Ottawa County Commissioners vote 6-5 to censure Jacob Bonnema over 'abuse of power'

OTTAWA COUNTY — A resolution from the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners to censure Commissioner Jacob Bonnema passed by a narrow margin Tuesday, June 27.

After more than an hour of discussion — which included several amendments, amendments to amendments and suggested courses of discipline — an amended resolution was approved by a 6-5 margin.

Commissioners affiliated with Ottawa Impact — Board Chair Joe Moss, Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea and Commissioners Allison Miedema, Lucy Ebel, Roger Belknap and Gretchen Cosby — voted yes. Commissioners Bonnema, Doug Zylstra, Rebekah Curran, Roger Bergman and Kyle Terpstra voted no.

The approved resolution recommends disciplinary action, including stripping Bonnema of one of his five committee assignments. Moss has authority over committee appointments as board chair and said he'll take the recommendation into consideration.

Originally, the resolution could've removed Bonnema from all committee assignments, but following public comment and board feedback, Moss said he'd leave Bonnema on three of five. When asked which ones he'd be allowed to remain on, Moss said planning and policy, talent and recruitment and board rules.

When asked which committee Bonnema would be removed from, Moss said finance and administration, though Bonnema specifically requested that assignment be left alone.

There were several attempts, both successful and not, to amend the language of the resolution during the meeting. Initially, the resolution included a paragraph that stated “the board requests Commissioner Bonnema be removed from Ottawa County Board of Commissioner standing committees for the remainder of 2023.”

First, Zylstra attempted to strike the last paragraph that recommended stripping Bonnema of committee assignments, which was voted down 5-6.

Then, Zylstra motioned to amend the paragraph to suggest potentially removing Bonnema as the finance vice chair, at the discretion of that committee. Before a vote could take place on that amendment, Miedema offered an amendment to his amendment, twice.

She motioned to amend it to remove Bonnema from the finance committee, then withdrew that motion. Minutes later, she offered the same amendment.

Zylstra argued his amendment couldn’t be amended prior to being voted on, but the board proceeded. Miedema’s amendment to the amendment failed, then Zylstra’s was approved.

At that point, Moss offered another amendment, changing the language to recommend Bonnema be removed from just one standing committee. The amendment from Moss was approved, followed by the vote on the resolution.

Several of Bonnema’s constituents, including local officials, spoke against his censure during public comment, arguing it would take a voice away from the 28,000 or so residents in Bonnema’s district. His district, District 4, includes residents in Zeeland, Zeeland Township and Holland Township.

There were several who spoke in support of the censure resolution.

More: Letters to the Editor: Local officials, residents decry plan to censure Bonnema

Much of the discussion around the censure focused on a human resources complaint Bonnema filed against Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs following a dispute before a previous board meeting.

An investigation was conducted by a third party firm, which found the complaint “did not substantiate the claim of harassment."

The resolution calls the complaint a “defamatory accusation” against Gibbs, arguing it was investigated at taxpayer expense and that Bonnema exhibited an “abuse of power" by making it.

Cosby shared her perspective Tuesday, saying Bonnema’s “loud voice captured my attention” on the day of the incident in question and added Bonnema was “demanding that John answer a question that the county commissioners already knew the answer to.”

Cosby added that Gibbs’ response was “appropriate and controlled."

“I believe the board of commissioners should hold Commissioner Bonnema responsible for the lost cost, lost time and lost reputation of the county and (Gibbs) for filing an inappropriate action,” Cosby said.

Bonnema pushed back against the claim he abused his power, insisting he doesn’t have any power to abuse. He said the situation arose from a consistent lack of communication from Gibbs on the status of Nathaniel Kelly’s application to be the next administrative health officer.

“First and foremost, in order to abuse power, it requires one to actually have power,” Bonnema said. “If anyone has been paying attention, we all know on this commission, that isn't true. I've been placed squarely in the minority with the other conservative Republicans and Independents on the commission.”

Bonnema said he asked Gibbs about Kelly’s application during a Feb. 28 meeting, but was told to follow up afterward. He says Gibbs told him after the meeting he didn’t have an answer, but would get back to him.

Bonnema said he never received a response, which is why he asked Gibbs before the board meeting in March. He claims Gibbs told him to "get out of my face."

Bonnema added that, just because his complaint didn’t constitute an HR violation, it could've been worth the investigation. He called the resolution “absolute tyranny in government overreach” and “an abuse of power.”

Terpstra said it was unfortunate to have the matter come before the board.

“We’re not in D.C. We’re not in Lansing. We’re in Ottawa County,” he said. “We all live in the same community. We should be able to come together and just get along, go into a conference room as two people and figure this out. Unfortunately, we’re doing it here.”

Bergman questioned if the board even had authority to censure a commissioner, as a board rule on the subject was removed this year. Moss said the authority is outlined in "Robert’s Rules of Order," which he says provides rules for anything not defined by the board.

Zylstra called the resolution an “abuse of power” and an “abuse of common sense” before attempting to amend it.

Several commissioners, including those who voted for censure, spoke in support of removing Bonnema from only some of his committee assignments, not all of them.

“If there is no discipline through this process than the last hour or two have been essentially for naught,” Moss said. “I believe that we must take action when action is needed. Removing a commissioner from one committee seems to be almost the least amount of punishment that a board could possibly deliver, besides a censure.”

Before the final vote, Rhodea said “none of us want to be here in this situation” and added she wishes Bonnema “had handled this situation with the board prior to going to HR about it.”

Bonnema was previously a member of Ottawa Impact before splitting from the group earlier this year.

The Ottawa County Republican Party recently passed a similar resolution to censure Bonnema.

The party claims Bonnema is “defrauding” his District 4 constituents by supporting “tyrannical medical mandates” and “eroding the public trust in the Republican-led Board of Commissioners and Republican Party,” among other charges.

It cited Bonnema's request in late January of Health Officer Adeline Hambley to create a panel where commissioners and other community stakeholders would be able to give input before future emergency health orders are issued.

The Ottawa GOP also criticized Bonnema for voting “in concert” with Zylstra, the board's lone Democrat, along with filing a complaint against Gibbs.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County Commissioners vote 6-5 to censure Jacob Bonnema