Chair Josh Brugger called the meeting to order by first acknowledging the commitment of the current commissioners. Eight of the commissioners had been out of state the day before. Seven were in Washington, D.C., advocating on behalf of Ottawa County residents, and one came back from vacation. Such is the commitment of the Board to be present to conduct the business of the county.

The first Action Item on the agenda was to consider a motion to approve the Resolution for the incorporation of Ottawa County’s Community Mental Health Department (CMH) into an Authority.

• County Administrator Patrick Waterman summed up the work done toward the effort and concluded with the staff recommendation for the Board to proceed with the conversion to an Authority.

• Commissioner John Teeples, based on his experience with his sister, supported the conversion, saying he would never knowingly compromise anything that could jeopardize the care of the most vulnerable people. He added that as elected officials, the Board needs to be prudent for taxpayers.

• Commissioner Phil Kuyers commented that in his conversations with other Michigan commissioners, none of them had thought becoming an Authority was a bad idea.

• Commissioner Miedema, while acknowledging there are benefits on both sides, mentioned there also are reasons to be cautious. She gave the example of the Road Commission, and how the Board has lost some of that relationship and the ability to approve policies. She also had concerns over how moving to an Authority would affect staffing in Ottawa County.

• Commissioner Kendra Wenzel pondered whether changes on the CMH board or in CMH leadership would make a difference. She said that local leadership and several constituents had expressed worry over whether their voices would be heard were CMH to become an Authority, adding that the conversion might make sense at some point but not now.

• Commissioner Jacob Bonnema asked whether the conversion would strengthen Ottawa County’s voice in Lansing. Waterman responded that it could because CMH would be joining 78 other Michigan county Authorities.

• Commissioner Jim Barry thought an Authority structure would make for a stronger and more flexible CMH.

• Commissioner Jordan Jorritsma said he wasn’t downplaying the concerns, but that he trusts the staff and the success of the 78 counties.

• Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea pointed out that the number one problem and need is that the State needs to change its funding model to needs based. Also, there’s an expectation that the PIHP will be re-emerging in indeterminate ways. While not opposed, like Miedema and Wenzel, Rhodea didn’t think this was the right time to convert while the State is sorting things out, though she’d fully support whatever the Board decided. She asked about the impact the conversion would have on IT and HR employees. Waterman assured her that staffing will be worked out thoughtfully.

• Brugger thought the County was long overdue to make the switch. He said the conversion could protect Ottawa County taxpayer dollars and request/demand/advocate that the State and Federal governments do their job and bring our tax dollars back to West Michigan.

• Commissioner Joe Moss appreciated the work that had been done but wasn’t in favor of moving forward at this time. He did not see an impending financial disaster or significant financial risk. Because of the changing landscape, Moss thought Ottawa County was better positioned to move forward together to address issues while the Legislature and the State work to fix some of the problems. Commissioner Doug Zylstra agreed.

• Teeples disagreed. He thought it was better to act before the financial risk increased. Moss countered that Teeples was basing that assessment on the current situation, assuming there will be no changes in the funding model. He added that there’s always a risk of some sort of deficit.

• Jorritsma agreed with Moss about the instability but thought that, given the structural inconsistency, they would always be relying on the State and waiting for them to go to a needs model. He thought the time to convert was now.

The motion to approve the Resolution to make CMH an Authority passed.

Those voting yes: Commissioners John Teeples, Josh Brugger, Phil Kuyers, Jordan Jorritsma, Jim Barry, and Jacob Bonnema,

Those voting no: Commissioners Allison Miedema, Sylvia Rhodea, Kendra Wenzel, Doug Zylstra, and Joe Moss.

The Board considered a motion to approve the partnership agreement between Ottawa County and Good Samaritan Ministries and support the Ottawa County Eviction Prevention Program with $300,000 from the Board Initiatives Fund (leftover ARPA dollars).

• Miedema asked to have the contract include participants’ proof of citizenship. Erin Kamphuis, Interim Director at Good Samaritan Ministries, assured her that proof would be easy to accommodate since that is required in the application.

• Miedema also asked that there be more of a condition of showing a step down from funding continuing to come from government. She suggested doing a faith-based effort of giving the program $100,000 year one. Year two, after it is shown that the ministry is building relationships and continuing to grow its financial means, giving the program $60,000. Year three, with the same continued expectations, giving $40,000.

• Bonnema agreed with Miedema’s suggestion of stepping down but didn’t think the Board needed to decrease the funding at this point.

• Jorritsma also agreed with Miedema but said the decrease already had been done by going from the previous $2 million in funding to $300,000.

• Moss altered Miedema’s suggestion to the first year giving $150,000, second year $100,000, and third year $50,000 and changing the contract to allow up to 10% for administration costs—giving more flexibility to support some of the operations.

• Rhodea agreed with Moss’s suggestion. She added that she would like to see the contract include where the program helps families build an emergency plan.

• Brugger wasn’t in favor of “wordsmithing a contract” during a Board meeting, adding that it should have been done before it got to this point.

The Board voted unanimously first to approve Moss’s step down and administration addition suggestion, then to add Miedema’s addition of proof of citizenship, and finally to approve the amended contract.

When it came to the Ratification of Contracts, Miedema requested that two contracts be removed to be voted on separately.

