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Board appoints Jordan Georgesema to Community Mental Health board; other CMH seat sent to ad hoc process
Summary
The board appointed Jordan Georgesema to fill a Community Mental Health (CMH) seat with an effective three-year term, while agreeing to send a separate CMH vacancy through the new Appointment and Alignment ad hoc for open recruitment after some commissioners raised fairness concerns about bypassing the standard talent-recruitment process.
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 28 appointed Jordan Georgesema to a Community Mental Health (CMH) Board vacancy and approved a three-year term running April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2028. The appointment followed discussion about whether the county should use its standard talent-recruitment process for CMH vacancies.
Commissioner Allison and others noted that the county's most recent talent and recruitment round had several applicants for CMH and that the person proposed for immediate appointment (Bonnie Vanderzweig) had not applied in that round. Allison moved to send the appointment process to the newly formed Appointment and Alignment ad hoc committee so that all interested county residents would have the opportunity to apply; the motion was amended on the floor to appoint Jordan Georgesema immediately to fill the currently open seat and to send the other appointment(s) through the ad hoc process.
County staff and the CMH committee chair were consulted during the discussion; staff said the vacancy could be left until April but that the board may want a representative in the interim. Commissioners also discussed term alignment (many CMH seats are three-year staggered terms) and noted statutory limits and a 12-year cap on total board service for some members.
Votes: The motion to send the appointment to the ad hoc committee and at the same time appoint Jordan Georgesema to the immediate vacancy passed on a roll-call vote. The board recorded the motion to approve and appoint Georgesema to the April 1, 2025 '1 March 31, 2028 term.
