From Joe Moss, Founder of OttawaImpact.com 

We received a court date for the lawsuit against Ottawa County!

You can read the request for summary disposition by clicking here.

Take Personal Action!

Our message is reaching thousands of engaged, conservative citizens in Ottawa County. We need your help!

Ottawa Impact is 100% volunteer, and our team appreciates the opportunity to serve Ottawa County. It is truly a blessing – yet, it comes with many financial expenses.

If 50% of the people receiving this email take personal action right now by donating $25 or more, we will be able to fund our anticipated operational expenses for next year!

Why is Ottawa Impact Involved?

Everything we do is focused on restoring and protecting your personal freedoms.

Michigan citizens are guaranteed a Constitutional Republic form of representative government. An unelected, unaccountable Health Director and Legal Counsel must not be allowed to rule all the people.

The Board of Commissioners must not be allowed to abdicate their duty and authority.

Michigan parents have a protected interest in their children’s care, custody, and education, and a fundamental right to make related decisions.

This “liberty interest” of parents is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by courts, and is specially protected by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

We will continue fighting for these rights, because the government will not stop trying to usurp them.

What’s Next?

Please donate and invite your friends to become a member so they can stay up-to-date on local issues, unified action steps, and vetted candidates committed to freedom.

[Posted by Lori DeVries]

From Joe Moss, Founder of OttawaImpact.com

Elected officials, bureaucrats, and schools have forgotten their place.

As reflected in Virginia yesterday, PARENTS WILL take back America for their children.

The policies and positions of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners and the Health Department will not be tolerated or forgotten by Ottawa County parents.

During the last 20 months, the County Commissioners have drawn praise from the Democrat Party, which also supports harsh enforcement of public health orders, and Critical Race Theory, under the guise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Enough is enough.

At the primary election of August 2, 2022, PARENTS WILL bring change to the Republican-led Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, and in November, to local school boards.

New leaders will stand boldly for the people, as Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin has promised to do in Virginia. Parents will not tolerate harmful, divisive teachings or the tyrannical treatment of their children. As author, speaker, and parental rights advocate Allie Beth Stuckey said last night:

Parents need a seat at the table to keep government in its rightful place. I’m happy to announce that Ottawa Impact PAC has been vetting candidates for the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. These new, vibrant, electable men and women are stepping forward to give a voice to parents and families! It is amazing to see the foundations God has laid and who He is moving into position. Who are we vetting? Parents and citizens with courage and backbone, from a variety of backgrounds, including business, education, social work, parental rights advocacy, and more! Follow Ottawa Impact PAC on Facebook Stay tuned for announcements and updates!

[Posted by Lori DeVries]

From Joe Moss, Founder of OttawaImpact.com

The generous people of Ottawa County have helped the Legal Fund raise $52,195 to support the parents who filed a legal complaint against the Ottawa County Commissioners and Health Department. Thank you!! (This is 52% of our goal.) We will share more updates as they are available.

Please share this update with your family and friends, and let them know how the Ottawa County leadership views the mask mandate as harmless:

Your friends and family can stay up-to-date on local issues by becoming a member of Ottawa Impact. Government overreach must be challenged. Ottawa County needs new leaders, for new times, for liberty! ​ Redistricting Action Item We have one final opportunity to make an impact on the state level with the “independent” redistricting commission. The redistricting commission is tasked with drawing new lines every 10 years. This is an important issue because several of the maps divide Ottawa County into three federal congressional districts for no logical reason. This would negatively impact our representation in Washington D.C. by splitting up Ottawa County. The commission does not have anyone from West Michigan on it, so please let them hear your voices. This Friday, the commission will be holding a public comment meeting in Grand Rapids at the DeVos Place (in the Steelcase Ballroom). The meetings are 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Four ways to make an impact: 1. Write a quick comment to support map 201. This map keeps Ottawa County together and does not try to lump communities like Hudsonville with Grand Rapids. Click here to make a positive comment on this map. 2. Write a quick comment thanking Redistricting Commissioner Lange for listening to us and keeping Ottawa County whole in her map. Click here to map a positive comment on Commissioner Lange’s Map.​ 3. Submit a longer written comment in the Michigan portal. Ottawa County should be kept together because of the economic, manufacturing, and agricultural ties that make our community a unique community of interest. Click here to submit a written comment. 4. For the maximum impact, speak in-person or via phone/Zoom tomorrow! From my understanding, those who attend in-person will be able to speak first, then individuals who join via phone/Zoom. Each speaker will have 90 seconds. Location: DeVos Place in Grand Rapids ​Where: Steelcase Ballroom ​Times: 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM ​Sign Up: Online (this is required) Thank you to those who have already stepped up to help make an impact with redistricting. Together we have mobilized hundreds of people to be involved! Our voice and our community matters. Let’s finish strong and tell the redistricting commission to keep Ottawa County together. This is what Unified Political Action is all about. [Posted by Lori DeVries]

From Joe Moss, Founder of OttawaImpact.com

The Legal Fund has raised $49,955 to support the lawsuit against the Ottawa County Commissioners and Health Department.

