OTTAWA COUNTY — Dianne Fikse wants Ottawa County residents to know they still have important choices to make in the upcoming November general election.

The Zeeland resident and former employee in the county’s fiscal services department is running for treasurer as an independent against Republican incumbent Cheryl Clark.

Read More: 'Dollars, dogs, delinquencies': Clark wants people to know treasurer post is vital

“I’ve been a Republican all my life, but I’m now completely disillusioned with the current Republican environment in our local community and at the federal level, so I can't be a part of that,” Fikse said. “I am a lifelong Republican who can't be a Republican anymore because of Trump. So the question was: Do I just run as a Democrat? … But then I wanted to run as an independent, because I really think this role should not be partisan anyway.”

She said pursuing the independent route is not for the faint of heart, as she doesn’t have an obvious funding mechanism through the two-party system.

“I guess I just didn't realize it would be this hard. It's not that I'm not up for the challenge. But when I was gathering signatures, someone said to me, ‘Independents don't win.’ I was like, Huh? Independents can win, and now I just have to work harder to win. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm not afraid of hard work,” she said.

She also needed 1,500 valid signatures from county residents to make it onto the November ballot.

“It was 1,500 and originally I thought, ‘Oh, that's going to be a piece of cake.’ And then I got going and I'm like, ‘This isn't going to be a piece of cake. This is going to be work,’ she said. “Getting the signatures was the best thing for me, because I got to go out and meet so many people. And I got my name out there.”

As the August primary cycle pitted Clark, a traditional Republican, against Ottawa Impact Republican Ben Genser.

Ottawa Impact assumed a controlling majority on the board of commissioners in January 2023, and pushed through a series of controversial actions during their first official meeting that year, which ultimately resulted in multiple lawsuits against the board.

Fikse admits that it was unusual to wait for the opponent she would face in the general election.

“I kind of sat in the wings before the primary. I don't know if that was a good choice or not. I wouldn't be on the ballot, so I didn't want to confuse voters in August,” she said. “I don't necessarily mind if it's me and Cheryl. Let the voter decide — that is really what I want. Let the voter make the decision.”

She said the independent label fits her.

“I am a moderate. I have Republican views and I definitely have Democrat views. I am farther left socially and financially, I'm more right, but I see that there's value on both sides,” she said.

She said the two-party system clearly dominates the election cycle because candidates have access to automatic support, from volunteers to funding.

“When you're in a party, you just naturally get that party support, and then they funnel support to different places. As an independent, you don't get that support, and so you just have to make it on your own and drive and drum up your own support. That is definitely a harder role,” she said.

From 2018-2023, Fikse worked as an accounts payable supervisor and budget audit analyst for Ottawa County.

She said she has several goals to accomplish should voters select her at the county’s next treasurer.

One is finding the right financial supports for the county’s funds.

“In the five years that I was at the county, we went through three different banks, and that's a big deal,” Fikse said. “I mean, how often have you personally changed your bank? At the county level, it’s involved. Every grant has to change their deposit. Everything we missed, we had to go chase it down. It took months. So it's a big deal, and I can see doing it once, but three times … not so much. That frequency just really shouldn't be necessary.”

Clark, who previously served as deputy treasurer, was appointed to the treasurer role in January after Amanda Price retired in December, one year shy of completing her four-year term.

Fikse said one criticism she has observed in the nine months since Clark took office is a minimal effort to educate residents on the importance of the department.

“I went back and I looked at all of Cheryl's presentations to the board from January to August. In January, she presented Amanda's presentation because she was brand new, and it took her five minutes. In February, she was absent. In March, another five minutes. In April, she was out with the flu. In May, she had a medical emergency. In June, it was three and a half minutes. July, two and a half minutes. In August, two and a half minutes.

“So all in from January to August, the board heard 18 and a half minutes about our over $200 million portfolio. I don't think that's enough. I think there has to be more,” Fikse said.

In response to Fikse’s statements, Clark said she is serving residents well and that she and her office are a public resource to the community.

“In my over 32 years of experience in financial management, I have learned that time is precious. Therefore, I make an effort not to take up too much of the Finance Committee's time during meetings,” Clark said. “I always provide the Finance Committee with my monthly investment report ahead of the meeting, allowing them to review it in advance and come prepared with any questions. However, this rarely happens as my report is easy to comprehend.

“Transparency is important to me. Therefore, all my reports are accessible online at https://miottawa.org/Departments/Treasurer/investments.htm, allowing anyone to view them. Furthermore, I have listed my phone number online and in the report, and I encourage anyone with questions to reach out to me,” Clark said.

