'Learn from it': Stanford-Butler wants something good to come from OI
OTTAWA COUNTY — Angela Stanford-Butler wants voters in District 9 to have choices at the ballot box in November.
She remembers November 2022, when she had one Republican choice for county commissioner.
"I looked at my ballot, and I just couldn't believe it. We weren't even in the fight. There were no options. And I thought: 'This isn't right. This isn't what democracy is about.'"
That's why the Democrat is running for a spot on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners this year.
"It's about having a choice and about being free to make that choice," she told The Sentinel. "There are places where you can live where you don't have that choice at all. So I thought, 'What can I do? Because I don't ever want to see this again.' I'm happy to step up."
Stanford-Butler, 59, said she's deeply concerned over decisions made by the Ottawa Impact majority on the current board. The far-right fundamentalist group, which formed in 2021 over frustrations with county and state COVID-19 mitigation measures, currently has a seven-seat controlling majority on the 11-member board and made a series of controversial decisions in 2023 that led to four ongoing lawsuits and a brief investigation from the state attorney general's office.
More: A year after the Ottawa Impact controversy, here's what the commissioners accomplished
"It's the decisions that were made," she said. "It's the approach and the style of government, because they ran on transparency, but there's no transparency there."
Stanford-Butler said OI operates in lockstep with leader and current Board Chair Joe Moss, without room for thoughtful discourse in public meetings.
"It's clearly follow the leader," she said. "I don't hear ideas, and it's just not good governance. It's one guy saying, 'Here's what we're gonna do.' And even as he feigns concern for everybody to speak, he's not listening. He comes in with the decisions that are made and he's got the majority, and he knows that, and he's just humoring everyone."
And the decisions being made are deeply problematic, she said.
"The fiscal irresponsibility started on day one — and we're in it deep," she said. "How can they still stand behind every decision they've made, costing the community a fortune? It's not them who's going to pay it back. It's all of us."
District 9 is currently represented by OI Commissioner Roger Belknap, who is seeking re-election. Also running for the Republican ticket is former commissioner Phil Kuyers, who represented the district for more than two decades before losing to Belknap in 2022.
Stakes for county elections are higher than ever across Michigan, after a change in state law lengthens terms from two years to four.
The advertising and marketing executive said she hopes people are paying attention.
"It surprises me how few people are engaged. We're all doing everything we can to get up each day. Involving yourself in the problems of the world, the nation, the state, your community — it's hard, but it starts at the bottom. Start with your county government, start with your school boards; get in there," she said. "You just can't go through life unaware. It's just dangerous."
If elected, Stanford-Butler said her plan boils down to protect and prevent.
"You have to think about repairing the damage done," she said. "We've got to start planning for the future. Then we have to protect the things that are important: our community, our at-risk members, we've got environmental issues, our water aquifers are not recharging, our AAA bond rating — all of these things are at risk and we have to plan for the protection of all of it and prevent this sort of thing from happening again."
Other priorities are improving transparency, both locally and at the state level, and restoring a focus on inclusion.
"If I can do something on day one, and wave my wand, it would bring back the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department. It's supported by the businesses, all of our industries — they've got skin in the game, and that's why it's important," she said. "Diversity is important. It's important to everyone. It's not something to be afraid of, because whoever's telling you it is is trying to scare you."
Stanford-Butler said the push for ideological posturing rather than enacting policies with measurable outcomes has damaged Ottawa County's reputation and financial position.
"Part of the financial situation is obviously due to the losses that they just are tripping over that they can't stop themselves from creating, but to willingly turn down grants and funding that our county employees worked hard to get just because there's a non-discrimination clause ... that's spiteful, that's playground politics," she said. "There's no excuse for that."
She said the biggest lesson over the past 18 months is to learn from missteps.
"We all make mistakes, but you've got to learn from it."
She said she looks forward to more political diversity on the board next year, which would be more representative of the county.
"Having diversity on the board just makes sense," she said. "When you have diversity, you learn from each other. If you're listening, you're better for it. It makes things rich, not worse. It makes it more robust. When you get into a mixed group, you learn things, because you start to learn that some of the things you heard aren't true. It's when you get together as a collective group that you're able to do more."
She has been married to husband Chris for 21 years. The couple share two children: William, 18, and Liv, 21.
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Dates to know
Tuesday, May 7: Special recall election for District 2
Tuesday, Aug. 6: Michigan primary election
Tuesday, Nov. 5: Michigan general election
— Sarah Leach is executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: 'Learn from it': Stanford-Butler wants something good to come from OI
