Ottawa County loves freedom! I am thankful for the hard work and dedication of members on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners who support freedom, parental rights, and American values, as outlined in the Contract with Ottawa.
I am happy to report that during our first months of being in office, the newly elected board majority has accomplished much of our promised course correction for Ottawa County, including:
- Abolishing the DEI Department (5-year savings: $1.4M)
- Hiring a conservative county administrator (John Gibbs)
- Hiring new legal counsel (Kallman Legal Group)
- Protecting civil liberties, parental rights, and transparency
- Changing the time of board meetings to make it easier for people to give public comment
- And much more!
As the chair of the board, I have specific responsibilities such as attending additional county meetings, interacting with our talented county employees, and signing documents— which can include the release of payments. Recently the county processed mini grant contracts for payment that the health department had approved through the prior board. After gathering more information on these mini grants, I signed the two remaining Health Department mini grants on Friday.
These mini grants highlight much needed process and policy changes in Ottawa County, which I look forward to working on in the future. I originally signed them “vi coactus” to indicate that I am compelled to sign these documents in my official capacity as chair, while I personally do not support these decisions. I want to share more about these grants so you can understand why it is important to have courageous, conservative county commissioners setting policy and direction in Ottawa County.
MINI GRANT A
I requested information from the health department about an organization and little detail was provided in return. Additional searches of the grantee’s website showed no indication of an EIN number, formal office, or formal business name. State of Michigan records searches of organizations, nonprofits, and businesses yielded no results for this organization or the grantee’s name. Thus, it appears the county may be paying $12,500 to a bank account of a constituent.
I do not support this decision by the health department, as it does not appear to meet an ethical and professional standard which should be in place for county business transactions. This concern is irrespective of race or the services the grantee claims will be provided using taxpayer money.
I support the ability of all people to make personal and informed healthcare decisions, which may be outside the corporate health care system, and I appreciate the care doulas provide to all women and families. The description of the $12,500 mini grant project is to provide “doula information bags to 40 young black birth givers to provide tools and supports to help plan for birth experience to reduce morbidity and mortality for them and their baby.” I assume by “birth givers” the grantee means “pregnant women.” I do not know how much or what information will be contained in the bags that appear to cost over $300 each.
The grantee is: https://www.1cor13project.com, whose home page states in large letters, “America has never loved Black People.” I sincerely hope this message is not contained in the doula information bags as it is certainly not the position of Ottawa County or the board of commissioners that “America has never loved Black people.” All people are loved and valued here.
The 1Cor13 project describes itself as:
“A collaborative resource to center the health, healing, and wholeness of Black people in particular. It intends to counteract the debilitating effects of the American church’s complicity in 400 years of failure to love black people. It is a healing space for Black people to locate sources, practices, and opportunities to heal the wounds of racial trauma. It offers materials, processes, and products that equip non-Black Allies and Freedom Fighters to actively practice repentance that leads to faithful participation in the flourishing of Black people.”
MINI GRANT B
The second mini grant is designated for launching a youth tabletop gaming program by Out On The Lakeshore (OOTL). OOTL has said that it is not providing therapy, but its activities are “therapeutically inclined.” I believe the county granting $8,000 for non-therapy gaming in the name of “health” is an unwise use of taxpayer dollars.
OOTL currently has youth programming with a tabletop gaming event on the calendar for May 21, 2023, called, “Out Fighting Dragons,” with the following event description:
“Calling all adventurers ages 13-18! Are you a tabletop gamer? Maybe you enjoy the occasional game of Dungeons and Dragons or Magic the Gathering. Are you not a gamer but you love adventure? Do you love snacks and pizza and pop and good company? Come to OOTL’s inaugural Out Fighting Dragons gaming event. You’ll learn about gameplay, join a game, meet some cool people, and find out more about how you can get involved with gaming programs going forward. Bring your friends! Bring your pet hippogriff! We’ll see you there, adventurer.”
In addition, Out On The Lakeshore is funded by PRIDE events in Holland, which this year will include a Drag Story Time for all ages, as well as an event on gender identity in youth. OOTL provides recommendations for LGBTQ+ related service professionals such as physicians, surgeons, psychiatrists, therapists, as well as other services and products related to gender transition.
Adults are free to make decisions for their own lives. However, it is not the role of government to participate in promoting and supporting organizations that promote an agenda which includes the sexualization of children, especially as we increasingly see the potential for the overstep of parental rights in medical decisions regarding gender transition for children.
To put it simply, the Ottawa County Health Department should not fund programming for youth with activist organizations that support and promote the sexualization of children, particularly when they advocate on issues with life-long ramifications which children are not developmentally equipped to process or consent to.
I look forward to much-needed conversation and policy changes in the future. The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is working hard to implement long-term changes at the county level. These changes are focused on limiting government power, protecting The People’s God-given natural rights protected by the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions, and empowering county employees to continue doing amazing work to serve the people of Ottawa County, albeit with new guardrails in certain circumstances.
Be encouraged! Great things are happening! It is refreshing to see everyday Americans fulfilling their campaign promises! There are no short-term solutions, so I am thankful for the work of courageous board members who are willing to lead with conviction and do what they said they would do.
For Liberty,
Joe Moss