The Board of Directors meeting for the Oceana County Council on Aging was again met with a substantial audience and a multitude of public comments.
Before public comment, Doug Bacon, in his new role as board president, gave a statement to the audience laying out the function of the board and what expectations the public should have. “I want you to understand… that we [the board of directors] are not paid. We’re volunteers. We do this because we feel strongly about the aged in our county.”
Bacon went on to say that the board does not respond to things “the way you think we should” because “we can’t allow one person to be the voice for all this, because we don’t all think the same.” He also reminded the audience that “we will never respond to public comment. That’s not how the board works.” Bacon also went on to extend this expectation to concerns over employee situations, and that those situations are very rarely brought to the board and are rather the concern of OCCOA’s personnel committee.
Finally, Bacon reminded the audience that public comment is constrained to 3 minutes each and requested that the audience refrain from “[duplicating] what you’re saying… Nobody wants to hear it over and over.”
With all that said, there were still many people who gave public comments, with feedback close to evenly split.
Jan Christiansen, an attendee of OCCOA for over two years, praised the beauty of the main facility and the kindness and efficiency of the staff. Sally Duran also showed support for the board, saying that she knows “you can’t reveal this personal stuff. And you have a right to hire and fire like any other corporation would.” She also supported the running of the building, food served, and activities. “When I walk in, everybody’s happy. And they have a place to go instead of sitting at home with nothing to do… this is a jewel for Oceana County that every citizen in this county can be proud of.”
Theresa Root, who formerly served on OCCOA’s Transportation Advisory Council for 20 years, praised the financial transparency she observed during her tenure. Root said that, now utilizing services as a senior, “I go to other [Councils on Aging] in other towns. There’s no council like this council… whatever we need to do to keep this wonderful, comfortable building and services and programs, I’m on it.”
Mary Sloan continued to speak about the abrupt firing of the former manager of Our Friends House Adult Day Care and the resulting emotional distress felt by her husband and former OFH client, Clair, as she has been consistently since August. “He fell into major depression, slept very little, had no interest in eating, and wanted to quit attending Friends altogether.” She also expressed dissatisfaction over the perceived “lack of caring, compassion, and concern” shown by the administration and board to her husband, even after his own comment at the meeting in November.
Following Sloan, Susan Stace presented on behalf of a group of other concerned Oceana County residents, called Oceana Grace, and formally requested records of staff salaries, benefits, and perks for the 2022-24 fiscal years, as well as copies of the 2026 budget and policies concerning requests for bids.
Mary Lulich spoke of her experience as a former member of OCCOA’s Board of Directors and continued to request transparency on the Council’s running and finances, reminding the board of their responsibility to oversee the running of the administration. “Nobody wants this place to close down… that’s why we’re here. But we do feel that there is information that you have, that we’d like to see, so that we’re not spreading falsehoods.”
The board was presented the 2026 budget, which had been delayed at the October meeting, which was reviewed and approved unanimously. A physical copy was presented at the meeting for attendees to likewise review, available in the coatroom adjacent to the meeting space. The board likewise said that a virtual copy will be made available on OCCOA’s website. As of publication, the 2026 budget nor minutes from the October or December meetings have been posted. A copy of the September financial report was made available to the Oceana Echo upon request.
Following concerns presented at the last several meetings over OCCOA’s finances, the Council invited Certified Public Accountant Sarah Kanitz to present on the financial operations of the organization. Her firm, Lake Michigan CPA Services, has performed the audits for OCCOA for the past 14 years, and in her professional capacity, no financial wrongdoings, intentional or unintentional, were found in the most recent audit.
In correspondence presented to the board, Executive Director Stephanie Moore read a letter from family members of a past attendee praising the facility and services, thank you notes from seniors who received holiday baskets during Thanksgiving, and a letter from Clara Müller, OCCOA’s World Horizon volunteer, who praised her observations of Our Friends House and the enjoyment from attending clients, where she works once a week. “These things that happen behind the scenes should never be forgotten and deserve as much recognition… because everyone here puts so much heart and soul into their work, and I haven’t seen that anywhere else by far.” Müller’s report was the only positive comment presented concerning Our Friends House.
Moore also shared an email from Pam Curtis, CEO of Senior Resources of West Michigan, the agency that expends the funds received by OCCOA from the state and federal levels. Curtis spoke to the gap in wages between the frontline workers and administrative staff, a noted public concern voiced in October’s meeting. “There’s always going to be a wage gap” due to the multiple business lines and regulations the administration must closely analyze and follow. “In-home services, adult day services, food services, senior center activities, and transportation - each of those could be its own business and is hugely important. It’s not the same type of responsibility as others.”
The OCCOA Board of Directors also received a presentation from Vice President of Administrative Services at West Shore Community College Mitch Foster on the new community center and college satellite facility that is going into the old Gale’s IGA grocery store building. The new facility will have a food bank, classrooms, an office suite, a drive-thru coffee shop, and a community meeting space, as well as provide an improvement to that block of downtown Hart’s streetscape.
