavily OI leaning:

• Joe Moss: 6

• Gretchen Cosby: 5

• Sylvia Rhodea: 4

• Allison Miedema: 4

• Kendra Wenzel: 4

• Roger Belknap: 4

• Rebekah Curran: 3

• Lucy Ebel: 2

• Roger Bergman: 1

• Jacob Bonnema: 1

• Doug Zylstra: 1

By heavily favoring a select group of commissioners (most notably himself), Joe Moss has effectively disenfranchised Ottawa County residents up and down the lakeshore. Since Commissioners Bergman, Bonnema, and Zylstra work to represent ALL of their constituents, regardless of their political leanings, not only have those who oppose Ottawa Impact lost representation at the most basic level of our county government, but so have those who support Ottawa Impact! This clearly shows that the goal of our current board majority is not good government for all residents of the county. If good government were the goal, all voices and viewpoints (especially those that oppose the majority) would be given equal representation at the committee level.

As a resident of Ottawa County, I demand that committee assignments return to an equal distribution amongst all commissioners and an end to the schoolyard tactics and childish games being played by Joe Moss, Gretchen Cosby, Sylvia Rhodea, Allison Miedema, Kendra Wenzel, Roger Belknap and Lucy Ebel.

Luke Sanner

Park Township

Unfair committee assignments unacceptable

I am writing to protest the unfair committee assignments of the commissioners of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners to standing committees this year.

These are the committees where the actual work of the commission is performed and proposals are made and discussed. These proposals are then presented to the full commission for approval. In the past, commissioners were assigned equally to each of the four standing committees. This year, that practice has been disregarded.

Committee assignments have clearly been made to favor Ottawa Impact-aligned commissioners, while non-OI-aligned commissioners have been placed on far fewer committees. Since these committees are where the actual work gets done, this means that the citizens of the non-OI affiliated commissioners (District 3: City of Holland; District 4: City of Zeeland, parts of Holland Charter Township, and parts of Zeeland Charter Township; and District 10: City of Grand Haven, City of Ferrysburg, and most of Spring Lake Township) will essentially be disenfranchised, while citizens in other districts will have disproportionally large representation.

This is not representative government. “We the People” will not all be represented equally. I urge Joe Moss, the commission chairman, to reverse this policy and restore representative government to Ottawa County immediately.

Julia Davey

Robinson Township

Moss disenfranchising voters in 3 districts

All of the residents of Ottawa County should be outraged (yes, again) over the latest attempt by Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss to silence dissenting views, and to disenfranchise the voters in Holland, Grand Haven and Zeeland.

Specifically, I am concerned about the blatantly unequal commissioner assignments Chair Joe Moss made to the board’s standing committees. For those who are unaware, the board’s standing committees are the places where much work gets done: budgets get drafted, and spending, contracts and grants get preliminary review and approval.

For 2024, Chair Moss assigned minority Commissioners Bergman (Grand Haven), Bonnema (Zeeland) and Zylstra (Holland) to only one committee each, with none of them assigned to the all-important Finance and Administration Committee; all other board members were assigned between two and six committees each. But wait, there’s more — Chair Moss took the additional step of placing himself on all of the standing committees, except for Talent and Recruitment.

This behavior lays bare the chair’s beliefs. He apparently believes that a large segment of the electorate deserves to have their views excluded in committee work. He appears to believe that the board majority is entitled to de-platform and silence those who disagree, and keep them from participating in the earliest decisions around some of the Board’s most important work.

The question now becomes, what do the other commissioners believe? Do they agree with Chair Moss that this commission should be a place where dissenting voices — and voters — are silenced? Do they agree with Chair Moss that county government should be a place where the majority can trample on the rights of the minority to have representation? Do they agree with Chair Moss that the board should disenfranchise voters by keeping their representatives from raising issues, making motions and voting on important issues like budget development? Do they want this board to be seen as legitimate in its process and actions? Do they want to be complicit in Chair Moss’ latest controversial tactics? Will they speak up and speak out?

There is an easy fix for all of this. It is one that has a basis in the historical operations of the board. The chair could amend his assignments so that the 2024 standing committee assignments look like those made at the beginning of 2022, with each of the commissioners having two assignments each on the four main committees equally, and with the chair having no assignments on these four committees.

That is, if he and the board majority have any interest at all in making sure that the voices of all Ottawa County voters are heard, through their elected representatives.

Rebecca Patrick

Allendale Township

Why can't the homeless pick up after themselves?

Homelessness is a problem, not as bad here as in other places. I am happy I am not and have never been homeless.

I would like to make a statement. There is a small homeless place near my workplace. A few tents have not been there more than two months, but the garbage around the place is unreal; paper and plastic all over the place. If it is like this after two months, what will it be like after this winter?

There is a dumpster within 50 feet of the place and it is not locked. How much effort would it be to pick up the trash and put it in the dumpster each day? A little effort would go a long way. I think because of actions like this, seemingly not caring about what things look like, tend to give a bad name to camps like this.

They are not paying any rent, why not have the attitude many people have when camping, "leave the place cleaner than when you came"? Make it so that no one knows you are there. Live like you want to be part of society, not like you don't care. Just because you are homeless, doesn't mean you can't be neat.

Al Keuning

Holland

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters to the Editor: Ottawa Impact took things too far too fast