Recently, questions have been asked about the Cook Family Foundation’s role in decisions by the City of Owosso about trash hauling and recycling. Attacks have been made against the character of one of our employees, Rachel Osmer, who serves on the Owosso City Council. As co-Executive Director of the organization and a former member of the Owosso City Council, please let me set the record straight.

The Cook Family Foundation, a private philanthropic organization funded by my grandparents and parents, provides grants to strengthen the local economy, reduce environmental impacts, and improve quality of life for all residents through recycling and resource recovery (see our webpage for more details). Last year, we responded to a request from the City of Owosso to match $8,750 in public investments to conduct listening sessions to help the City to determine how best to meet state law requirements to implement curbside recycling. The Foundation was not asked to, nor did it take, nor will it take, a position on how the City should improve recycling opportunities for its residents.

Rachel Osmer, the Associate Director of the Cook Family Foundation, was elected to serve on the Owosso City Council in November of 2024. In that capacity, she voted on a change to City ordinances to allow the City to contract for waste hauling services for City residents. The independent Cook Family Foundation has no financial interest in waste hauling or recycling. 

The suggestion that Rachel Osmer has a conflict of interest on any vote she takes on the Owosso City Council that relates to the community benefit work of the Cook Family Foundation is both contrary to the interpretation of state law by the City’s Attorney and an insult to her character. State law (MCL Section 15.483) requires elected officials to declare a conflict of interest and abstain from voting on any decision in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest; Rachel Osmer has no such conflict.

Rachel Osmer, like her fellow City Council members, gives a significant amount of her time, intellectual effort, and personal energy to represent the citizens of Owosso and make decisions to benefit the public health, safety and welfare. The decisions they must make are often complex and involve competing interests.  Our democratic system of representative government benefits from a robust debate of issues, hearing from a variety of perspectives, and listening to all citizens. This is precisely what Rachel Osmer does in her capacity as a City Council member. To suggest otherwise is an attempt to silence her independent voice, demean her service, and undermine all those who work to make our community better.   

– Thomas Cook