County Senior Meal debate escalates into tribal warfare

Last week my county's Senior Meal debate escalated into tribal warfare.

My response, after the Allegan County News' report. 

Clipped for length.

https://wilcoxnewspapers.com/senior-meal-switch-has-fallout/

Senior meal switch has fallout

Scott Sullivan    |   March 27, 2026

Arms are up in the precincts after the Allegan County Commission dumped 20-year senior meal provider Community Action for Allegan County in favor of Grandville-based Meals on Wheels for $8.50 per meal, compared to CAAC’s $12.27). CAAC’s 3-year contract was set to expire April 1 but came earlier.

The elected county board of commissioners pulled the plug March 9, awarding it MOW effective immediately

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The county board made its choice Feb. 26. Why did members cut CAAC’s contract early?
“It’s a power and control issue,” said Jim Storey, the lone COA member to vote “no.” Before then he was a 2013-2024 county board member who served five terms as the body’s chair..
He and 13-year CAAC executive director Lisa Evans believe early severance came as reprisal — “out of spite,” Storey told this newspaper — for the agency making clear it would take its case to the cities and townships countywide.
So far, Evans said as of March 20, she and/other CAAC representatives have spoken at Saugatuck, Allegan, Otsego, Plainwell and Wayland city council meetings, plus Saugatuck, Laketown, Leighton, Gun Plain, Trowbridge, Watson, Heath, Salem and Dorr township boards. “More are coming,” she said, “including Douglas.”
To date, Gun Plain Township, Otsego city and last Friday, March 20, Saugatuck Township officials have passed similarly-worded resolutions asking the county to reinstate daily hot meals and wellness check services for eligible county seniors.
Saugatuck Township first heard from Evans March 11, but had no action item on its agenda for the late-breaking county item. That had to wait nine days till the county could call a special meeting with senior meals as the single agenda item.

Saugatuck City

March 9 council meeting minutes show current District 3 county commissioner Brad Lubbers, backed by county administrator Rob Sarro, got out in front of matters by laying out some details.
They also note Storey and U.S. Congress candidate Diop Harris (D-Battle Creek) were on hand. Since 2020 the former has independently written and circulated an “Allegan Storey” blog.
Also CAAC board member Lubbers told council the county had “followed its standard process by issuing an RFP (request for proposals), evaluating bid options and voting.”
Why the sudden severance was not addressed
“Under the new model,” Lubbers conceded, “instead of five days a week of hot meals, seniors would receive one to three days a week of frozen meals based on factors including cost and logistics.”
He acknowledged mixed reactions among seniors — some preferring hot meals and frequent visits, others preferring frozen meals and fewer visits — and that MOW drivers will be new people to most clients.
But he stood firm that “the county’s goals include fiscal responsibility with millage funds and ensuring that anyone needing more frequent wellness checks can be connected to other Senior Millage.”
Some in council felt less assured. Mayor pro-tem Joe Clark that night voiced ,concern about changes being made with scant regard to those most affected and the abruptness of the decision.
Councilman Scott Dean echoed Clark’s concerns, adding he would like to look into the matter further to ensure the community is raising, not lowering, the bar on services for vulnerable seniors.
Peer Gregory Muncey concurred, saying he found it “odd that council has just been informed of a significant shift that will take effect very soon.”

Saugatuck Township

At the township’s March 11 board meeting, Storey called his ex-county board peers’ action “mean-spirited.”
“The county pulled a fast one on us,” said CAAC driver Elizabeth Engels. “My heart goes out to our seniors.”
Daily checkups matter too.
“We are the eyes and ears of our clients,” said Evans. “We have found and helped seniors we’ve found fallen. It’s important we check on them every day.”
Township trustee Stacey Aldrich called these stories “heartbreaking” and helped set up last Friday’s special meeting.

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“CAAC,” Storey’s March 18 account went on, “was mocked for its 20-year-record of superior senior service. It was accused of not fixing some poorly-maintained homes discovered by MOW following its sudden take-over of the meals program.
“The comment was in apparent ignorance of a proposal CAAC recently presented to the COA for a home repair program funded by the senior millage. That proposal was rejected by the county and COA.
“The meals program does not fund home repairs. CAAC has funded some repairs for seniors using federal and state grants, but not all senior meal recipients qualify for the income-restricted fed and state programs.
“Allegan taxpayers,” Storey wrote, “fund the meals program through a special millage, funds that will now go to the Kent County outfit.”

Wait, there was more: three anecdotes culled from CAAC records by Storey, without giving last names for confidentiality reasons, included:

Anita from Pullman wrote “… daily meals from (CAAC) is my only real source of having one balanced meal daily. I am bedridden and can no longer shop or cook for myself.
Nell (no home city pr township given) wrote, “I enjoy the hot meals. Without them every day sometimes I’m not sure what I would do.” Nell’s son added, “When I’m at work, it (hot meals 5x a week), helps her a lot because she has dementia and forgets how to use the oven and even sometimes the microwave.”
Linda wrote, “I have multiple sclerosis diagnosed 56 years ago. My life is very difficult. I would like to have meals fresh and not frozen.”
Fred and Candice wrote, “My husband has dementia. We are homebound. We had an emergency where I needed an ambulance. Meal delivery came and Faith (meal driver) made sure my husband was cared for.”

County Response

Sarro, addressing the Dorr Township board Thursday, March 19, appeared to have moved the goalposts, telling trustees MOW would now offer 5-day-a-week meal delivery options.
He clarified that in a letter to all municipalities Friday:

“Dear Local Unit Leader,
“I am following up on the communication I sent to you March 5, attached for your reference. The county’s focus remains on serving our seniors throughout the transition to a new service provider for home-delivered mail, and there are no plans to deviate from the service change.
“The needs of clients continue to be monitored through direct client assessments. Flexibility and varying needs are a common theme. As such, I am pleased to announce this Breaking News:
“The County and Meals on Wheels (MOW) have amended their agreement to allow delivery to occur as little as one day a week if the client requests such and their assessment supports it, up to five days a week (every weekday, excluding holidays) with the option of a hot meal (heated in-home by the driver with the client’s permission).
“If your local unit has questions about Home Delivered Meals or any County-supplied senior service, please contact me (Sarro’s phone is (269) 998-3386) and I will be happy to meet with you.

“Sadly,” Sarro went on, “the county is observing significant misinformation being released by other parties. While we have taken the position not to debate or defend against such information, the county understands local units may need factual information …

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I'm grateful to The Allegan News for publishing my response today.

To the Editor,

 

Kudos for the excellent report on Allegan's Senior Meals program by Scott Sullivan (The Allegan County News, March 26, 2026).

 

The most remarkable part of the whole affair is not even how political it became. Complete with pot-stirring, agitating for allies at townships across the county, backstabbing, elected officials weighing in, and more. But that's all situation normal when government contracts are involved. Follow the money, after all.

 

No, the really incredible part is the core question of the debate.

We've made a political discussion out of what to eat - the most elemental individual decision of daily life on this earth.

 

Have we lost our minds?

 

Being poor and elderly does not eliminate the ability or right to make food decisions. It's clear from the article that the people getting meals have opinions as well as specific needs, besides having family able to help decide.

 

Allegan County could avoid the entire controversy by limiting their decision to who qualifies, and then handing them vouchers to redeem with their chosen meal provider.

 

Does the law even allow vouchers? If not, all the public energy poured into taking sides over government contracts, could better be spent fixing the system. In Allegan, let's respect our elderly by putting their food decisions where they belong: into their own hands. 

 

Best,

Abby