On January 3, 2023, nine new Ottawa Impact supported Ottawa County commissioners were sworn into office. Since that day, they have been relentlessly attacked by local media accusing them of lacking transparency and “blindsiding” everyone with sweeping changes. On December 22, 2022, Ottawa County Attorney Doug Van Essen sent an email to the incoming County Commissioners. This email shatters the local media narrative of January 3rd that several people were “blindsided” by the changes made by the incoming commissioners.
The email, with the subject line “Rumor Mill,” is predicated on a rumor that the newly elected commissioners planned to fire Attorney Doug Van Essen and County Administrator John Shay. The email starts out by saying, “John Shay has no idea I am sending this message.” It goes on to say, “I have not talked to him about what my connections in other parts of the state are advising me. Let me summarize the rumor. You have decided to fire John Shay and fire me at the start of the year.”
Then Van Essen explained he intended to retire on January 1, 2023, advocated for County Administrator John Shay to remain in his current position, informed incoming board members that current employees were wary of them, warned them that, if they made changes, they would ruin the bond rating and destabilize the county while he simultaneously informed them that the courts and many county employees operated independently of the commissioners. He implied that the new commissioners were headed for failure. He then ridiculed and belittled the incoming commissioners giving them the impression that the attorney, and not the elected commissioners, was truly in charge of the county.
After their first meeting on January 3, 2023, local media reported that several people were blindsided by the decisions made. This is ironic because the nine candidates who were supported by Ottawa Impact created a Position Statement which clearly communicated where they stood on issues. They campaigned on “boldly taking action to thwart tyranny, government overreach and injustice in Ottawa County”. They vowed to “honor all people equally,” and allow “citizens maximum opportunity to make their own decisions for their families, businesses, employees, churches, and schools.” Removing the county DEI Office, changing the county motto, and replacing individuals that facilitated government overreach was simply an act of following through on promises made to voters. This was why these candidates were elected. They had been telling people what they intended to do for months. Nobody was blindsided.
Commissioners Doug Zylstra, Jacob Bonnema, and Rebekah Curran were all recipients of the email from Van Essen, so despite claims made by local media, the email is further proof that these three were not blindsided. It is clear that Van Essen was trying to influence the newly elected commissioners. What’s more interesting is that the email was not originally received by Commissioner Zylstra, but was limited to the commissioners who campaigned with Ottawa Impact: Allison Miedema, Gretchen Cosby, Jacob Bonnema, Joe Moss, Lucy Ebel, Rebekah Curran, Roger Belknap and Silvia Rodea. Within 2.5 hours of receiving the email, Commissioner Jacob Bonnema forwarded it to Commissioner Doug Zylstra. Why? Did Commissioner Bonnema also forward the email to Commissioners Kyle Terpstra and Roger Bergman?
In the email, Van Essen acknowledges that even people across the state had an idea of what was going to happen in Ottawa County. But if you listened to our local media, you would have had a different impression. The email trail clearly shows that some who were quoted in the media claiming to have been "blindsided” had received notification nearly two weeks prior to the January 3rd meeting. As Van Essen wrote, even people on the other side of the state had an idea this could happen.