The most belabored discussion of the meeting was around the process to consider the creation of a Community Mental Health authority. County Administrator Patrick Waterman explained the proposed order for the process. An analysis would be completed and presented to the Board at the organizational meeting in January, followed by three public hearings, and concluding with the Board making a decision by the end of January.

As proposed, the public hearings would not be part of a Board meeting but rather information-gathering forums intended to provide the public with an understanding of what’s being looked at, why it’s being looked at, and the pros and cons—then opening up the floor for public comment. The comments then would be compiled and shared with the Board.

There would be a caveat for the hearings to be cancelled if the Board determined the analysis didn’t provide enough information. But if the Board decided to move ahead to an authority, Waterman advised that the ideal time for the change to take effect would be on October 1st, the beginning of the fiscal year—so that it’s a “clean break.”

The motion on the table was whether to approve a resolution that would authorize the setting of three public hearings in order to engage the public in the decision.

• Commissioner Allison Miedema said that while she understood that the reason for the motion was to give the Board and the public advance notice, she thought the motion was skipping over proper process. For her, part of the hesitation was the perception that would be conveyed to the public. By scheduling the hearings, it may look like the Board is moving forward, affirming a move to an independent authority. She believed the Board should wait for the study and report.

• Commissioner Joe Moss was confident that once the commissioners were presented with the documentation, there would be a finite amount of information and they would be able to make a “very informed” decision. Regarding comments he’d heard from the public, Moss said he wanted to make it perfectly clear that CMH is not closing. “Are there challenges? Are there risks?” he asked. “There always are in government. Yes. That is our job to mitigate those.” He added that he would prefer to wait and discuss hearing dates at the first meeting in January.

• Commissioner Jim Barry reminded the public that the Board is focused on a commitment to excellent services, a consideration and support for employees, and a pledge to be fiscally responsible. He added that he would be more comfortable if there could be some focus on getting information out to the community, but that he also was sensitive to the budget considerations.

• Commissioner Jordan Jorritsma cautioned that it would be important to make a decision before October 1st because federally there are Medicaid changes coming down the pipeline. He questioned why some commissioners were concerned about scheduling public hearings early since it wouldn’t bind them to switching to an authority.

• Miedema explained to Jorritsma that often people come to public hearings with the mindset of giving their opinion on the direction that the Board already is headed and want time to gather their information and talking points for the Board to consider. Commissioner Doug Zylstra agreed.

• Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea proposed doing dual budget planning for next year so that if at any point the determined path goes “sideways,” there will be an alternate plan. She added she would prefer not to make the decision at this meeting. “CMH affects our most vulnerable population, and this can be a very stressful time of year,” she said. Rhodea furthered that the Board needed to not only consider the financial risk, but the people risk. CMH and its funding are incredibly complicated and there needs to be more education to help the public understand the bigger picture.

• Vice Chair Josh Brugger wanted to pick dates, saying they didn’t have to be in January if that felt rushed to some. “Setting some dates in the future gives us a target to work toward and to make sure we hold staff accountable to getting information out there,” he said.

• Waterman said that the dates that he was proposing were January 7, 14, and 15. He had secured the locations of the CMH facility, Georgetown Township Library, and the Spring Lake Community Center and would need time to coordinate different times and locations if those were not accepted.

• Jorritsma agreed that if the Board didn’t receive the documentation until January 6, then having the first hearing on January 7 would be too soon.

• Rhodea thought if they were to go into public hearings right now, the public would perceive the question as: “Should Ottawa County have our CMH department go off as a separate authority? Because there’s a financial risk in the next year of potentially $5 million dollars where CMH could go over budget.” Rhodea added that the County has tremendous resources and could absorb the $5 million to take care of the people at CMH. “Is it more important for the County to not absorb the $5 million or for them to take care of their people?”

• CMH Executive Director Dr. Michael Brashears said that to him the question of becoming an authority isn’t solely because of a pending deficit in Medicaid at CMH. “That’s a possibility every year, regardless of if you’re an authority or not. It’s how you address that…To me, this is not a decision just based on financial risk… There have to be more compelling reasons.” Brashears said that even though this is not a CMH Executive Director, CEO, or CMH board decision, he’s “getting hammered” on social media as being the person that’s solely making this decision, saying “Dr. Brashears is building a CMH empire.”