The leaders in Ottawa County are committed to keeping our kids masked. They are ignoring the facts that adults who wanted the shots have had time to get them, and the risk to children of hospitalization and/or death is essentially zero, as reported by the county itself. Even the CDC recognizes that:

“Most children with [the virus] have mild symptoms or they may have no symptoms at all.”

If you donate $45 right now, you will help us reach the halfway point of $50,000!

Please keep in mind how the Ottawa County leadership views the mask mandate:

Government overreach must be challenged.  Ottawa County needs new leaders for new times, who understand and prioritize the principles of liberty set forth by our Founding Fathers. Donate Now This lawsuit is an opportunity for everyone to take action together, which is what Unified Political Action is all about.

[Posted by Lori DeVries]

From Joe Moss, Founder of OttawaImpact.com

Ottawa County responded to the lawsuit. You can see their response and other updates on the website.

It all boils down to this: 

1. Ottawa County leadership is working hard to fight the lawsuit, to keep kids masked in school, prioritizing their interests above the health of our children and parental rights.
2. Interestingly, Ottawa County issued a new public health order last Friday. It begins by saying:
   1. “The Administrative Health Officer makes the following factual determinations to reconcile the orders considering current facts and law”
3. Presumably, they issued this “fix-it” order in response to the lawsuit. As you know, the lawsuit challenges that the county failed to make factual determinationsregarding “imminent harm” to support their mask order, and this was how they tried to fix their error.
4. It is now apparent that Ottawa County has coined a new term, which you will see in their response: “harmless mask mandate.”
5. 221 people have donated to support the lawsuit. The Ottawa Impact Legal Fund is funding the legal action, so please donate today! The five brave families suing the county need your support.

Concerning Questions Does Ottawa County really think pants, shirts, and shoes are the same as a mask? Did Ottawa County forget that families can choose to OPT OUT of the chicken pox and rubella vaccines, including for medical, philosophical, and religious reasons? Ottawa County reported on September 29: 2 child hospitalizations in the past 5 months 0 child deaths in the past 19 months Does this look like “imminent danger” to pre-K through sixth grade students? No! We will keep you updated as things progress. Ottawa County needs new leaders for new times.

[Posted by Lori DeVries]

 Facebook is down, and so are mask mandates in other counties.

Ottawa Impact is online, and since we rely on email to communicate directly with Impacters like yourself, we can still share the latest news.

However, since the governor signed Public Act 87, health departments covering the following counties have removed their mask mandates:

1. Allegan
2. Barry
3. Branch
4. Berrien
5. Dickinson
6. Eaton
7. Hillsdale
8. Iron
9. St. Joseph

Public pressure is a major factor in these decisions. County officials also cited Section 1222 (4) of Public Act 87:

If a local health officer has an emergency order under section 2453 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.2453, in effect as of October 1, 2021, the funds appropriated in part 1 for essential local public health services are unappropriated.

Section 250 of Public Act 87 states:

The director or a local health officer shall not issue or enforce any orders or other directives that require an individual in this state who is under the age of 18 to wear a face mask or face covering.

During last week’s county commissioner meeting, Corporation Counsel Doug Van Essen said:

“This is Lansing intermurals. It really doesn’t affect us directly, the question is, would we get our check?”

Mr. Van Essen also commented:

“The burden … is on the Legislature. They would have to sue … to compel the un-appropriation of their appropriation to Ottawa County.”

“If we don’t get our check, I’ll let you know, because it’s a blatant violation of our rights.”

We have repeatedly been told that Ottawa County must follow the law. However, in the current situation, is Mr. Van Essen advising Ottawa County not to follow a law passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed by Governor Whitmer? 

If other counties revoked their mask mandates, citing Public Act 87, why isn’t Ottawa County?

Ottawa Impact’s mission is to preserve and protect the individual rights of people in Ottawa County – from any and all violations!

We are building an unstoppable movement for FREEDOM in Ottawa County. Our members are passionate about protecting We The People from “blatant violations” of our individual rights. Please join us and make your voice heard!

[Posted by Lori DeVries]

 The Michigan Legislature included the following language in the budget that was signed yesterday by the governor:

“The director or a local health officer shall not issue or enforce any orders or other directives that require an individual in this state who is under the age of 18 to wear a face mask or face covering.” (mi.gov)

YES, Ottawa County commissioners, on advice from Corporation Counsel Doug Van Essen, confirmed they will disregard the prohibition on forced masking in Public Act 87, risk state funding, and uphold the forced Mask Order on young students.

Reports are circulating that the following counties are lifting their mask orders:

• Allegan County
• Berrien County
• Ionia County

This is why the lawsuit filed against Ottawa County is so important! The rule of law must be followed. The lawsuit challenges the authority Ottawa County claims it has to issue mandates.

Ottawa County’s disregard for the Michigan Legislature casts more doubt on whether or not they are concerned with following the rule of law.

[Posted by Lori DeVries]