February Newsletter 2025

Ottawa County Republicans' Newsletter

February 17, 2025  7:2

Editor's Preamble: 

Hello Ottawa County Republicans!  We are celebrating lot of things along with you given the actions of our new President, yet the one pictured below is one we are perhaps the most gratified by, which is the Executive Order to keep biological men and boys out of biological women and girls' sports! So while it's unfortunate the left has gone so far as to force the wrong position on this issue over the past four years, we are grateful to see this policy change at the hands of President Trump. *Sure there will be legal challenges to this new EO which is unfortunate, yet we still celebrate having a leader who is willing to throw down on this and has.

We have a a lot of local Party news for you this month, so please take a moment to read through and keep yourself informed on what the OCRP is doing here in Ottawa! And don't forget to visit our Volunteer Highlight and Business Spotlight columns to see some great attributes from active local Constitutionalists in Ottawa County.

OCRP News

The OCRP Held County Convention on January 30, 2025...

 

The OCRP Delegation Unanimously Passed a Motion to Condemn the Action of Six Republican Commissioners for Funding DEI...

The Delegation Unanimously passed a Resolution to Hold an Endorsement Convention during the 2026 Primary Season...

The OCRP Urges Michigan's Citizens to Contact Senate Majority Leader, Winnie Brinks (D) to Encourage the Passage of House Bill 4002... 

UPDATE: As of the end of last week, the Senate DID pass a version of HB 4001. *However, they have not yet passed the fix on 4002/ESTA, which, if ignored, will bankrupt Michigan's businesses on Paid Sick Leave. So while we're grateful they found a Bipartisan solution for 4001, they only have 5 more days to pass 4002 before a destructive law goes into effect. Please click the link above or below to see how you can contact your state senator, ESPECIALLY if you know a Michigan citizen who lives in a District represented by a Democrat Senator! Please forward this information to people you know and encourage them to contact their senator. You can also contact Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D) and respectfully ask her to bring House Bill 4002 to the Senate Floor for a vote before February 21st, 2025. 

Contact Senator Brinks at 517-272-1801 or at [email protected]

*This link below can be copy and pasted and shared with anyone you know:

 https://www.ottawagop.org/contact_your_senator_pass_hb_4001_hb_4002

Area News

Consumers Power has the final say about retiring Campbell Plant, but Ottawa County is worried...

Reading this article at the above link works better from a phone. If you're accessing from a desktop, the piece could be locked behind a paywall. *If you experience a Paywall, you can see the article in screenshots right HERE

If you would like to watch the meeting where these issues were addressed on February  10, 2025, you can do so at this YouTube link right HERE
*Or click the icon.
Important moments from the BOC meeting:
--There is a noteworthy moment in at 2:49-2:53 by Commissioner Joritsma where he asked the Consumers Power Reps about costs, reliability and protected farmland in relationship to solar panels.
--We also appreciated Commissioner Rhodea's exchange with the Consumers Power Representatives beginning at 3:00--3:06. She makes a very important point that the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is not now and has never been the driving force behind the closure of the Campbell Plant. She asked important questions about who is driving the force behind the closure.

Volunteer Highlight

Dan VandenBosch

Precinct Delegate

Dan VandenBosch is a Software Developer from Holland and serves as a Precinct Delegate in Holland City, Ward 1, Precinct 3. We know him as an enthusiastic delegate who does not seek self advancement or higher office in the Party, but serves the Ottawa County Republican Party in his Precinct for the love of the Constitution and the heart of what we are striving to become as a Party and are just now beginning to achieve.  

*Dan was spotted at our last Convention this past January, bringing in something like 40 pizzas on his own dime to feed his fellow Delegates which was so thoughtful and generous, that we felt it overdue for our Newsletter to feature him as the Highlighted Volunteer!

What do you love most about Ottawa County?

Family, community, beaches. It's a nice place to live and raise a family.

How long have you been Precinct Delegate? 

I started in 2010 with the tea party movement, so for fourteen years.
 Why have you stayed doing it so long?
--Because I felt that the Republican Party could have always done better and so I laid in waiting for it grow, and do better on focusing on the things really matter such as getting good constitutionally sound people elected to office. **Way back then I was also part of a good group called the The Tea Party Patriots.
Are there areas where you served in leadership in the past?  

