OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The board largely controlled by members of a conservative political action committee is set to vote on two controversial resolutions Tuesday night.
Similar to actions taken by the Ottawa County Republican Party last week, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners will hold a censure vote against commissioner Jacob Bonnema for “abuse of power” claims made against county administrator John Gibbs.
The resolution, submitted by board chair and Ottawa Impact president Joe Moss, lays out an incident that happened before a March 14 meeting where Bonnema approached Gibbs. The interaction led to Gibbs saying “get out of my face” from his chair, according to a 13 ON YOUR SIDE crew at the meeting.
The interaction set off a harassment investigation at the request of Bonnema, the resolution states. It goes on to call Bonnema’s claims against Gibbs a “defamatory accusation.”
Bonnema’s email and subsequent information regarding the complaint was leaked to the press, “which served to erode public trust in Administrator Gibbs and Ottawa County,” the resolution also states.
On June 7, the results of the investigation were shared. It was concluded that Bonnema’s harassment claim was unfounded.
If censured, Bonnema would be removed from the county’s standing committees for the remainder of the year.
Also on the agenda is a resolution “expressing support for protecting childhood innocence.” The item, also submitted by Moss, states that if approved, “no county staff or resources shall be allocated to activities, programs, events, content, or institutions which support, normalize, or encourage the sexualization of children and youth.”
Within the item, Moss lists the number of criminal sexual conduct and child abuse cases in 2022 (1,050) while also stating that the county has experienced an increase in criminal sexual assault cases. Data from previous years is not provided.
Moss did not respond to our request that sought clarification on the resolution, but it follows messaging similar to Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” introduced in 2022 and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Let Kids Be Kids” bill package that was signed in May.
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