The Ottawa Board of Commissioners have voted in favor of creating a new communications director position for the county. The new position comes after Administrator John Gibbs last week announced that all communication from the county to the media would be subject for review by his office first.
A week ago, Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs sent out a new mandate to all county employees—telling them that from this point on, all media interviews, website updates, social posts, press releases and or any other types of communication would be controlled by his office.
Following that mandate, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners then approved the creation of a communications director position for the county on Tuesday, which critics argue is for the sole purpose of controlling the narrative and messaging that is being sent out to the media, specifically, the Department of Public Health.
Commissioner Roger Bergman, who has been critical of the board since being sworn-in last January, said the group is dictating policy, and not listening to the voice of the people who are in opposition of the move.
“I think it’s been overwhelming, the vast majority have written or called regarding the attempt to control what the county is giving out in terms of information. If we go forward with this, I think it’s a blatant attempt at ignoring, once again, what the majority of the county is asking us not to do. I will be voting no on this and listening to my constituents.”
At center stage in all of this is the continuing fight between the Department of Public Health and the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. Back in April ordered that all press releases would have to be approved by John Gibbs office after the health department shared with media outlets that it had received national recognition for its COVID-19 response.
