OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Two years ago voters in Ottawa County dramatically changed the makeup of the Board of Commissioners, with a majority of the seats going to candidates back by the group named Ottawa Impact. Since 2023, the board has taken a number of actions that have drawn criticism from inside and outside the county. Now voters will decide who can run for four-year terms on the Board of Commissioners. With more than 30 people in the running, many sitting commissioners face a challenger in the August 2024 primary election.
We are conducting profiles of each candidate based on the seat they are running for. FOX 17 reached out to the candidates months before Election Day to set up time to ask them a series of the same questions. You can read their answers and watch the full interviews with the candidates in the article below.
District 4 represents the city of Zeeland, parts of Holland and Zeeland townships. Jacob Bonnema (R) is the current commissioner for the district. He is running unopposed. Chris Crothers (D) is running unopposed. Both will automatically move on to the general election this November.
(R) Incumbent Jacob Bonnema
Why are you running?
I wanted to run to provide better service to our community. It's kind of a simple thing. We're here for public service. That's what the county is designed to do is to bring services in exchange for your tax dollars in an excellent way and an efficient way. … I looked at my business experience; I looked at my board experience. I thought I'm well prepared to serve the people of Zeeland.
What are your priorities?
When you become a commissioner, there is a learning curve. You find out more and more of what we are capable of working on and other things that we don't necessarily have jurisdiction over. … We work at the county level, and we have oversight over our budget, our planning and policy, and also how those services are communicated into the community. So we do provide an integral link of communication into our city councils and townships and school boards, and to the general citizen.
Tell me about you personally?
I grew up in a strong Christian family with a strong desire to public service. I joined the Boy Scouts when I was young and went all the way through and had some amazing experiences. [I] became an Eagle Scout. ... [I] spent a lot of time with two of our grown children — married children — that live in Africa. And so we go back and forth and enjoy them over there. … You'll generally find us... we live in downtown Zeeland. You'll find us on evenings either enjoying the front porch and visiting with neighbors as they walk by or we become the neighbors that are walking by other porches.
Tell me, why should people vote for you?
Experienced. I'm married, 27 years, father of five, some that are married. So, a lot of life experiences wrapped up in just that. I've also served on multiple boards, over a quarter of a century of experience on boards. I've started on both for-profit and nonprofit boards. I do have a strong desire to provide reliable and responsible government.
What are your thoughts for the past year and a half to two years? What do you think are successes/failures/things you would change?
So professionally, I'm a risk manager. I work in commercial insurance. In that role, I speak to the public a lot. I think that's a unique aspect that I have as a candidate is that I'm connected to the community and hearing what they're hearing, what they're questioning. … So, as we are serving, I'm also out in the public on a daily basis. … I think what I've heard from my business owners is when we voted for change, which was obvious we wanted to see change, but incrementally… So the first, probably, six months of the term was ... a lot of chaos and questions of what is going on and what comes next.
(D) Chris Crothers
Why are you running?
I developed a big passion for community over the past, probably, five years. This was kind of my next step into that passion. I saw a need and I stepped up to learn what it takes to run a campaign and be a county commissioner.
What are your priorities?
My priorities are community, inclusivity and transparency.
Tell me about you personally?
So I am 31 years old; I started my career in the CAD and CNC programming space. Then that developed into the brewing career that I've had for the past five years. ... For fun, I play soccer; I'm just getting into pickleball. It's really a lot of community-based things, team based.
Why should people vote for you?
I am a real community member; I bring a perspective of the working class. I'm not driven by the national politics. I'm driven by what our community needs. I like to say I'm a problem solver, but I know that's kind of a buzzword. It's really what I do. [When] I see a problem, I'm like, "Okay, how do we go about fixing this?"
What are your thoughts for the past year and half to two years when it comes to how Ottawa County government has been run?
I think it comes down to the national politics [that] have been brought into county politics where it doesn't belong. It's radicalized these Ottawa Impact candidates. They believe that their rights are being attacked; [that] their right to be a Christian is being attacked, and their right to parental control is being attacked. It's just not actually happening.
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