The Oceana County Board of Commissioners is currently seeking applicants to fill the recently vacated board member position for the Department of Health and Human Services/Oceana County Medical Care Facility Board. As of the Oct. 9 meeting, three people had put in a letter of interest for the appointment, one of whom introduced himself and his intention for applying during public comment.
While listed as an item on the agenda, Chairman Robert Walker voiced his intention to have the item as a discussion of what the board was looking for in an appointee at the current meeting and to wait to make a decision at the next. Walker hoped that by “mentioning [the opening] now, if there’s anyone else who wants to put in a letter of intent, they would know from the public meeting that we are accepting them.”
He was also concerned about voting on the item while Commissioner Joel McCormick (who is also the chair of the personnel committee) was absent from the meeting, as “this is one of the most important appointments that this board makes to another board; I would rather that all the board members be here.”
The remaining members were in agreement with the decision, with Commissioner Tim Beggs speaking of the importance to “do due diligence and advertise that spot. Not that we have unqualified candidates. I think we have a couple of good options.”
Commissioner Paul Erickson wished for serious consideration for the appointment and to have as wide a pool as possible for qualified candidates. Doing so, he cited the resignation of multiple employees and county residents from the medical care facility, as well as the $12 million loss in revenue over the last two years. “I think it’s time that we do a very serious consideration with this board,” Erickson concluded.
In the effort to alert as many residents as possible to the available position, the commissioners decided to place a public notice in the paper. Interviews for applicants will be held at the next personnel committee meeting.
Also discussed were which follow-up budget meeting items the board should consider for decisions at the first (and only) November board meeting. Some of these items, such as various building repair and maintenance projects, were tabled due to their low priority or lack of quoted costs. Items the board will consider for decision in November concern county employee wages and a software service contract for the District Court. The considered budget items will be subject to public hearing at the meeting.
Also at the meeting, Jon Bumstead, representative for District 32 in the Michigan Senate, paid a visit to the Board of Commissioners. While the visit was primarily to stop by and say "hello," Bumstead took time to remind the board that, while the state government had passed its 2026 budget and narrowly avoided shutdown, many items are not set in stone. “It’s kind of silly to do a budget at four in the morning; that’s how stuff gets left out… We’ll have to fix things, do some supplements over the next six months. So what you see is probably not what you get at the end of the day.”
Bumstead also reminded the commissioners to contact his office with any questions or concerns they may have, both with the state budget and otherwise.
