OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – Four candidates are running to become the next Ottawa County commissioner for District 10, one of the northernmost areas of the county. The district is currently represented by Republican Roger Bergman, who announced last year he would not be seeking reelection. District 10 covers the cities of Grand Haven and Ferrysburg, along with most of Spring Lake Township.
There are two Democrats running for the Board of Commission seat, along with two Republicans in the Tuesday, Aug. 6 primary election. The winners of each party’s primary will face off in the November general election.
The Democratic candidates are Oliver Shampine and Douglas VanBennekom, and the Republican candidates are Josh Brugger and Jason Koert. Brugger is endorsed Bergman. RELATED: Moderate Republican on Ottawa County board won’t seek reelection Brugger, 46, is a former Grand Haven city council member.
He is a businessowner and licensed general contractor, and currently serves as the chairperson of the Ottawa County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Economic Development Corporation, according to his campaign website. Koert, 45, owned and operated a local carpet and duct cleaning service for the last 10 years, which he sold in 2023. Prior to that, he worked in automotive sales, as a fitness club director and in telecommunications.
He has previously served on the Wyoming/Kentwood Chamber of Commerce retention committee and was an ambassador with the Muskegon Chamber of Commerce. Shampine, 21, is currently a student at Grand Valley State University, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has previously done internships with a Michigan state House representative and the city of Grand Haven administration.
VanBennekom, 30, is a grocery clerk at Meijer and a union member. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and criminal justice. MLive has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan Education Fund this year to provide voters with a Vote411 election guide.
Candidates filled out general information about their campaigns and answered a list of questions from the League of Women Voters. All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters, except for necessary cuts if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected.
Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should NOT be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties. Information on other state, county and local primary races can be found at Vote411.
org . Shampine did not respond to the candidate questionnaire. Please indicate what, if any, affiliations and organizations assist you in decision-making.
Brugger: Experience gained from working with the City of Grand Haven as a Zoning Board member, Planning Commissioner, City Councilman, and with Ottawa County as member and chairperson of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and the Economic Development Corporation. Koert: My affiliations are very broad and grassroots. I try to compile information from many sources and organizations so I don’t get pigeon held by a narrow view of a subject or situations.
From business owners to stay at home parents to podcasts, I try to stay informed to make the best decision possible. This is a We the People position and should stay By the People and For the People. VanBennekom: Being a member of union influences my decision making because it reminds me of the importance listening to working class people and how easily they can be forgotten or ignored.
If I needed specialized information I would reach out to organizations that have expertise in those areas to gain a better understanding. Please share your thoughts on how to work with the public and the media to communicate how the Board of Commissioners is meeting the needs of the county. Are there unmet needs at election time? Brugger: I firmly believe that County Government runs best when it is open, transparent, and works collaboratively with all county stakeholders and staff members.
The County Commissioner position is not an adversarial one, but rather one that looks for creative ways to leverage limited taxpayer dollars to meet the needs of local our community members in the most efficient and effective way possible. Koert: It will be an amazing experience to bring the public in as much as possible. I love that the current board chair lets the public have 3 minutes before and after the BOC meetings.
I think this is vital to hear all peoples ideas and their concerns. The media will be well informed and I hope will be a non biased portal for the public to get their information not some media spin. Together with honesty and integrity the media can help heal the county from the false information that has plagued us.
VanBennekom: I think it is important for the Board of Commissioners to reach out to the public in order make informed decisions. The Board should understand what the public thinks about issues that the Board are discussing. I think that current Board is too secretive and makes too many decisions behind close doors.
The Board should work to make its decision making process more open and public facing. What is your view of good county governance (considering fiscal policies, hiring & firing practices, disciplinary processes and serving the needs of your constituents)? Brugger: Job number one for a County Commissioner is to hire a competent and qualified County Administrator based on experience, not political ideology. The same applies to Legal Council.
This is done with public and key stakeholder input, by working collaboratively with the Human Resources specialists of Ottawa County and, likely given the chaos of the current administration, an executive recruitment firm. It’s a process and no steps should be skipped or agreements made behind closed doors. Koert: Each and every department will have a specific approach.
Hiring someone in one field may be a completely different process than another department. Firing or disciplinary processes would also be a department specific action. Looking at the department, roll of the person, reason for disciplinary action would all be factored to make the best choice for the county.
Fiscal responsibility is always a factor as we are spending tax payers money and need to stay good stewards of this. The new chair of the BOC had the lowest increase in spending in years compared to past chairs while in our current state of hyper inflation. I would want to work diligently with the BOC to make sure we are keeping up with needs without pork belly spending.
VanBennekom: In my view a good county government is responsive to the public. The county commissioners should respond quickly to requests for constituent services or direct the requests to the correct part of the county government. I think the Board should be careful about how it spends money and avoid actions the lead to unnecessary lawsuits.
The Board should make sure that it is hiring the best people for the county government and should careful vet candidates. It should also not fire people too quickly and make sure that poltics does not influence the disciplinary process. What do you see as the function of public comments during County Commission meetings? Brugger: While the public is welcome to comment on anything that is on their mind, open public comment at the beginning and end of county meetings is designed with the public providing comment about the business of the county, in mind.
