Resident urges council to change Collin Park bandshell policy, alleges city manager influence

Anne Henriksen, a resident, used the public comment period to urge the Holland City Council to revise the Collin Park bandshell policy so religious organizations are not effectively barred from performing there.

Henriksen said the current policy “states clearly a religious organization must have a city department sponsor in order to use” the bandshell and argued that requirement amounts to religious discrimination. She recommended the Human Relations Department be designated to evaluate such requests, saying that office is the appropriate place to resolve possible conflicts with the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion rules.

“At the February 19 meeting, a group of 30 people came in. 11 speakers encouraged you to change the Collin Park band shell stage policy because it denies religious expression concerts,” Henriksen told the council. She said the group’s request was ignored at that meeting and that a city official was blocking change.

Henriksen alleged that City Manager Keith Van Beek has “emphatically” influenced the council against changing the policy. She also reported that public-comment emails were sometimes answered by a secretary named Mallory rather than being read directly by the city manager or council members, and said that contributed to the public’s impression that officials were not listening.

Henriksen quoted a reply she received from the city manager’s office describing the bandshell as a “unique form that does warrant more limited use,” and said that language effectively restricts religious groups from using the facility to “promote their message.” She told the council, “This council has a stronghold, your employee, the city manager. Is he your is he to lead your charge council?”

The council took no formal action on the bandshell policy at the meeting. Henriksen asked the council to revisit the policy and to consider designating a city department to review sponsorship requests; no staff direction or formal motion was recorded during this meeting.

Henriksen referenced the February 19 meeting, where she said multiple speakers had made the same request; she asked the council to review that earlier record and to consider updating the city’s policy so it aligns with the 2020 anti-discrimination changes she referenced.

No council member responded to Henriksen’s remarks during the public comment period recorded in this meeting’s transcript.