OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel's job is on the line. She's facing a recall this Tuesday.
Ebel's time spent in office has dealt with a number of contentious issues. One specifically resulted in a challenge for her seat on the board of commissioners.
FOX 17 requested to meet with both candidates on Friday, and they were able to meet up that evening. They had this to say about the Ottawa County Commissioner District 2 race.
"If I know that people of Ottawa County and District Two, they're very conservative, and I think that they will want to keep Ottawa County conservative," Ebel explained.
Ebel started facing recall efforts after six months on the job. The petition for her recall shows it was due to her vote on February 28th, 2023, in favor of a motion to reverse Adeline Hambley's selection as the top health official.
Since then, she and her fellow Ottawa Impact majority commissioners have continued to make controversial decisions. Ebel agreed to speak with us on Friday, but her availability was limited due to a previous commitment.
After asking what she believed were her accomplishments during her 16 months in office, Ebel was escorted away.
Her response was cut short for a Friday meet and greet in Holland.
Her challenger, Chris Kleinjans, is hoping to start a process of change.
"Voters should pick me because it is the first step towards restoring a little bit of not predictability, but some an expectation of good governance to our county government," Kleinjans said.
The challenger is running as a Democrat. We asked what he would want to accomplish if elected.
"If elected, there's things that need resolving. Housing Authority reformulated, met a couple of times, it's still sitting on $10 million of ARPA funding, the housing shortage has not gone away,"
Voters in many Holland Township and Park Township precincts must decide who they want as their county commissioner.
"Ottawa County has always been conservative. It's always been a Christian County. And so, therefore, I believe that they will want to keep Ottawa County conservative," Ebel said.
"I want to make lives better for my neighbors and for my neighborhoods within my community," Kleinjans said.
Ebel's race for this seat against her last Democrat challenger came down to the wire. She secured her seat by just less than 600 votes.
Kleinjans says this time around, he has a shot of getting enough votes to take the seat.
"My election will not change everything. But it is the start of a process," Kleinjans explained.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEWS BELOW:
The special election is Tuesday.
In a recent interview, the Ottawa County Clerk told FOX 17 that more than 3,300 absentee ballots were mailed. The office did receive over 1,800 mailed back.
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