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 challengers 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 8 represents Allendale Township. Sylvia Rhodea (R) is the district's current commissioner and the founder of Ottawa Impact. David Morren (R) is looking to unseat her. Becky Patrick (D) is running unopposed and will automatically go on to the general election in November.
(R) Incumbent Sylvia Rhodea
Why are you running?
I'm running to continue the work that we began in the last term. So, [I'm] primarily running to protect American values, parental rights and childhood innocence, those kinds of things.
What are your priorities?
To continue to protect against government overreach. It's very important to me that the county continues to operate in a constitutional manner, that freedoms are protected. I do very much care about parental rights. Childhood innocence is very important to me; those were some of the factors that first brought county government to my attention, was how it was they were overstepping in those areas.
Tell me about you personally?
I'm very busy with my work, whether it's Ottawa Impact or as a county commissioner. In my past, I was a social worker out of college, so I worked in foster care and adoption, and a lot of that work has come back to be quite valuable to this role. Kind of a personal enjoyment; I was an artist, and so I did that as a hobby in high school, but also pursued it kind of part time. As I was starting out my social work career, I did that for a little bit after college too.
Why should people vote for you?
I care very much about the people, coming from a social work background. It's really in my DNA to be an advocate for people. When I see people who are in need, for instance, when I saw the needs in regards to our veterans, I very much want to go to bat for people. ... I enjoy seeing needs and figuring out how we can meet them.
What are your thoughts for the past year and half to two years what you think are success/failures/things you would change?
Some successes are, like I just mentioned... I really enjoyed the work that we did to get the Veterans Department up and going. I wasn't aware coming into office like how deficient that area was. So that was, to me, a big success. I really have enjoyed the resolutions that we've done. I think it's important for the county to set a vision for the people. I've appreciated being able to be a part of that. I've done a lot of the writing for those. So I've personally enjoyed the experience of doing that. So, for me, that's been significant. I think we did some good work with the budget, really looking at things. I guess that has been a challenge. I think that's a challenge overall in the county. Maybe that's been a lack of understanding [of] how county government works in general. Also, I think things haven't always been run well in the past. … It's been, I think, a lesson to the bureaucracy of the county that things are going to take time and thought and consideration. Leadership isn't just going to do things because a department tells us to.
(R) David Morren
Why are you running?
The basics [are] I struggled since the first of the year. In my heart, I believe God has been telling me that he wanted me to put my name on the ballot. I have some concerns about where we're at as a county, how we got here, and actually where we're headed. I'm just trying to be obedient and give the people an option. I think I bring something different to the table than what's currently there.
What are your priorities?
I would tell you my number one priority would probably be to make sure that the meetings, the board meetings themselves, are handled in a way where all are heard, all are represented, and all are respected. In other words, certain board members, just because they're not in the majority group, shouldn't be held back or dismissed. They do represent 1/11 of the county. They should be heard, even if they're not on my side or agree with me.
Tell me about you personally?
Personally, the greatest thrill of my life is when my two great-grandkids are over, and I get to play. There's nothing more special to me than that. The past few years have been extremely trying for me. I have learned to... or learning to re-prioritize things on what's important and what's not. People matter. I'm concerned about the attitude in this country as far as politics is concerned; I don't believe that has to be the majority be the king and queen of the county, on one side or the other. I believe we should respect each other. We can have differences, but we should still respect each other. Remember, we're all Americans. … I farm; I love farming.
Why should people vote for you?
I call myself a common-sense constitutional conservative. ... What I told people last night was common sense is this: if a farmer wants to reap corn, he plants corn seed. If he wants to reap wheat, he plants wheat seed. If we want to harvest destruction and dismay and mental issues and kids that don't know what they're doing or where they're going, then we plant dismay and destruction. I care about everybody's kids. I want everybody to succeed. I don't believe there should be a different level or tiers of government response to everyone.
What are your thoughts for the past year and a half to two years when it comes to how the Ottawa County government has been run?
I believe when these people that currently from OI or others got elected, it was an answer to my prayer. And you heard me say that I called them an answer to my prayers. I've called them my heroes. I've called them my brothers and sisters. But I also warned a man, if you remember, I warned him, "Don't become your enemy." I've done that more than once. And even at the Ottawa GOP, I voiced that because I've seen it happen. And currently, I believe the ship has been turned. It's been turned recklessly in a direction I don't agree with anymore. … I will stand to protect even those I don't agree with. It's just like when they argued about the satanic priests doing an invocation. I said, "Shame on you." I told even at the Ottawa County GOP, I [said], "God laid out something on my heart." I'm going to tell you something. That satanic priest has a better chance of getting into heaven than many of the people that were attacking him.
(D) Becky Patrick
Why are you running?
I'm running partly to address the concerns that I think a lot of folks have with the way that the Ottawa County Commission has conducted itself over the last year and a half. But more than that, I'm also running because there's some things that I think we really could do, and we could get to work doing [what] would improve things for a lot of folks here in Ottawa County. So it's kind of a two-fold reason.
What are your priorities?
My main priority is to re-establish trust with the residents of Ottawa County. I think we have a situation where we have a lot of residents who feel like they can't trust the County Commission, which majority in government, whether it's local, state, or national, does not have the trust of the people that it serves; we have a serious problem. So in my mind, that's job one is to get that trust re-established. … Other policy priorities or platform priorities that I would like to then pivot to once we get that taken care of, here in Allendale Township in particular... we have a groundwater problem. We have one throughout the county, but it really does disproportionately affect Allendale Township. There are places here where people's wells are unusable. The water that they get out of them is undrinkable. It's not even usable for livestock. So we... people have to have drinking water; they have to have access to drinking water. It's not an option. … I would like to really focus on our mental health. That millage is coming up again for renewal here shortly. I'm not sure what the community mental health board is going to recommend or want to do, but I would support that. I think we need to prioritize mental health in our county. It touches almost everybody. Also, public health. I think we need to restore that relationship with our County Department of Public Health and make sure we're serving our residents in terms of public health.
Tell me about you personally?
In terms of my qualifications to do this and to run for county commission, I worked for the state of Michigan for 30 years. I'm retired now, but when I retired, I was the regional director for the combined departments of environmental quality and natural resources. So I have a lot of experience in bringing people together: work groups, stakeholder groups, those kinds of things. Some things people might not know about me is I would much rather be outside than anywhere else. So you might find me on a trail in our county park; you might find me roller blading. ... I like to ski. I like to ice skate. I like to swim.
Tell me why should people vote for you?
One is that if they're concerned about the current state of affairs, and they would just like to restore reason and fiscal responsibility to the county; I am very capable of doing that. The other reason is, I have a vision for how the county could be served and how we could get to work to really do some things that could help a lot of people. The last reason is I have the background and the qualifications to do that. And I think I've proven that. So I wouldn't have much of a learning curve in order to really get going and make a difference.
What are your thoughts for the past year and a half to two years when it comes to how the Ottawa County government has been run?
In January of 2023, I became very concerned. So then I started attending commission meetings. I'm still very concerned; I feel like we have a situation where the board majority, as I said a few minutes ago, does not feel like it is their responsibility to be cognizant that they need to get the trust of the people that they represent. So that... that concerns me. In accordance with that, it seems to me, anyway, like some of their behaviors are untrustworthy and things that I don't expect to see out of the people that represent me. That's why I've been going to all these meetings... I've lost track: 60, 70, 80 of them, I have made public comment at many of them.
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