As the August 25, 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting began, Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea asked to move the Ratification of Contracts off Consent Resolutions so that a contract between the Public Health Department and Flourish and Thrive Labs could be individually considered.

• Rhodea explained that her concern wasn’t about the purpose for the contract, but about the provider. “Flourish and Thrive Labs has been publicly working with state and local public health department employees to subvert President Trump’s Executive Orders and the RFK and HHS Administration,” Rhodea said. “I don’t think we should be supporting and working with organizations who are directly working against the Trump Administration.” She added that she has no problem with people saying they don’t like the president or RFK. It is when people subvert the HHS Administration and encourages others to do so that she has an issue.

• Rhodea shared that the head of Flourish and Thrive Labs posted on LinkedIn that he has disagreement with the president’s Executive Orders. The CEO put out an alert that his company was going to be downloading and housing data that the Trump Administration was asking the CDC to remove, letting public health people know to come to his company instead.

• Rhodea added that commissioners need to be careful about choosing partners, and that Ottawa County already is connected to Flourish and Thrive Labs publicly since it is highlighted on the company’s website.

• Commissioner Jacob Bonnema agreed with Rhodea about being cautious in choosing vendors. He said that one of the big themes for his service is to try to lower political activism, not wanting to see left or right but to “shoot down the middle.”

• Commissioner Joe Moss asked if the contract could be sent back to have the county come up with a different solution.

• Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley joined the meeting and explained that her department had gone through the RFP process with Flourish and Thrive Labs, and that the organization was the highest scored vendor by the procurement team. She pointed out that the funds in the contract are for this fiscal year, with the work scheduled to occur in September.

• Moss said that he’d support having the fiscal team look at the second highest scored vendor to see if that vendor would be a good fit.

• Chair John Teeples was not inclined to pull the contract. He said that the Department of Public Health had a team that vetted the providers, and it would be an issue of micromanagement if the Board were to get involved. The Chair added that if Public Health has used the organization before and trusts the work, “I’m satisfied with that.”

• Rhodea advised that if the contract is voted through, perhaps the Board should consider a policy governing when Ottawa County is used to advertise for outside organizations and for-profit companies. There should be some sort of approval process because the County’s presence on the Flourish and Thrive Labs website is an indication that the County supports the organization’s work and what it’s doing.

• Commissioner Josh Brugger agreed with Rhodea regarding governing partnerships but agreed with Chair Teeples regarding the need to trust staff and not micromanage.

• Commissioner Allison Miedema said the Board is the stop gap. Considering contracts is one of the responsibilities of the Board. Miedema pointed out that most of the time contracts are supported, but that every once in a while there is one that is not. It is the job of the commissioners to catch those and have a professional conversation as they were doing.

• Commissioner Jim Barry said the website of Flourish and Thrive Labs seems “pretty plain vanilla” and wondered what it was that made Rhodea uncomfortable.

• Rhodea clarified that the content of concern is on the CEO’s LinkedIn page in the form of a post that has garnered 2555 engagements from public health personnel.

• Commissioner Doug Zylstra accused Rhodea of saying the CEO doesn’t have First Amendment rights if he wants a contract with the County.

• Rhodea countered that was not at all what she said. She reminded Zylstra that minutes earlier she said she was completely fine with someone not liking the president or RFK or complaining about what they’re doing. But the CEO is choosing to take action that subverts Executive Orders.

• Zylstra responded that Executive Orders are not law.

• Rhodea said she was fully aware that “Democrats are actively working to not comply with Executive Orders,” and that now she understood Zylstra’s rationale. Zylstra is the lone elected Democrat on the Board of Commissioners.

• Brugger chimed in that Flourish and Thrive Labs hadn’t done anything illegal and, according to staff, are the best qualified to provide service. He added that from a “free-market capitalist perspective” he was going to vote to give them the contract. And for those who came in second or third, he said they “should do a better job if they want our business.”

• Will publicly subverting Executive Orders give future vendors a bump in rankings with the Public Health Department?

