Public Health Department board members want to block nutrition grant application

Harbor Light News, May 2, 2023

By Charlie MacInnis

There appears to be no bottom to the downward spiral of the governing body for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, made up of eight county commissioners, two each from Emmet, Charlevoix, Otsego and Antrim coun-ties, most newly elected.

At its most recent public monthly meeting, the board deadlocked on a poorly drafted, pu-nitive and mostly illegal measure crafted by an unknown author with unknown legal training brought forth by an Emmet County commis-sioner. It would have attempted to severely restrict the health department staff ’s authority in a future emergency in defiance of state law.