On March 12, 2024, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint resident and local business owner Jon Anderson as Interim Administrator. Before the vote, Commissioner Allison Miedema, Chair of the Talent & Recruitment Committee, shared about Anderson’s references and how they all had spoken highly of him. The Administrator position has been vacant since John Gibbs was terminated on February 29, 2024.

Anderson was born and raised in Southern California. Hired at 19 years old as an intern by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, he spent 30 years in law enforcement with the last 20 in the Riverside Sheriff’s Department. Riverside County is unique due to its size. The county is 7,300 square miles with an approximate population of 2.5 million people. There were nearly 5,000 employees in the sheriff’s department and over 25,000 county employees.

Starting as a sergeant, Anderson oversaw the hiring, testing, and backgrounds of all sworn positions. He then was promoted to lieutenant and eventually to captain. While captain, Anderson was responsible for high-level autonomous management, administration, and completing and managing the budget. His final assignment in Riverside County was as commander of Special Investigations and Homicide Bureau. In this position, he dealt with a complex budget from over seven different funding sources and additionally was responsible for preparing, presenting, and managing a budget for his command.

Anderson has been in Michigan for eight years and in Ottawa County for the past five. Landing in the Howell area first, Anderson worked part-time as a cold case homicide investigator for the Livingston Sheriff’s Department. Shortly after that Anderson managed security operations, first for the Detroit Tigers and then on this side of the state for Spectrum Health. He is now co-owner of Bullet Hole Firearms and Training in Holland.

When asked why he left California, Anderson explained that “California was once a pretty good place to live. It’s always been a little different and expensive, but the good outweighed the bad. It became much too expensive, crime was beyond belief, and although I don’t let politics run my life, it is now a one-party state and the policies and laws that are passed are simply ridiculous. I began a nationwide search for a new home a few years before my full-service retirement and found that Michigan checked all the boxes.”

After the vote on March 12, 2024, Anderson said he is ready for his new role as Interim County Administrator and loves the challenge.

It didn’t take long for local media to begin its assault on Anderson. On March 8, 2024, the Holland Sentinel ran an article claiming he had no experience and that he didn’t return a request for a comment.

Anderson, not bowing to media slander, made a public post on his Facebook page.

In speaking with Anderson, he realizes the media narrative and assault come hardest against conservative counties, and he isn’t going to sit quietly while they spread lies.

It is clear that local media got this one wrong. Anderson has an extensive background in how county government runs.