Koert: Public comment may be used as a persons First Amendment Right. Some people may use it to bring ideas while others want to shed light on a situation to use this time and venue as their platform. I hope that it also gives an opportunity for myself to directly connect with people to hear them out and possibly make a collective difference.
Your voice should not be silenced because someone doesn’t agree with your stance. We can all work together with the hope to make a positive difference while showing kindness and respect VanBennekom: The function of public comments is a way for the public to communicate their opinions or questions with the County Commission. It is way for the public draw attention to issues that are not get enough attention from the county government.
MLive, separate from the League of Women Voters, sought to offer voters further insight into the candidates and asked additional questions. Koert and Shampine did not respond to those additional questions, but Brugger and VanBennekom’s answers to those questions can be found here: Do you plan to sign the Ottawa Impact “Contract with Ottawa”? Why or why not? Brugger: Absolutely not. My only “contract” is with the people of District 10: residents of Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg.
I will not sign any contract or memorandum of understanding that hinder my ability to serve all residents of Ottawa County, regardless of race, religion, or creed. VanBennekom: No, I do not agree with Ottawa Impact on a number of issues and I am not interested in signing their contract. For example I do not agree with making the county a “Constitutional Carry” county, I am pro choice, and I disagree with their anti-vaccinations position.
Also since I am running as a Democrat, I do not think they would offer to let me sign it. What are the most important issues facing Ottawa County? Brugger: Right now, the most important issue facing Ottawa County is the Ottawa Impact majority running Ottawa County’s government. We need to get back to solid, humble, and quite local government that is actually transparent, actually fiscally responsible, and that focuses on the purpose of Ottawa County government as an organization that exists to serve all people of Ottawa County; ensuring the delivery of services in such a way that does not abridge anyone’s Constitutional rights.
VanBennekom: The most important issues facing Ottawa County are a lack of affordable housing and a lack of transparency in government. The County government could do more to make housing more affordable, such as through coordination with local governments to make it easier to build less expensive houses. The county government in order to be more transparent should discuss more issues in public, rather than trying to make policy in secret.
It would be helpful for the commission to spend more time publicly discussing issues, rather than deciding things in private then trying to pass them through the commission meetings with minimal public input. What do you view as the role of county government? Brugger: As a Lincoln Republican, I believe as he did, that the legitimate purpose of government is to do for a community of people whatever it is that they need done that they cannot do at all, or cannot do so well by themselves. As a fiscal conservative, I believe that it is the responsibility of our elected leaders to do so by leveraging the smallest amount of taxpayer dollars to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people in our community.
This means running government efficiently, transparently, and in partnership with ALL staff of Ottawa County. “I want to work for the County because I have a political agenda,” said not one Ottawa County staff member, ever. When we stop viewing staff as the enemy and start seeing them as partners in service to our community, that’s when we can get the job of “good governance” done.
VanBennekom: I think the role of the county government is to use public resources to do the most good for the people of Ottawa County. While local governments like the county have the most direct impact on the day to day lives of the people living here, their resources are concentrated by what money they receive from the state and federal government. So it is important that the county government uses its resources wisely and does not waste them on unnecessary things.
Should faith play a role in county government? Brugger: Faith, hopefully, is a guiding principle in the life of all elected officials. However, my Christian faith is not a weapon to be wielded upon the people of the community that I love and that I am elected to serve. ‘Tho many were Christians, some were not, and most were not of Christians of the same stripe.
As such, the Founders of our nation recognized the paramount importance of the separation of church from state. I for one, view that separation as a wall of solid rock. As such, in the capacity of an elected leader, while my faith guides my morals and plays a part in the decisions I make, it is my personal faith, and it is not to be forced upon any individual.
VanBennekom: I think that faith is important to many people in the county, but should be tempered by the responsibility of the elected office. While it is important for elected officials to do what they believe is right as understood through their faith, it is important for them to remember that they represent a diverse group of people, and they should make sure they are not ignoring other sets of beliefs. Elected officials should balance their own beliefs with making sure that they best represent the views of the people who live in their district.
How do you plan on communicating and be transparent with your constituents? Brugger: If elected, my telephone number, already public, will be posted on the County’s website. So too will my personal email address. As a local business owner, husband to an amazing wife, and father of two children in our public schools, I am always out and about in our community and available.
If anyone wishes to meet personally, I’ll of course have routine “coffee shop” hours throughout Northwest Ottawa. VanBennekom: I would like to hold public events like meetings at coffee shops or other public places where I can answer questions or listen to constituents’ concerns. I also plan to respond to emails promptly.
By having multiple ways of reaching me I hope to communicate with as many constituents as possible. Why are you running for county commissioner? Brugger: I am running because I am very concerned with the direction that Ottawa Impact Commissioners have taken our county. We were once known around the state and country for our amazing beaches, beautiful parks, thriving economy, and as a wonderful place to raise a family with a quality of life rarely found anywhere else.
Today the state, country, and even parts of the world know us as a county where the residents “have gone to war with themselves.” We need to get back to good, solid, humble, quiet, and reliable government so that the people of Ottawa County can once again, thrive and be proud to be from this phenomenal place that we call home. VanBennekom: I am running for the Ottawa County Commission because I do not think that working class people are being represented on the commission.
I work at the local Meijer and am a member of the union there, so I have very different experience compared to the current members of the commission. I believe that I can bring the views of working class people to the commission so they can make better decisions that will help more people in the county..
