Ottawa County residents are now BANNED from entering the County building on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, unless they are giving public comment (or using the restroom). Even then it’s limited to approximately 50 residents at a time in a waiting room. Everyone MUST stay outside, and after giving public comment, the speakers will be ejected from the building.

Nothing says “we don’t represent you” like “you can’t come here.”

Read the new rules below.

Better yet, donate to the Legal Fund first!

Public Comment Protocols (for the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Meetings)

Copied from the Ottawa County website on September 11, 2021. Emphasis added.

Source: https://www.miottawa.org/Departments/BOC/

In order to ensure that everyone who wants to provide public comment at an Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting can do so in a safe and efficient manner, the County has implemented the following procedures:

  1. The public will access the building through the main entrance on the upper level of the Fillmore Administration Building. The door on the far right side of the main entrance will be open where County staff will be at a table in the vestibule to sign in on a Google Doc members of the public who wish to provide public comment. You will have to provide your name and the city/township where you live. For those members of the public who do not wish to provide public comment, then they can watch the Board meeting on Zoom or YouTube without entering the building.
  2. The Board will allow the first five people to provide public comment during the first of two public comment periods on the agenda. The remainder of the public comments will occur during the second public comment period near the end of the agenda. Each person will have one minute to provide their public comment. A timer will be displayed on the Zoom screen to show everyone, including the speaker, how much time remains.
  3. The first five people who sign in will be directed to enter the Board Room and take a seat.
  4. The next 10 people to sign in will enter the building and be directed to the main lobby.
  5. The next 50 people to sign in will enter the building and be directed to the Main Conference Room. There will be County employees in the Main Conference Room, as well as monitors that will display the Board meeting and the Google Doc signup sheet, so the public will know when they will be directed to the main lobby.
  6. As soon as the first five people in the Board Room have completed their public comment, they will then be directed to exit the Board Room and proceed outside the building. The 10 people from the lobby will be directed by County employees into the Board Room. The next 10 people from the Main Conference Room will be directed to move to the lobby. This cycle will be repeated until all in-person public comments have finished. The public comments from people participating via Zoom will be heard last to be consistent with the County’s past practice.
  7. The public will not be allowed to congregate in the hallways to avoid disruption to the various departments that work in this area.
  8. The entrance at the lower level will be closed to those persons wishing to attend the Board meeting. Rather, they must enter through the main entrance on the upper level.
  9. Public restrooms will be available in the main lobby and across the hall from the Main Conference Room.