GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Despite not issuing a proposed official statement, Kent County’s elected leaders have voiced condemnation over threats of violence against its top health official.
Kent County Health Officer Adam London previously in an email called on the county’s 19 elected commissioners to take a stand against the misinformation, aggression and dangerous rhetoric at play across America. He outlined some of the threats against him in the email which surfaced this week.
Kent County’s elected leaders appeared split Thursday on whether to issue or sign a joint statement condemning violence.
Several Democrats on the Kent County Board of Commissioners at the Sept. 23 meeting pushed for the joint statement. And while no Republicans expressed support, all those who spoke on the issue condemned threats of violence. The Republicans hold an 11-8 majority on the board.
“I want to pledge to (Kent County Health Officer Adam London), and to our board, that we will do everything we can to find the people that are threatening his life and his family’s lives,” said Commissioner Tom Antor, a Republican who represents Sparta and three surrounding townships in northern Kent County.
“We cannot let that go.”
In a Aug. 22 email to commissioners that became public earlier this week, London said a woman tried to run him off U.S. 131 twice just hours after he issued the countywide school mask mandate. Earlier that week, a person swore at him and said they hoped someone abused his children while he was forced to watch it happen.
“I need help,” he told Kent County commissioners. “My team and I are broken. I’m about done. I’ve done my job to the best of my ability. I’ve given just about everything to Kent County, and now I’ve given some more of my safety.”
Kent County Board Chair Mandy Bolter, following news reports around the email, released a statement Tuesday condemning threats of violence, be it against a resident or county employee. Bolter is a Republican who represents the southeast portion of Kent County.
“I just want to say that I was appointed as chair of this board; I was appointed unanimously. Sometimes I get in trouble for speaking on behalf of all of you, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most everyone here agrees that violence is not acceptable,” Bolter told her colleagues Thursday.
“We can continue to churn this and we can continue to sign my document, your document, whatever. But we have got to quit trying to score political points and get back to the business of the people …”
Minority Vice Chair Phil Skaggs, a Democrat who represents parts of Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, detailed some of the threatening language commissioners heard late last month when they held a meeting to hear community reaction to and provide further information around London’s mask mandate in schools.
Related: Tyranny and parental choice among arguments parents used in objecting to Kent County mask mandate
London attended the meeting virtually, with officials citing safety concerns. About 1,000 people attended the meeting and while most who spoke were heated, only a handful made veiled or open threats.
“This petition from our constituents is pretty simple. The fact that people will refuse to sign it is shocking,” Skaggs said. “They simply are asking us to condemn all forms of threats and intimidation made against local, state and federal public servants. We want to be united? Let’s go ahead and issue a statement that is clear.
“It doesn’t need to be a statement about mask mandates. It doesn’t need to be a statement about passionate language. But we ought to make a statement that makes it clear that we will not stand for our employees being threatened.”
Commissioner Stan Ponstein, a Republican who represents Grandville and the northern portion of Wyoming, called the petition “just another wedge that we want to put between the two political parties,” saying every time he takes the oath of office and swears to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state laws, he’s making a statement opposing violence.
“But the claim to come to me that somehow I support violence because I won’t support this petition; I mean, I would be signing petitions every single day because every single day the people of law enforcement put their lives on the line, get threats, get run off the road,” he said. “I would be signing those proclamations every day.
“As a whole I oppose violence. I stated that when I took that oath of office.”
Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, a Democrat who represents Grand Rapids’ Southeast Side, thanked Bolter for her quick response Tuesday with a statement condemning violence. He said people in his community were asking for a signed statement from the entire board denouncing violence.
“I’ve been on this board five years, and I don’t think there’s one commissioner -- I know there’s not one commissioner -- I can say that would spearhead violence or support violence,” Womack said. “Looking at what Mandy Bolter had already issued, I started writing a few things and was wondering if we could get with Mandy and maybe a few other commissioners to come up with something together that’s a joint statement and at least bring it to a motion to be voted upon. Just against violence, because people have a right to be on either side of the issue.”
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