Four Action Items were listed on the Agenda, one regarding the Landbank Authority Bylaws and three regarding easements for Idema Explorers Trails. All four items passed unanimously.

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

Commissioner John Teeples was absent.

Public Health Officer Adeline Hambley talked about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) statistics.

• In Ottawa County there were 30 SIDS deaths between 2010 and 2024.

• October is Infant Safe Sleep month, and Hambley said her department is hoping to raise awareness for preventing sleep-related infant deaths. She mentioned that many of these deaths are linked to infants sleeping in bed with adults.

• Hambley recommended following the ABCs of safe sleep: Babies should sleep Alone, on their Back, in a Crib.

• Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea shared that her son had gone into respiratory distress while in her arms—not sleeping in a bed—and was placed in the NICU within an hour of receiving the Hep B vaccine. “There have been a number of studies that have found that SIDS correlates pretty strongly with vaccination,” Rhodea said. She cautioned that parents choosing to vaccinate their children should be watchful, especially within the 24 hours, days, or even a month following a vaccination. She added she expects more information/precaution to be coming from the federal HHS.

• Rhodea also said that the correlation between SIDS and vaccination was highlighted during COVID when parents weren’t able to take their babies for well child visits. During that time the rates of SIDS “pretty much went down to nothing.”

• Hambley also was asked about virtual vaccine waiver sessions. She explained that counties that set up their own offering were inundated by people seeking waivers. Ottawa County is waiting to hear about the online module being created by the State and U of M, anticipating it will be available to residents by the end of the year at the latest.

Community Mental Health (CMH) CEO Michael Brashears provided an update.

• The State of Michigan, under Governor Whitmer, is planning to bid out—or privatize, as Brashears called it—the mental health system and the management of it.

• Currently across the state there are 46 CMH organizations serving 83 counties (some serve more than 1 county). After the State released the plan to contract out the system, a series of lawsuits were filed. Ottawa County has provided feedback but is not a plaintiff and has not donated any legal funds for these lawsuits—which say the State is violating the law and does not have the authority to privatize who manages the system. Several CMH organizations filed an injunction to keep the State from moving forward.

• “My hope is that the system has a huge pause,” Brashears said. “No doubt reform is needed in the mental health system, but you don’t have to destroy the structure to do it. We can improve all the stated goals the state has of improving the system without radically changing how the system is managed… We need more choice for clients… consistent rates across the state… equitable funding for every CMH… all those things. And we can do that without destroying the system.”

• The state’s plan is to go from 10 regions to 3 super regions. Brashears said it’s been said that the proposal will bid out the administrative layer and related costs and does not cut funding for services. But the fact is that, in Brashears’ estimation, reducing from 10 to 3 regions would actually increase administrative costs by $500 million. It’s also been said that the proposal would keep CMH system intact. Brashears said in fact it would not allow CMH to co-manage the Medicaid benefit for the County as it does currently. CMH would be a service provider only and not responsible for any contracts.

• “At least the residents of Ottawa County can yell at me,” Brashears said. “I don’t know where you go when you have to complain about Medicare services when you’re in a region the size of Rhode Island.”

• This plan fails to accomplish the stated goals and has an existential threat in how CMH functions within Ottawa County. If CMH is not a co-manager of Medicare, Brashears would have no responsibility for any service that he didn’t choose to directly operate. “It’s a threat that has to stop. Every concern that’s been brought to the attention of the system can be addressed within the current system, we just have to have the courage to do it,” Brashears said.

• The Federal budget has not passed yet. Brashears said that to fundamentally change how CMH/Medicaid is currently managed is “the stupidest thing to do in the world right now when the Federal government is figuring out things… The Federal government has not told us to change our model because they think there’s a conflict of interest. I know it to be true because they’ve allowed the model for 25 years. So clearly it’s not illegal or a huge conflict of what we’re doing.”

• Moss said that while at the Mackinac Conference he’d heard that insurance companies are likely the ones to benefit from the proposal.

• Brashears said he wants the clients to be the ones to benefit. “And this proposal won’t benefit the clients.”

• Rhodea added that the people she’s talked to across the state who are involved in CMH seem united in being against the proposal.

Ottawa County Treasurer Cheryl Clark shared the Financial Month End update.

• According to the September financials, Ottawa County met all of requirements for the investment policy. As is the norm, at the end of the fiscal year a lot of grant money was put into mutual funds to earn better interest until it needs to be spent.

