Ultra-conservative county commissioners in western Michigan are targeting their political enemies with what critics call “bad governance and petty retribution," according to a report.
The right-wing Ottawa County commissioners swept into office in August 2022, knocking out seven Republican incumbents, in an election fueled by resentment over COVID restrictions, mask mandates and LGBTQ rights. They're taking a vote Tuesday in an effort to drastically cut funding to the health department, reported The Daily Beast.
“The significant and retaliatory cuts requested on behalf of Commissioner Moss are an attempt to achieve political victory over COVID-19 at the expense of Ottawa County citizens,” wrote Adeline Hambley, the embattled public health director, in a revised budget document. “These cuts do not save taxpayers money but serve to reduce services that the county is required to provide to protect the health and safety of the community.”
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Hambley was referring to Joe Moss, cofounder of the conservative activist group Ottawa Impact that backs the new commissioners, and they have since dissolved the county's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department and changed the county motto from “Where You Belong” to “Where Freedom Rings.”
“He is their leader,” said former board president Matt Fenske. “I call him ‘God.’ Because what he says, people follow.”
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The commissioners also replaced the county's legal counsel with a law practice with family ties to Moss' business partner Joel Kallman, and the board has been targeting Hambley and the health department for backing pandemic safety measures.
“They are exacting political revenge against our public health director by cutting millions in funding to core services that support our most vulnerable citizens,” said activist Kathleen O’Brien of the group Progressive Lakeshore. “Ottawa Impact is tearing at the fiber of our community over their trifling grudges. Revenge politics is no way to govern.”
