Ottawa County leaders move to ‘protect’ DEI director ahead of takeover by further right Republicans

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – Ottawa County leaders this week approved a severance agreement for the county’s diversity office director that would “protect” her, and the county, should she be fired following the board takeover next year by candidates who lean further right.

The Republican-majority Ottawa County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 11, approved the agreement affording Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office Director Robyn Afrik three months of severance pay – both salary and benefits – if she is terminated prior to Dec. 31, 2023.

Afrik, who could not immediately be reached for comment, still has to sign the agreement for it to go into effect. If she does, she would relinquish any legal claims against the county should she be fired.

Ottawa County Board Chair Matt Fenske said there is a real possibility that the county’s DEI Office could be defunded and Afrik fired following the board changeover next year. The county’s DEI Office was established in late 2018.

The majority of board newcomers who will take office in January are part of a Republican faction called Ottawa Impact and have signed a contract pledging to discontinue “Ottawa County’s promotion of divisive teachings aligned with Critical Race Theory,” among other stances.

One Ottawa Impact candidate, in previously speaking with MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, accused the incumbent board Republicans of a “leftist agenda” and pointed to the county’s DEI Office as an example.

“It’s been made fairly clear in conversations with the incoming board that they’re not very supportive of the DEI Office,” Fenske told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press on Friday. “And so we not only wanted to protect her but to protect the office.”

The agreement does not prevent the current or incoming county commissioners from defunding the DEI Office. It defines the termination of Afrik as either done directly or indirectly through salary or benefit reduction.

“The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners will be transitioning, and there is a real possibility that in the near future, the Ottawa County DEI Office could be altered in funding or structure and the DEI Director, terminated,” the severance agreement states. “The current board of commissioners would like the DEI Office to continue with its current mission, but if it does not, it believes that it is equitable for the county and Robyn Afrik if this understanding is developed.”

Ottawa Impact candidates in August swept eight of the nine county board Republican primaries they ran in and ousted seven Republican incumbents from the board, including Fenske.

Related: ‘Red’ Ottawa County goes more conservative with newcomers blasting longtime incumbent leaders

Barring two challenges by underdog Democrats in the Nov. 8 general election, the eight Ottawa Impact Republicans who won will hold a majority of the county board’s 11 seats in January.

That likely eight-seat majority is in addition to incumbent Republican County Commissioner Kyle Terpstra, who is endorsed by Ottawa Impact and will remain on the board next year.

Terpstra was the sole “no” vote Tuesday in the 9-1 tally approving the severance agreement for Afrik.

“I think with this, it’s a slippery slope with the amount of employees that we have,” Terpstra said ahead of the vote. “We’re an at-will employer.”

The county’s administrator, administrative health officer and unfilled deputy administrator position all have severance agreements, Fenske said.

The severance agreement for Ottawa County Health Department Administrative Health Officer Lisa Stefanovsky was approved in August, following the primary and ahead of her March 31 retirement. It affords her three months of severance pay as well.

Related: Ottawa County health director retiring amid board takeover by anti-mask mandate candidates

Fenske said both Stefanovsky and Afrik, as well as their departments, were targeted throughout the election cycle. Ottawa Impact candidates campaigned on frustrations over the previous mask mandate for schools.

“During this election, not only the health department but the DEI Office and the individuals that hold those director positions were attacked numerous times in board meetings,” he said. “They were attacked on Facebook and social media.”

Outgoing Republican County Commissioner Francisco C. Garcia on Tuesday noted the long tenures of some of his fellow commissioners who would no longer be serving come January and what has been accomplished over that decade or two.

“In that time Ottawa County has become one of the most well-respected counties in the state of Michigan,” Garcia said, “and it saddens me that we’re going to have to spend the next few meetings trying to protect that reputation and trying to protect those principles and values that we have put in place because of uncertain times.”

The work of the county’s DEI Office has been supported by area corporations, foundations, chambers and more, with private donations largely accounting for the office’s first several years of funding.

Fenske said he hopes the county’s DEI Office continues on.

“It’s pretty critical to our county that we continue to have that office and have that relationship and connectivity with our diverse growing population,” he said. “I think (Afrik) has done an outstanding job and our county motto, once again, is ‘Where you belong,’ and we want to make sure that everybody feels welcome in Ottawa County.”

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