• Clark shared that the Supreme Court currently is hearing a case (Pung v. Isabella County) to determine how much should be paid to property owners when a property is foreclosed and sold at auction—fair market value or the auction price. Clark explained that everything that has sold at market has been under fair market value. And how is fair market value determined? Two times SED or will the County need to hire an appraiser? If an appraiser is needed, the cost would be passed on to the auction and the minimum bid—plus any other fees—would then become the fair market value, meaning the County probably wouldn’t be able to sell anything. Clark will continue to follow the case and update on the Supreme Court’s decision.

Commissioner Zylstra opened the discussion saying residents had shared concerns about the posting for an Administrative Analyst.

• Zylstra wondered why the position hadn’t been brought to the Board for approval. He said the Board approves positions with the budget and throughout the year. For an example, Zylstra asked what would happen if a department head decided to add a diversity and equity position. He assumed there would be some on the Board who would take issue with that, and there would be no mechanism to review or stop it.

• Interim County Administrator Gary Rosema replied that the position had been the same for 12 years and it was time to change it up.

• Zylstra said he wasn’t questioning that the department found the position valuable. He asked Rosema, “Is it your position that a department head can change a position that has been vacated and transform it into anything he wishes?” Rosema replied, “Yes.” Zylstra responded that that was not his understanding of how things are done.

• Commissioner Miedema shared that when there had been changes made to other positions, the Board had been presented with a description of the changes. She added that for her take on this, the analyst position hadn’t met the same protocol that has been presented to the Board in the past. She was concerned that if the Board goes down this road it would leave too much ambiguity, even for staff.

• Rhodea agreed that the precedence set with process is really important, as is laying out a transparent path for staff.

• “So do we now tell department heads and county-wide electeds that when someone retires in their department they have to bring it to the Board?” Rosema asked.

• Rhodea told him that they would if there is a substantial change to the position.

• “And even a renaming of the position,” Miedema said.

• Rhodea reasoned that it’s not a big ask, but rather a very simple thing to just bring it to the Board.

• Bonnema asked Rosema to bring the topic to his meeting with incoming County Administrator Waterman so that he could discuss it with the Board.

• Miedema said that she thought the position already had been posted and requested that the hiring be paused.

• Bonnema wasn’t sure if the Committee could make that request.

• Zylstra made a motion to pause the hiring until the Board receives a request but later withdrew the motion to allow time to develop clarity for the process. He asked that the request be brought to the next Board meeting.

• Rhodea also asked for the request to be on the next agenda and that the request be taken seriously.

• Brugger said, “I’m curious how we do that because I’m not interested in reviewing the position at all in the context.”

• Miedema was concerned that the issue would get lost in the shuffle if another motion weren’t made by the Committee.

• Jorritsma said that he was hesitant to put this specific item on the next Board agenda because of the potential precedent it would set. He thought an overall discussion on the policy would be more appropriate.

• Zylstra countered that he had the opposite concern and that not bringing the request before the Board sets a precedent. He added that, in line with what Rhodea had said, there should be a motion to approve the request before the position is filled.

• Rhodea didn’t think the timeframe was in jeopardy and that the position could stay open to the end of the month as had been advertised. Doing so would still give an opportunity to bring it to the next Board meeting for a decision.

• Bonnema agreed that there was no sense of urgency to do a motion “before we know what the field looks like.”

• Zylstra responded that since this would be a new position, by not taking action, the Committing was taking an action.

• Moss agreed with Zylstra in that, in general, positions should be approved, but said he needed more detail. Additionally, Moss offered to help by making the motion at the next Board meeting or talking with Chair John Teeples.

• Rosema resisted once more saying, “So when a department head or a county-wide elected comes and says, ‘I have a retirement and I want to change this position up,’ that position has to come to the Board? It’s already a budgeted position.”

• Zylstra replied that it would be budgeted dollar-wise but not purpose-wise. He explained that the Board doesn’t just say “Here’s $100k, spend it the way you want.” Instead the Board says, “Here’s $100k to do ‘x’.” He added that he didn’t think the remedy was that difficult and that if the Board has no oversight on position changes, it will be a very slippery slope.

• Barry countered, “Josh kind of alluded to this, I’m not interested in micromanaging a lot of internal stuff within a department. We set policy. I want the department heads to execute it.”

• Rosema threw out one more scenario: “We’ve been told that DSI is going to change up a job description of a future retiree. I suspect that better come to the Board then.”

• Zylstra told him that he would hope that DSI would bring a request, adding that the remedy is not that hard.

• Wenzel told Zylstra that she agrees with him 100 percent.

• Zylstra said he hoped to see the matter on the next Board agenda to continue the discussion.

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Planning & Policy and Finance & Administration Committees
October 14, 2025

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