I worked on the board of the Ottawa County Patriots and also served two years on the Ottawa County Republican Party's Executive Committee between 2019--2021.

What is your favorite part about being a Delegate?
I really enjoy going to conventions because I love the combat of them and watching it all play out in a technical way...I like seeing how the use of Roberts Rules of Order plays out. It's very fun for me!  It is gratifying to watch the outcomes of what I've been yearning to see happen for so many years, which is to watch the value of small government coming to fruition and watching/being a part of the transparency of an active and large Delegation.
 Tell us about your family…
I'm married and three wonderful kids, ages 4, 3, and 1 with one more on the way!

Anything else you’d like to share?

I want to see smaller government in Ottawa County and also I want to see Ottawa County achieve more in the area of stronger social conservatism, not the embracing of cultural Marxism. I was disappointed by a recent vote of the newly seated BOC, that six Republicans voted to financially support a DEI/CRT organization. It is frustrating this happened, so there is definitely more to work towards in the Republican Party here in Ottawa. It does seem sometimes that our Republican Party has been infiltrated by many Democrats. We need to work towards changing this.

And also...

Of all of the time I have been doing this, about 14-15 years which could be considered a long time...I have never seen it like it had been over the past 3 years!  It feels much more like the Party is a family/community now. I appreciate the change, that it is more than a bunch of people fighting and at each other's throats. The change is welcomed and good for the Party.

 ***We thank Dan for making time for this interview. We appreciate his service as a Delegate and his commitment to patriotism, as well as to fiscal and social conservatism in Ottawa County and in the OCRP🇺🇸

Business Spotlight

Owner Matt Hubbard has lived in West Michigan his whole life. What started as a small business out of his garage has grown tremendously over the course of 23 years. Matt is an Ottawa County Business Owner who loves the Constitution, making an honest wage and values carrying the finest products in his business with integrity. As Spring will arrive in just over a month, we encourage you to frequent Best Bark & Stone.

Bestbarkandstone.com

 

Address: 2594 Port Sheldon St., Jenison, MI 49428

Phone: 616-662-1667

Email: [email protected]

For coupons to Best Bark and Stone, see HERE

National Culture and Health

Here is the Executive Order regarding Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports...

State Culture and Health

It is time for a resurgence of our Truth Vs. Insanity Column and there is no better place for it this month than our Culture Section

 

The Truth

*You know what they say, that a picture is worth a thousand words? In light of this truth, we offer you these pictures.

And yet, in spite of this joyous occasion mandated by a landslide election and also given the fact that the NCAA has immediately responded by changing their Trans sports' policy, we are sad to also have to report that the of state of Michigan's bureaucracy is behind in the trajectory of the culture's national preference for this policy. Michigan's citizenry went red in the November-2024 election by 80,000 votes. Yet, the MHSAA is clinging to a law from 1976 within which there contains civil rights language. *However, at the time the law was written, the "group" of trans individuals did not exist and does not exist now. Men cannot be women. Boys cannot be girls. Yet, the MHSAA is defying President Trump's Executive order anyway.  

The Insanity

*This means that until there is a lawsuit or the people rise up here with their first amendment rights, boys are still allowed to go in girls locker rooms. How does this make you feel about the political culture in our State?

Mark Uyl, is the Executive Director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association. If you feel led, you may contact him and respectfully  let him know.*This is his phone number: (517) 332-5046 and email: [email protected]

Health

USAID Staff Cry for Their Fiefdom...

 

Not So Old News

Given the MHSAA defiance of Trump's Executive Order, we think the order of this federal judge from January 9, 2025 is news that's not so old, even though an additional EO was presented on Inauguration Day rendering the decision unnecessary as Title XI's language has been restored NOT to include Trans men in women's athletics.

Victory for Women and Girls: A Federal District Court Rejects the Biden Administration's Redefinition of Sex in Title IX...

 

National Culture/Education

A Kindergarten Teacher in California Breaks Her Silence on DEI...We appreciated this article from Real Clear Politics/Education because we believe if a teacher in Silicone Valley can be this courageous, we think we have a few in Michigan who feel the same and will be encouraged to speak out as well.

 

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February Lake Michigan Sunset, Ottawa County,  2025

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