OLIVE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Wood) — In a Tuesday night Ottawa County Board of Commissioners conference, a movement passed in attempt to suppress the extensive wait time visitor speakers have to go through even though waiting for community remark.
Over 40 folks spoke throughout the to start with general public comment session at Tuesday night’s meeting. Of the commenters, some men and women spoke out against what they termed commissioner comment suppression. Some pointed out a deficiency of transparency and complained about restricting free of charge speech.
In lots of Ottawa County meetings since the board manufactured sweeping changes on January 3, community remark has lasted various hours.
By the close of the conference, the movement to go correspondence just before community remark was permitted, in accordance to Commissioner Roger Belknap. Commissioner Doug Zylstra said the movement was intended to assist reduce the long hold out prior to visitor speakers make a public remark.
Through community remarks Tuesday night, some men and women spoke in assistance of overall health division and latest administrative overall health officer Adeline Hambley.
There ended up opinions for and in opposition to a Range, Equity, and Inclusion place of work. Allendale resident Kathy Schmidt study a statement from an organization she did not identify.
“A community Allendale corporation with extra than 35 staff members posted this on the site, ‘Diversity, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) play a considerable position in the society and main values … We are greater since of our DEI attempts and we feel Ottawa County is as very well. Therefore, we are deeply unhappy in the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners to dissolve the county’s DEI office environment. We are pleased to see our shoppers, these kinds of as Miller Knoll and other individuals communicate about this situation,’” mentioned Schmidt.
People today also voiced their thoughts on new County Administrator John Gibbs and his ask for for an administrator aide with an amplified budget for the place. Motion requests for the neighborhood psychological health board and the floor h2o board also produced the agenda.
But most of the responses had been in aid of Nathaniel Kelly as the wellness administrator and talked over his skills. Nathaniel Kelly’s wife Kristen also spoke out in his protection.
“The people of this county have earned the report to be corrected. Media retailers have made bogus claims, skewing the public’s check out of no matter whether or not he is knowledgeable and if Columbia Southern College is a diploma mill,” stated Kristen Kelly.
Columbia Southern College is an on-line university based in Orange Beach, Alabama. The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners have reported Nathaniel Kelly holds a diploma from there in occupational overall health and a master’s in public health.
“Regarding Nate’s education and learning, the media likes to position out that CSU is an on-line establishment with for-profit status and lacks knowledge of it is accreditations … I couldn’t obtain any of these attempted attacks on CSU when the former emergency management director, who is also a graduate of CSU was hired in 2018,” Kristen Kelly claimed.
Ottawa County’s unexpected emergency administration director from 2018 to 2020 was Nick Bonstell, who retains an affiliate diploma in fireplace science, a bachelor’s degree in occupational wellness and safety/chemistry and a master’s diploma in public administration all from Columbia Southern College, according to his LinkedIn page.
“We shouldn’t deal with a university that accommodates the lifestyles of energetic-obligation military services veterans and initial responders as less than,” reported Kristen Kelly. “Our county demands a gap examination on our wellbeing department, and I know that my partner, Nate Kelly, is the male for that task.”
A number of commenters voiced their help for Adeline Hambley, who was demoted to an interim administrative health and fitness officer place whilst the board attempts to approve Nathaniel Kelly.
“I’m in this article tonight to assist Adeline Hambley and the health office workers. In the Ottawa Effects majority’s ongoing endeavor to diminish skip Hambley’s capacity to do her career, you’re blocking the regular essential performing of the health and fitness department,” reported Cindy Spielmaker of Grand Haven.
