‘Unfortunate how it’s devolved’: Ottawa Food sparks tense debate between board, health officials

OTTAWA COUNTY — A long-awaited discussion about the coordinator position for Ottawa Food led to a tense exchange between commissioners and staff from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health on Tuesday, March 19.

The item was listed on the agenda for the county's health and human services committee meeting Tuesday morning as “nonprofit coordination needs and Ottawa Food.”

The lack of a coordinator for Ottawa Food has been a recurring problem since dramatic funding cuts were made last year. OCDPH’s nutrition and health education line item was cut by 48%, which OCDPH officials warned wouldn't leave enough to fund the position.

More: Ottawa Food again ignored as Moss laments prior board's lack of transparency

More: Officials said 'no one' wanted Ottawa Food to be impacted. It was anyway.

As expected, in November, Ottawa Food’s countywide nonprofit partners voted to pause services. Staff have since requested restored funding to reinstate the position, so programming can resume.

OCDPH formally requested funding in December — but Tuesday’s committee meeting was the first time commissioners agreed to discuss it.

Health Officer Adeline Hambley submitted an updated request during her monthly report Tuesday, prior to the board's discussion, adding she'd submit it to the finance committee, as well. The request would fund the position at a prorated amount for the remainder of the year.

Commissioner Gretchen Cosby said she would look to schedule a meeting soon with Hambley and others to discuss the position and evaluate metrics.

When the time came for the discussion item, Committee Chair Sylvia Rhodea said commissioners have “needed some more time to think about this subject and gather some more information on it.”

Commissioner Joe Moss said there needs to be a discussion on “overlap” between the work of Ottawa Food and other departments, like Community Action Agency.

OCDPH Planning and Promotion Manager Lisa Uganski, who spoke at length about Ottawa Food with the board in November, was in attendance Tuesday and offered to answer questions. Cosby said her questions weren’t “fully formulated” and said she would include Uganski in the upcoming meeting with Hambley and the others.

Commissioner Doug Zylstra asked Cosby if her intent was to have Ottawa Food taken in a different direction. She said she was just looking for more information, even though Uganski answered dozens of questions from commissioners on Nov. 21 for more than 90 minutes.

Uganski later asked that Cosby provide any information she’s looking for ahead of the meeting, so there’s “no additional delay."

“In November, I was grilled about whether or not I knew the process for getting a position like this funded,” she said. “In December, we came with a request and it’s now mid-March. I’m thrilled to hear that we will hopefully talk next week, but I would love to know ahead of time what you’ll want in addition to the metrics we’ve given.

“Every day that we delay this is a day there are people in Ottawa County who aren’t accessing the services that we’ve been providing for years.”

Cosby again asked why the position was eliminated in the first place, saying the board didn’t ask for it to be cut. Uganski again reiterated that OCDPH repeatedly advised the board the funds allocated to the associated line item left enough for mandated services, but not the coordinator.

Moss asked Uganski who “grilled” her.

“I stood up here for probably close to 90 minutes and repeated things over and over. I felt like I was grilled,” Uganski said.

“And that’s your job to come answer questions, right, if commissioners have questions?” Moss asked.

“Absolutely,” Uganski said.

Rhodea characterized Uganski's comments as “disrespectful."

“I would just note that you were not requested to come and talk to us today and you’ve been fairly disrespectful to the commissioners,” Rhodea said. “As the chair of this committee, I don’t appreciate your approach.”

Zylstra asked if it would be possible to have a resolution on the food coordinator position within a month. Cosby said she was “expediting” the meeting, but lamented that it took “14 months” to get the metrics she requested. (Cosby took office in January 2023.)

Hambley — who late last month settled her year-long lawsuit against the board — said the metrics were complex and involved numerous departments.

That led to a back-and-forth between Cosby and Hambley about how requests from OCDPH have been received by the board.

“The good news is, I have it now,” Cosby said of the metrics. “I could have been an advocate for you instead of it being adversarial. It didn’t have to be; it really truly didn’t have to be.”

“I have a very, very hard time believing that,” Hambley said.

“Based upon what, Adeline?”

“I can point to, very clearly, how very different that public health is treated when we’re in front of this board versus any other department,” Hambley said. “Certainly I haven’t seen other staff ever be up here for 90 minutes and answer questions … and it’s routine with public health.”

“Adeline, you did make the statement that we were campaigning on hate regarding the health department. I would challenge you to find any of that information in my campaign,” Cosby said. “What I want you to understand is my heart for the health department was quite contrary to what it is you’ve implied it has been. I would have helped you, I could have helped you. That was my intention.”

“I love that sentiment, I would just like to see that.”

“It’s very unfortunate how it’s devolved. It doesn’t have to be this way."

“I agree.”

Cosby, Moss and Rhodea are members Ottawa Impact, a far-right fundamentalist group that currently has a controlling majority on the board and all its various subcommittees.OI commissioners attempted to demote Hambley to “interim” health officer shortly after they were sworn in on Jan. 3, 2023. They intended to replace her with a candidate with no prior experience in public health.Hambley sued in February, kicking off a year of unprecedented strain between the board and the county's health department.

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Hambley later said the health department hadn't been contacted about the handful of OCDPH-related discussion items on Tuesday’s agenda.

“It’s hard to believe that these intentions are good when that communication doesn’t happen,” she said.

Moss and Rhodea ended the discussion by thanking Cosby for her work and saying it could be a good idea to look at a larger nonprofit coordinator position.

The next finance and administration committee meeting is scheduled for April 2, while the next HHS meeting is set for April 16.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa Food sparks tense debate between board, health officials