No votes: Commissioners Jordan Jorritsma, Josh Brugger, Jim Barry, Doug Zylstra, Phil Kuyers, and John Teeples

Yes votes: Commissioners Joe Moss, Sylvia Rhodea, Kendra Wenzel, Allison Miedema, and Jacob Bonnema

The motion failed.

Yes votes – Commissioners Jacob Bonnema, Jordan Jorritsma, Josh Brugger, Jim Barry, Doug Zylstra, Phil Kuyers, and John Teeples

No votes: Commissioners Allison Miedema, Sylvia Rhodea, Joe Moss, and Kendra Wenzel

The next step in the County Administrator search was to narrow the candidate list to a group of finalists who would be interviewed. One by one the commissioners highlighted the qualities and criteria they personally would be looking for as they considered applicants. Additionally, Commissioner Rhodea shared the scope of the Administrator role.

Yes votes: Commissioners Josh Brugger, Jordan Jorritsma, Phil Kuyers, Jim Barry, Jacob Bonnema, and John Teeples

No votes: Commissioners Doug Zylstra, Allison Miedema, Sylvia Rhodea, Joe Moss, and Kendra Wenzel

The motion failed.

Commissioner Moss suggested adding Michael Tremblay, the lone applicant already interviewed, to be considered equally with the new candidates. If Tremblay wasn’t chosen as a finalist, he would not go forward to an interview. Moss clarified that clarity is needed for candidates, constituents, and board members, and proposed that whichever candidates were chosen during this vote would move forward to be interviewed; the rest would not. It was confirmed Tremblay was already on the applicant list in front of the board members.

Interim Deputy Administrator Ron Frantz explained the process. The County Clerk would provide each commissioner with a ballot. Commissioners would choose up to eight candidates which were assigned a number to preserve confidentiality.

A spreadsheet was projected for all to see as commissioner choices were entered and tallied. Five finalists and two alternatives were selected.

Several commissioners thanked the Board, Clerk, and Administration for the smooth process of selecting the finalists. Other commissioners mentioned events they had attended, such as Commissioner Bonnema highlighting the Critter Barn Derby and Outdoor Discovery Center, while Commissioner Barry talked about attending a fundraiser for the Community Action Agency. Commissioner Wenzel told a story about a veteran helped by the Veterans Department, and Commissioner Rhodea expressed she was pleased with the hire of the new director for the 911 call center.

• Commissioner Miedema shared that the Department of Energy extended the emergency declaration for the MISO grid which allowed for the order to keep the Campbell Plant open for another 90 days, through November 19. She added that in July there was a Max Gen event, and the JH Campbell plant was greatly needed. The use of the Campbell helped avoid significant shortages to the MISO grid—which includes the entire Midwest region.

• Commissioner Jorritsma said that there is currently no budget deal in Lansing and cautioned the Board that if a budget doesn’t get passed, it will affect some of the operations at the County.

• Commissioner Moss talked about the proposed battery farm in Blendon Township. Last week’s township meeting was wall-to-wall residents as they have only recently found out about the project. Concerns include:

o The company that owns the battery facilities, Key Capture, is owned by a foreign company in South Korea.
o The landowner leasing the land to Key Capture currently sits on Blendon’s Planning Commission, which is part of approving the project.
o Fire: you can’t put out a lithium fire; you have to let it burn.
o Water quality: if there’s a fire and you’re spraying water, heavy metals can leech into the soil and risk damaging the aquifers.
o There are air quality and evacuation risks which could affect residents and schools, even reaching to Grand Valley State University.

Moss said much of the situation stems from 2023. The Democrats in Lansing passed a “very controversial and bad law” that stripped local control away from municipalities being able to make decisions about these battery farms. Residents of Blendon have been asking the Planning Commission and the Board in Blendon to oppose the installation to delay the project. Moss said to contact him for more information. There is also a Facebook page called Blendon Bulletin that provides more detail.

Chair Teeples closed the meeting by expressing his appreciation for the skill and goodwill that have moved forward the hiring process for the County Administrator.

August 26, 2025 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Regular Session
August 26, 2025

Ottawa County Administration Building
12220 Fillmore Street
West Olive, MI 49460