Protest planned over Ottawa County committee assignments

Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel
·3 min read

WEST OLIVE — Recent changes to committee assignments on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners have sparked pushback from residents and are now at the center of a planned protest.

Joe Moss, who holds sole discretion on committee assignments as board chair, reverted committees back to five members each for 2024. The members named to those committees were weighed in favor of Ottawa Impact, the far-right fundamentalist group Moss founded.

Ottawa County residents gather outside the Fillmore Complex in September 2023 to protest the county budget.
Ottawa County residents gather outside the Fillmore Complex in September 2023 to protest the county budget.

The Ottawa North Tri-Cities Action Committee, a political action committee formed in late 2023, is organizing a protest ahead of the board's next meeting Tuesday, Jan. 16. It's scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Ottawa County Fillmore Complex. The board meeting starts at 9 a.m.

More: Residents opposing Ottawa Impact form political action committee

“(Moss) and the Ottawa Impact-affiliated board members of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners have altered the representation structure on standing and community committees, and we believe it's not in the best interest of our community,” ONTRAC wrote in a Facebook post announcing the event. “The changes raise concerns about potential disenfranchisement and diminished influence for our district.”

While it’s true Ottawa Impact members have a majority on the board, committee assignments are weighted more heavily in their favor. Seven of the 11 board members — 63.6% — are affiliated with the group. Of the 35 standing committee assignments, 29 were given to those seven commissioners — 82.8% of seats.

Moss sits on six of the seven committees. Gretchen Cosby sits on five committees, followed by Sylvia Rhodea, Allison Miedema, Roger Belknap and Kendra Wenzel on four each. OI commissioner Lucy Ebel, who is facing a recall election in May, is on two committees.

Rebekah Curran has three committee assignments, while Doug Zylstra, Jacob Bonnema and Roger Bergman — all vocal opponents of OI — have one each.

  • Planning and Policy: Belknap, Bergman, Miedema, Moss, Rhodea

  • Finance and Administration: Cosby, Belknap, Curran, Moss, Wenzel

  • Health and Human Services: Rhodea, Cosby, Ebel, Moss, Zylstra

  • Talent and Recruitment: Miedema, Bonnema, Cosby, Ebel, Wenzel

  • Board Rules: Moss, Belknap, Curran, Rhodea, Wenzel

  • Strategic Planning: Moss, Cosby, Curran, Miedema, Rhodea

  • Broadband: Miedema, Belknap, Cosby, Moss, Wenzel

Moss also made appointments for officials on 28 local boards and commissions. Thirty of 37 appointments — 81% — went to OI commissioners.

Belknap leads the way with seven, followed by Moss with six, Cosby with five and Wenzel with four. Miedema, Rhodea and Bergman each got three appointments, Ebel and Curran had two each, and Zylstra and Bonnema both received just one.

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Several residents spoke against changes during a committee meeting Tuesday, Jan. 9. That included Karen Obits, a steering committee member for ONTRAC.

“I disagree that it's fair play to place some members on more committees than others for what appears to be a merit system of some kind,” Obits said. “It's also anti-democratic in that regard. It doesn't allow for equal representation among the commissioners or their respective constituents.”

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

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Protest planned over Ottawa County committee assignments