GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the wake of the Kent County public health order that requires students and staff to mask up in pre-K through 6th-grade indoor settings, the County's health officer is responding to the onslaught of public comments.
On Aug. 26, hundreds of concerned parents attended a listening session at DeVos Place to share their opinions on the public health order.
The public comment lasted for more than six hours. Kent County Health Officer Dr. Adam London said he has reviewed those comments and read thousands of emails, but he can't respond to everyone.
"We all desperately want to be past COVID-19 and live in a world without public health orders, without quarantine, without canceled events, without full hospitals, and without illness and death. Please understand that I hear you," Dr. London said in a recorded statement.
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13 ON YOUR SIDE obtained an email through a public records request that Dr. London sent to Kent County Commissioners two days after he announced the mask mandate in schools.
Dr. London stated his frustration about personal attacks on his character and even shared that he was almost run off the road by an angry woman recently.
You can read the entire email here.
After receiving the email, Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack says he called London immediately.
"His emotions were at a state that I've never seen Adam in before," says Womack. "He was being strong, his concern was mostly for his children."
Senator Winnie Brinks also called for confrontations like the one's described in the email to stop.
"I'm not saying we can't express ourselves when we disagree with each other," says Brinks. "What I am saying is keep it from being personal."
Kent County Board of Commissioners Chair Mandy Bolter denounced threats of violence against community members or county staff in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. It reads:
"As a large and diverse County, we will not agree on every issue. However, we are one community and we should hold ourselves to the highest standard of public discourse. Threats of violence against any resident or County employee is, without question, unacceptable and should be immediately reported to the proper authorities."
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