COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Chaos and anger erupted Thursday morning as a scheduled meeting of the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency Board of Health was not held due to a disagreement between agency officials and audience members over COVID-19 protocols.
Among the items on the agenda was a closed session between the Board and Health Officer Rebecca Burns in order to conduct her yearly evaluation.
Also scheduled was action on whether or not to renew her contract which is scheduled to expire at the end of the month.
Several members of the public have called for the Board of Health to fire Burns because they feel she has overreached her authority and has been dishonest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The monthly meeting which was supposed to have been a combination of an in person meeting and Zoom Call was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m..
The meeting had still not begun at 9:15 a.m. when Burns told audience members they had to follow COVID-19 protocols.
That did not sit well with audience members who said they were in a public building. It was at that point that Board Chair Kathy Pangle said the meeting would not be held and will be rescheduled.
That led to an angry exchange as members of the public left.
Board member Brent Leininger asked Pangle if she had the right to decide not to have the meeting which led to my angry comments and accusations.
The board’s three member Health Program, Policy, and Appeals Committee recommended to the full board this past Monday that they enter into a three year contract renewal with Burns and that the yearly evaluation be pushed back to either September or October. The Committee also recommended to the full board that they deny two Freedom of Information Act requests because they determined no records were found or withheld.
The reply concerning denying the request of records because none were found smells of impropriety. I say there is information that is being covered up.