Despite public health professionals and community members' pleadings, Ottawa County's board of commissioners agreed to decrease the department's budget by $2.1 million. On Tuesday night, September 26, hundreds of Ottawa County, Michigan residents wore "Public Health Saves Lives" T-shirts to show their support for the struggling division.
Repercussions of Budget Cutbacks
The county's Health Officer, Adeline Hambley, said last week that the following programs will be affected by the budget cuts:
- Food assistance programs for low-income families
- Vaccine initiatives
- Prevention strategies for suicide
- Dental care for uninsured kids
- Assistance plans for refugees
- Protection against contagious diseases
- Assistance for addicts
- Prevention and treatment options for sexually transmitted disease
The county would also lose funding for two of its five epidemiologists.
The board of commissioners appointed John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official, to serve as county administrator. According to Wood TV8, his first budget proposal for the county was $2.5 million, a 63% reduction from the previous year. This included discontinuing all COVID-related funds. As Gibbs described, the budget is "returning to pre-COVID levels."
The health division said Gibbs' budget failed to take into account persistent underfunding. They predicted that they would have to close within weeks. After that, the county put out a revised budget of $4.3 million, which was still more than $2 million less than allocated.
Remarks During Public Comment Session
There were 64 individuals who signed up to speak during the public comment period, and many of them expressed their displeasure with the commissioners' plan to reduce funding for public health drastically. People were crying and shouting. Like the commissioners, many of the participants identified as pro-life, Christian, or conservative.
According to the Daily Beast, licensed practical nurse and county employee Janine Chittenden pleaded with the board to show compassion. Currently, she is most concerned about how the health department's budget would affect the nutrition program. "What would Jesus have done? He told us to feed the poor."
According to Dr. Ruth Lowry, a local hospice chaplain, the town is in grief.
Most people who spoke were in favor of the health department. While some opposed it, others defended the commissioner's budget.
Ottawa County Republican Party executive committee member and Ottawa Impact commissioner Christi Meppelink disagreed with characterizing the six commissioners as "draconian," which means cruel.
"What was actually draconian were the Health Department shutdowns, shuttering of businesses, ridiculous contact-tracing, ineffective mask mandates on our children causing them to fall two years behind ... and locking free citizens in their homes." Meppelink pointed out.
"Let's get back to living life in a county where freedom rings and taxpayers aren't overburdened," she added.
Ottawa Impact was established by current board chairman, local parent, and businessman Joe Moss after a disagreement with the board of commissioners regarding COVID regulations.