Fikse said she doesn’t think that’s good enough.

“I just don't think, ‘Do you have any questions?’ is good enough,” she said. “She sends a packet with all the information, but the board doesn't understand it. That's not their gift. It needs to be explained. And it needs to be explained in a way that the board and the constituents can understand it and that really is my gift. I am a very good collaborator and educator.”

People need to know more about the accounting of public funds.

“I really think that it's accurate to say that a lot of people just do not understand nor appreciate what a treasurer does. We need to make it in kindergarten terms, so everybody understands. You’re in charge of making sure that the county has enough cash flow for its needs — and that's huge,” she said.

She pointed to the Big Three automakers investing in electric vehicles.

“Right now, they're paying attention to their cash flow because they invested heavily in electric vehicles and they have yet to see the fruits of that,” Fikse said. “They put out a lot of cash, a lot of capital, and there's not a big return. So they are watching what they spend cash flow-wise because they have to. The county does, too — they have to pay attention. And the taxpayer has to be aware that we're doing these things to make sure that the county has enough liquid cash on hand to take care of this.”

She said she would like to make inroads with the public as well as education resources to promote civic education.

“Now, more so than ever, people want that knowledge and information. I would make myself available to talk to people such as a meet and greet or lunch and learn,” she said. “Maybe reach out to the schools and take kids in and learn about what the treasury does, and they can learn about voting at a young age, teach them that their vote matters and how they manage their money matters. Let's start young, right? Schools would love that.”

She said there are many opportunities for the treasurer’s office to help with the education point, even beyond the schoolroom.

“Why isn’t each city, village and township responsible for their own taxes? They're not responsible because the county buys a bond and we make sure that every city and township is whole,” she said. “So every tax that they bill for, they get the money from the county. Do people know that? Maybe, maybe not. So we have that unique opportunity to walk hand in hand, and I think that the treasurer should partner with fiscal services to talk about the budget and the audit and the money and just be available for people if they want it.”

Fikse also would like to help mitigate the stigma that residents can feel when they fall behind in their property taxes.

“We have the unique opportunity to walk hand in hand with anyone who is close to being delinquent in their taxes,” she said. “I want to make sure that every delinquent taxpayer does not feel like a delinquent. I can have that connection with people.”

Fikse also would like to see more steps taken to make the business of the county’s Insurance Authority more transparent to residents.

In April, Fikse addressed the board of commissioners during public comment, alleging that Board Chair Joe Moss prevented her from making the Insurance Authority’s meetings open to the public while she was still employed at the county — even after a majority of the authority's members approved the move and the county's corporation counsel vetted it.

Read More: Former Ottawa County employee: 'Boring' not an excuse to keep insurance meetings closed

Moss also is the president and founder of Ottawa Impact.

"In May of 2023, both you and (former county administrator) John Gibbs told me to keep the (meeting) closed after the Insurance Authority work group unanimously agreed to open the meeting upon the advice of this legal counsel sitting right here to my left," Fikse told Moss, gesturing to county corporation counsel Jack Jordan.

"I was told to keep the meeting closed after legal counsel told me to open it — after I spent hours working with legal counsel working on the agenda," she told Moss, adding, "Rules only apply to you when it’s convenient."

Fikse said although the Insurance Authority meetings were made public in November, the workgroup subcommittee continues to have closed meetings where claims up to $50,000 can be approved out of the public eye.

“Up to $50,000 can be approved in closed session with the workgroup. Both should be made public,” Fikse said.

She said even with the opening of the larger Insurance Authority meetings, there is minimal effort to transparency of how taxpayer money is being paid out on legal claims.

“The only thing that gets put up is the agenda … not even the packet,” Fikse said on the Insurance Authority meetings. “You get the minutes and the agenda, that's it. And the minutes are just, you know, nothing.”

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Fikse said it should be the treasurer’s role to report on the actions of the insurance authority because office has a spot on the Insurance Authority board.

I think that should be in the monthly report in the finance meeting — make it public. Speak on it. What we settled on should be available to the public because we're spending public funds,” Fikse said. “The Insurance Authority is its own entity, but it is a component unit of the county. So it is taxpayer money, and it is an awesome thing that we've done to set up. We've saved the county millions of dollars in insurance costs, but it's a secret, and that's wrong. I hate secrets.”

For more information, visit Fikse’s campaign page at diannefikse.com.

— Contact Sarah Leach at SentinelLeach@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach. Subscribe to her content at sentinelleach.substack.com.