• After much back and forth on potential hearing and meeting dates, Rhodea said she thought the bottom-line question was whether the Board is comfortable with going ahead and scheduling public hearings before receiving the analysis. If the commissioners were, they should move ahead and set the dates. If not, then the dates could be set at a special meeting on January 13.

• Zylstra agreed with Rhodea and added that if the Board votes on the dates and the public comes to the conclusion that the Board already has made a decision, the Board needs to be comfortable with the public’s perception on that—which personally he was not.

The motion to adopt the resolution with the inclusion of the dates of January 14, 15, and week of February 2 for public hearings regarding CMH, failed.

Those voting yes: Commissioner Jordan Jorritsma, Josh Brugger, Jim Barry, and John Teeples.

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

Commissioner Jacob Bonnema was absent.

Based on the conversation, the Board intends to schedule the public hearings in January, inviting the public to participate in January and February.

Next was the matter of the Kleinjans v Moss lawsuit. Chris Kleinjans had sued his former employer, Michigan State University, after MSU terminated his employment when he became a county commissioner. It was reported MSU fired Kleinjans due to the Incompatible Public Offices Act of 1978, which prevents elected officials from holding incompatible positions—such as where an employee both works for and is elected to a role that oversees a subordinate position.

In a recording Kleinjans released during his campaign, MSU officials spoke about whether or not Kleinjans’ employment with MSU ultimately would conflict if he won his election for county commissioner. After MSU determined there was an issue, Kleinjans was fired. Kleinjans responded with a lawsuit. Later, Kleinjans amended his lawsuit against MSU to include Commissioner Moss, who served as Chair of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners from 2023-2024.

Now the Board was being asked to vote on the settlement. Chair Teeples reminded the Board that the case was in active litigation, and that the merits should not be discussed in open session, adding that anything said could affect litigation and everything associated with it. The suggested motion was amended to read, “Motion to accept the mediator’s recommendation to settle the Klein v Moss lawsuit for $112,500 as outlined in the opinion letter dated December 5, 2025.”

Once it was seconded, the Chair offered to have discussion but reiterated that this was not the time due to the active litigation. No discussion was ventured, and the motion passed.

Administrator Waterman shared that there had been “very qualified” candidates for the Deputy Administrator position. He is in the process of scheduling the second-round interviews for the remaining two candidates and hopes to have a decision before the end of the year.

• Moss highlighted that commissioners want to hear from the public regarding the CMH consideration. He believes the Commission, the Administration, the CMH board, and all of the individuals involved are going to be very thoughtful and careful on any decisions that may or may not be made.

• With the snow and cold weather, Jorritsma had received correspondence from constituents with questions about the Road Commission and their practices and procedures. He has encouraged Road Commission staff to come to Board meetings to provide the public with updates on big projects and construction.

• Miedema had an informal conversation with Rich Houtteman from Consumers Energy. His biggest concern when the Campbell Plant was extended was about staff. He affirmed that was no longer a concern.

• Rhodea also had spoken with Houtteman. He assured her that any financial burdens from the Campbell Plant are distributed among all the states that share the miso grid. As of September, the cost to run the plant was estimated to be about $30 million, with a reported profit of $31.4 million. Rhodea pointed out that the plant is making at least as much per day in profit as it costs to operate. The concern about the cost to run it eventually would be in our laps is not true. They’re making a profit. Regarding CMH, Rhodea said she appreciated the Board slowing things down, which she thinks in the long run will be best for the community.

• Zylstra and Barry thanked Chair Teeples for leading the Board.

• Regarding CMH, Brugger said that for him, the writing has been on the wall that a change needs to happen. His general philosophy is that if the state is going to mandate services, the state needs to be responsible for paying for those services. Period. Sending CMH off, would not be a good-bye, good riddance, but rather like the relationship with the Ottawa County Road Commission.

• Chair Teeples closed the meeting by thanking the attorneys that helped the County this year.

December 18, 2025 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Regular Session
December 18, 2025

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