What does 🚫 OI mean?
Written by Monique Hanson
The sign means “NO/STOP ottawa impact.”
Who is Ottawa Impact?
They are the majority members of our County Commissioner Board that ran as a group called “Ottawa Impact” and they ran on “faith, family, and freedom” and “transparency by default”. They have made a lot of interesting decisions since taking office.
They say they believe in “free speech”, but censured and retaliated against a commissioner after the commissioner made a complaint to HR against John Gibbs (WZZM13).
They say they believe in “free speech” and want “transparency by default”, yet removed the county’s public comments from the county website after the January 3rd meeting and have yet to restore them or prepare an online public comment policy. (MLIVE)
They say they want to “protect children”, but they voted to protect our county from safe storage gun laws. (MLIVE)
They say they are Christians, yet Joe Moss lied to Ms. Curran and Mr. Bonnema about the agenda for the January 3rd meeting (WOODTV8) (FOX17). They have allowed our new county’s law firm, Kallman Legal Group, to slander our County Clerk. (Holland Sentinel) (Grand Haven Tribune)
They say they are “pro-life”, but Joe Moss initially refused to sign his name on an MOU for grant money for a Christian, pro-life organization. Instead, he signed “Vi Coactus” which is Latin for “under duress” or “compelled by force”. (Holland Sentinel)
They have vilified organizations in our community that help children, including Out On The Lakeshore, The Momentum Center, and the Children’s Advocacy Center. (Holland Sentinel)
They were proud to note the dissolving of our DEI department in the county newsletter and have shown their disdain for DEI efforts by voting against grant money ($5K) that would assist in learning the needs and gaps in our community and how to streamline services better (i.e. helping those facing food insecurity find open food pantries) AND a “Healthy Equity” program ($7K) because they were triggered by the word “equity” in the program descriptions. (Ottawa County YouTube, June 6, 2023) (Ottawa County YouTube, June 6, 2023) They voted down grant money to assist in making the public health building ADA-compliant and sensory-friendly ($10K). (Ottawa County YouTube, July 18, 2023)
They say they need to “carefully consider all financial decisions” yet have exceeded our County’s legal budget in just 7 months. (FOX17)
They were proud to say they support and honor our Military and Veterans yet voted against a suicide prevention campaign that focused on men and Veterans. (Ottawa County YouTube, August 1, 2023)
They have been vocal about reducing the budget to the Health Department and have recently requested the Health Director provide a budget scenario so low that it would shutter the OCHD within weeks. (Ottawa County Facebook, August 22, 2023) (Ottawa County Facebook, August 24, 2023) (WZZM13)
Again, they said they wanted “transparency by default”; however, once the Health Department used their means of communication to alert the public of the potential for the OCHD to close, Joe Moss and John Gibbs removed the HD access to social media and emergency alert accounts. (WZZM13)