Chair Brugger was not in favor of separating out the contracts, saying he believes items that are on the post ratification already have met the minimum qualifications to be included and approved, and that he didn’t want to set that standard because it puts staff in a “real guessing game.” As such, all but the Chair voted to allow the first contract to be voted on separately. All but the Chair and Barry voted on the second contract to be voted on separately.

Contract 2910 would give $5000 to the Public Health Department for an after-school substance misuse prevention program using Epicenter’s program, ENGAGE. Public Health had begun piloting the program in Coopersville, meeting with fifteen students. Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hamble explained that the previous program wasn’t sufficiently measurable. Her department was trying this program to see if the results improved. Hambley said her Program Manager, who wasn’t present, had more details.

• Miedema said from her perspective the Board should have been made aware of the program prior to its start. She was hesitant to ratify a contract without her questions being answered.

• Rhodea agreed, saying that anytime the County has staff going into schools it needs to be particularly careful—ensuring parental consent and understanding the content of the program.

• Teeples disagreed. He argued that Public Health has discretion and that this wasn’t a policy that should come to the Board’s level. The contract was for $5000 and was a pilot. He didn’t think the department would force kids to do something against the schools or their parents. It wasn’t an issue they needed to be concerned about, especially for only $5000. Barry and Jorritsma agreed, saying the program wasn’t a county-wide initiative and had merits.

• Moss didn’t see red flags with the program but agreed that the Board should be extra careful when schools and minor children are involved. He added that in general he doesn’t support school-based health clinics, having seen bad things across the country when those are implemented.

• Wenzel said, according to the information she was reading, parents are generally not informed about their children’s participation in the program.

• Without reaction to Wenzel’s comment, Teeples again brought the conversation back to the cost, pointing out that threshold on contract approval is $70,000. He said that by “knit-picking the value” of those kinds of contracts, the Board was on a slippery slope, putting the entire ratification process in jeopardy.

• Rhodea redirected, saying she believes the real issue is the access to minors, not the $5000. And there need to be guidelines and a County policy for Board approval anytime staff is given access to minors in schools away from parents. The access should be an opt-in from parents, not an opt-out, and the content should be Board approved. Rhodea explained that historically the CDC has recommended and advocated things that are “very much not OK, such as radical sex education.” She cautioned against blanket approval to whatever the CDC recommends. Moss agreed. Regarding Wenzel’s comment, Rhodea said the program appears to offer a few different options and that the after-school option appears to be with parental consent.

• Wenzel told Teeples, “The safety and security of our children should never be contingent on a dollar amount level.”

The motion to approve contract 2910 passed.

Those voting yes: Commissioners John Teeples, Josh Brugger, Jim Barry, Doug Zylstra, Jordan Jorritsma, Phil Kuyers, Jacob Bonnema, Joe Moss, and Sylvia Rhodea.

Those voting no: Commissioners Allison Miedema and Kendra Wenzel.

Contract 2908 would allow Public Health to receive $4500 for staff training and lunch from Michigan Association for Local Public Health (MALPH), which is the state arm of NACHO.

• Miedema agreed with the need, but not with the partnership with MALPH—an organization that supports DEI, health equity, school data access (which is anti-child privacy), minors to consenting to health procedures without parental consent, and the trans agenda; promotes radical sex ed and activism for police racism and climate change; and advocates of eliminating philosophical and religious exemptions for vaccination.

• The Board had this same conversation last year, Miedema recalled, adding that a moratorium should be put in place against MALPH. She recommended rejecting the particular contract and instead utilizing some of the remaining Board initiative funds to fund Public Health’s request. Moss and Rhodea agreed, adding that NACHO needs to be defunded and that its policies erode individual freedoms, parental rights, and childhood innocence.

• Barry argued that he didn’t believe this was a contract for teaching DEI but rather for staff training and morale booster.

The motion to approve contract 2908 passed.

Those voting yes: Commissioners John Teeples, Josh Brugger, Jordan Jorritsma, Jim Barry, Doug Zylstra, Phil Kuyers, and Jacob Bonnema.

Those voting no: Commissioners Allison Miedema, Joe Moss, Kendra Wenzel, and Kendra Wenzel.

There currently are five openings on the CMH board. Anyone interested is welcome to apply. The portal will be open starting February 27 and will close March 6, and interviews will be starting over the next month. Board appointments will be at the end of March with the term starting April 1 and ending March 31, 2029.

GCSI Lobbyist Bob DeVries provided an update of his efforts and a recap of Governor Whitmer’s State of the State address.

• GCSI is lobbying for a million dollars to finish the Grand River Greenway that will connect across M45 in Allendale Township and for a half-a-million-dollar grant to study possibly recharging the aquifer. Local legislators are supportive, but the budget is tight. It’s unclear how much money will be able to be set aside to fulfill these requests.

• Governor Whitmer’s address mainly focused on literacy and how Michigan is ranked 44th nationally in childhood literacy. She also is focused on capping medical debt and housing. One of the proposals promoting housing is to restrict cities and townships from certain zoning authority in order to allow developers to put multiple units on a parcel. Cities and townships are opposing the proposal. The Governor seems to endorse it.

February 26, 2026 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Regular Session
February 26, 2026

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