During the August 20, 2024, Ottawa County Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee meeting, Deputy Health Director Lisa Uganski requested (42:25) commissioners approve a contract with Community Spoke for the operating period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. In March 2024, when Community Spoke submitted an invoice for services rendered, county officials responded that payment could not be made without having a contract in place. Apparently, Community Spoke has been getting paid by Ottawa County for over ten years without having a valid contract.
Community Spoke is an entity involved in bringing government agencies and non-profit organizations together to form collaborations. It facilitates numerous surveys and data collection efforts, such as the Youth Assessment Survey and Community Healthy Needs Assessment, which are used as justification for initiatives undertaken by collaborating non-profit organizations and government entities. Early in 2024, Community Spoke merged with the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance (LNA) which is a membership-based organization of roughly 200 non-profits. Community Spoke has long since had an incestuous relationship with LNA. Just after the currently serving Ottawa County Board of Commissioners were sworn into office, former Executive Director for both organizations, Patrick Cisler explained that Lakeshore Non-profit Alliance leased staffing services from Community Spoke. During the same January 31, 2023, meeting, Board Chair Joe Moss pointed out the LNA website contained substantial “information on systemic racism, implicit bias, white privilege, understanding microaggressions, racial equity tools and lots more.”
Tracy Bolo began working as the Executive Director of the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance on January 2, 2024. During the August meeting, she came to the podium to answer commissioner questions and provide additional information on the history of the organizations. (48:15) Community Spoke was formed around 2012 and LNA was already in existence. “United Way was the fiduciary for those two organizations at one point in time.” She further explained, “The boards of those two organizations decided to merge last summer. [] We have a staff of 2.5 people.”
Over the past three months, the Ottawa County Department of Public Health (OCDPH) has been working with Community Spoke and various departments including fiscal, corporate council, and purchasing to develop a contract. HHS Committee Chair Silvia Rhodea asked OCDPH Deputy Health Officer Lisa Ugansik, (56:10), “Do we have a policy of some sort for approving contracts? Do we normally approve them six months after they started, or do we actually get them approved prior to the start of a contract period?”
Uganski explained that “for the past decade we have had a relationship with Community Spoke, so that every year, up until this year they basically submitted an invoice for their services. They submitted the minutes from their board meeting showing that their board approves the partnership, and the contract has been paid.” “Last year the invoice was submitted in March. We got a PO [purchase order] and the check was cut in April.”
This is concerning for many reasons. First of all, it removes the oversight provided by the Board of Commissioners by circumventing the procurement process. Several commissioners pointed this out including Commissioner Allison Mediema who stated, (1:03:12) “I’m pretty surprised that a contract would have been just assumed before being presented to the board. It puts the board in an unusual position, to have to approve something for work that has been rendered for a year. [] We weren’t actually given the opportunity to even have that discussion.”
Rhodea advised Uganski to begin working on a contract now if the Department of Public Health plans to work with Community Spoke again next year and commented, “I don’t think we want to be approving contracts after-the-fact, because it could be denied.”
In an attempt to expedite the contract approval for work currently underway, but apparently not understanding the process, Commissioner Zylstra asked (1:01:00) HHS Chair Rhodea if the Community Spoke contract would be placed on the next finance committee agenda. Rhodea responded by explaining that items are placed on the finance committee agenda through the finance chair.
Commissioner Joe Moss asked Interim County Administrator Jon Anderson (1:07:35), “Does the county require contracts for outside vendors and nonprofits before we pay them?” Anderson responded, “That is typically the practice.”
Moss further expressed, “I’m a little concerned as to how many other situations we may have like this. [] The board doesn’t cut checks. The board approves budgets and approves funding. Is the county, or has the county in past years, just been cutting checks to outside nonprofits based on somebody’s board minutes? That doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Rhodea added, “I don’t think it follows our written policy. Payment cannot be based on an email. It can’t be based on things that are haphazard.”
Community Spoke received approximately $45,000 in funding from the county in 2022 and another $45,000 in 2023. It is concerning that ongoing work of this magnitude would continue for over ten years without a valid contract. Prior Ottawa County commissioners have expressed a desire to restore good governance practices to Ottawa County. Is this what good governance looks like?
Not creating contractual agreements to define work, but rather cutting checks based on meeting minutes of outside entities that accompany their invoices?
Not following the contract approval process and removing oversight of commissioners by bypassing them.
To me this looks like it creates a situation that is ripe for exploitation. Grand Haven Area Public Schools (GHAPS) cut checks of approximately $5,000 on a regular basis to a fake company, Infinity Electrical, for at least seven years. The checks were supposedly hand delivered to Infinity Electrical by GHAPS employee Brian Wheeler, who was accused of embezzling over $1,000,000. GHAPS was vulnerable because they did not follow their established processes, and it appears Ottawa County is equally vulnerable.