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Commissioners ratify public-health contract with Flourish & Thrive despite objections over vendor's public posts
Summary
The board approved post-execution ratification of contracts including a $30,000 Public Health contract with Flourish and Thrive Labs after a commissioner raised concerns about the vendor's public social-media posts and political activism; a motion to separate and vote on that contract failed and the ratification passed by roll call.
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners ratified a set of post-execution contracts on Aug. 26, including a $30,000 contract (contract 2702) between the Department of Public Health and Flourish and Thrive Labs to evaluate a public-health surveillance team. The contract was the subject of sustained concern from Commissioner Sylvia Rohde, who said she opposed partnering with a vendor whose leadership publicly urged resistance to certain federal executive directives.
Rohde told the board she had reviewed social-media posts and LinkedIn activity she said showed the company encouraging public-health employees to retain or host datasets the federal administration had asked to be removed. “When someone has a public disagreement with our Republican president and his administration, and is actively working against him, I'm not sure that that's an organization we should be partnering with,” she said.
Public Health staff present responded that Flourish and Thrive had been vetted through the county procurement process and had been the highest-rated vendor in a prior RFP. A department speaker (identified in the record as Adeline, health department staff) said the work was scheduled to start in September and that delaying the contract would risk losing fiscal-year funds earmarked for the project. “Flourish and Thrive is…the highest scored vendor with the procurement team,” the health-department speaker said.
Commissioners debated options: separate the contract for individual consideration, send it back to Public Health for more review, or approve the ratification. A motion to separate contract 2702 for individual consideration failed on a roll call. The board then conducted a roll-call vote on the post-execution ratification package; the ratification passed with 7 yes votes and 4 no votes.
Commissioners also discussed whether the county should adopt a policy governing when a vendor may use the county’s name or materials in marketing; several members said they were concerned to find Ottawa County referenced on a vendor website without prior board review and asked staff to consider safeguards.
Public Health staff said Flourish and Thrive had previously participated in county procurements and that the contract’s purpose is to review the team’s processes and protocols, identifying strengths and suggestions for improvement. The contract description in the meeting packet said it would provide "a comprehensive evaluation of the processes and protocols of the team to include strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement."
