OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ottawa County held its annual State of the County address on Tuesday. Chairperson Joe Moss gave over a half-hour speech about the past year.
Moss highlighted that the commission voted to become a Constitutional County, discussed measures taken during the 2024 budget process, and discussed the expansion of the veterans' department.
FOX17 has learned this address veers from the norm, where typically the county administrator delivers the address.
The chairperson started by thanking the people who elected him, his fellow commissioners, and the many county staff members.
"I'd like to say thank you to the people of Ottawa County, who took decisive action to defend their piece of America in 2022 to protect individual freedoms, parental rights, and freedom of religion and conscience," Moss said.
He went on to add that the board is making good on campaign promises like closing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department.
"The board entered office and delivered on months of public promises to make reforms in our county and began with bold changes to align the leadership with the priorities of the people. New leaders were placed in the roles of county administrator and corporate counsel to prioritize freedom and constitutional rights," Moss said during his address.
The year was full of long meetings. On average, the board spent around four hours inside the Fillmore Complex in West Olive. Most of the time was spent during public comment. On the day of the State of the County, the public didn't shy away from giving their take.
At public comment, we heard from both sides. Some think the commission is doing a stand-up job. One man commented about how most commissioners passed the constitutional county resolution Moss mentioned during his address.
"I thank you for all that you have done. I thank you for laying the groundwork. I understand it won't be apparent until the next crisis comes. But when it does, many of your detractors, I think, will be your supporters."
Others believe the county needs better governance. One woman pointed to the county's hire of John Gibbs for the county administrator role.
"He went on to prove what a good decision was to hire him by immediately not being able to do the job that the previous administrator had done and whining he needed an assistant to do half of his job because the job he thought he was overqualified but in fact he was underqualified for."
Public opinion on the State of the County is important since it's an election year, and all 11 commission seats are up for grabs.
So far, eight people have filed to run, and more are expected to on the August ballot.
Before the primary, Commissioner Lucy Ebel has a recall election slated for May.
