ESCANABA — Regulating public comment once again became an issue for the Delta County Board of Commissioners this week, after comments by a former commissioner about Delta Conservation District Board Chair Joe Kaplan devolved into multiple people claiming to have had issues, not just with Kaplan but with each other.

“If we’re not going to follow these rules (for public comment), then I would like to have a discussion at our next meeting. I would like it put on the agenda to possibly amend these rules because if these are not rules that we are going to follow as a board and expect our members of our public to respect these rules then they should not exist,” said Commissioner Kelli Van Ginhoven, who attempted to stop one of the speakers, but was overruled by other board members.

The comments started with Former Commissioner Bob Petersen, who initially focused on Commissioner Matt Jensen, who both unseated Petersen during the May 7 recall election and is Petersen’s Republican opponent in the upcoming Aug. 6 primary election for the county’s District 5 seat. However, as Petersen’s statements progressed, he shifted his focus to an incident between Kaplan and County Parks Manager and Former Conservation District Employee Steve Wery at the June 14 county meeting.

“Our parks manager left and he was verbally accosted out in the parking lot by Joe Kaplan. This is not his first time accosting people. Then I understand that two members from the district board went to Mr. Wery and said that they would keep Joe under control if he would keep it quiet. I know that the county is trying to — this board I should say is trying to mend fences with the conservation district. I don’t see where that’s a plus when you have the chairman of the conservation board of district accosting people,” said Petersen.

Wery, who was present at ­Tuesday’s meeting, did not speak about the incident.

Kaplan, who was not present Tuesday, told the Daily Press he did speak to Wery on June 14, but denies raising his voice, making any threats, or doing anything else that would be classified as “accosting.” He says the conversation with Wery was about Wery’s comments at that meeting about a planned project at O.B. Fuller Park.

“I go, ‘you’re not being straight.’ And he turned that into, ‘you’re calling me a liar.’ And I’m like, ‘No, being straight is when you have information that you don’t fully disclose because it may influence a decision,'” said Kaplan, who said he also used the word “misleading” during the interaction.

Petersen’s comments Tuesday kicked off a string of public comments, all of which were at least loosely related to allegations being made about Kaplan.

First was Christine Williams — Kaplan’s wife, who is also running against Former Commissioner Bob Barron in the Republican August primary for the District 3 seat — who described the interaction as “a pretty basic conversation” and recommended anyone interested ask Kaplan for a copy of the recording he made of the interaction. She took issue with Petersen’s use of the word “accosting,” which she said was “divisive” language.

“It certain is not the picture that was just painted. That is not the case,” said Williams of the incident.

Williams was followed by Ford River Township Resident Kathy Scott, who made her own claims against Kaplan, saying he harassed her and her husband at an event.

“It was June 14th of ’23, and I tried to avoid him at a public event, and he came up to me — various yelling, screaming, I tried to get away and my husband interviened and I have six minutes of a recording that I would be happy to share with you and everything you could possibly imagine is in here,” said Scott, waving her cell phone.

Scott’s comments were interrupted by Van Ginhoven, who said they were outside the purview of the board and were personal attacks, both of which are prohibited under county rules for public comment, printed on the meeting agenda. Both commissioners Matt Jensen and Steve Viau argued Scott should be allowed to continue. Ultimately, she was given an additional 30 seconds to speak due to the disruption.

“You can’t stop the comment. There’s been no threats made, there’s no foul language, this is their time to continue with their public comments,” said Mattson, who requested the 30 second extension.

Following Scott came Sandy Sovey, also for Ford River, who turned her focus on Scott.

“Kathy Scott and her husband, we had to call the sheriff on them when we were collecting signatures for the recall in Bark River because they were screaming in our face and would not leave,” she said.

Kaplan did not deny having a verbal altercation with Scott in 2023, who he said had been “hounding” him online.

“Kathy Scott, on the other hand, I take responsibility for that. But that was June of 2023 … she’d been hounding me online — well she did up until that moment and it ended there. Calling me a liar; saying I’ve (filed) frivolous lawsuits; that I’m, you know, trying to make my attorneys rich; calling me a ‘carpetbagger’ and a ‘socialist’ and a ‘marxist.’ I don’t need that … so I told her exactly what I thought,” he said, noting that his grievances with Scott had nothing to do with county business.

It was the lack of relevance, combined with the belief that the comments made by Scott qualified as personal attacks, that prompted Van Ginhoven to attempt to stop her comments and to request a discussion of the public comment policy be placed on the agenda.

“I felt that her speaking regarding Mr. Kaplan had no jurisdiction of our board,” she said.