Top 5 Opinion topics of 2021

Editor's note: This article previously identified Quincy Byrd as the only member of Holland City Council who identifies as a racial minority. Belinda Coronado, who is Hispanic, was elected to the council in November 2021. The Sentinel apologizes for this error and the article has been corrected.

This year was full of hot-button topics and the community sounded off on many of them. The Sentinel opinion page reflected what was happening locally and nationally, but a few issues had staying power either in volume of submissions or duration of debate. Here are the Top 5 topics writers opined about in 2021.

More: Our commitment to you, in another trying year

Subscribe: Receive unlimited digital access for $29 this year!

1. UDO

In terms of volume of submissions, Holland's journey to overhaul its zoning ordinance was easily the most discussed issue of 2021. Usually the opinions fell in one of two camps: The city's Unified Development Ordinance was either going to destroy established single-family neighborhoods or it was a pragmatic approach to ease the housing crunch and simplify the process for new developers. The city ultimately adopted the ordinance, but removed most of its controversial parts in order to appease residents.

More: Read the opinion submissions about UDO

2. COVID-19

This is a massively broad topic that spawned several subtopics. For example, the debate about masks spanned from whether they are medically effective — or, if nothing else, there's a moral obligation to mask — to whether they should be required in schools, to who should decide if they are required in schools. As local, state and federal health officials — along with a healthy dose of politicians weighing in — announced recommendations in the pandemic's second year, the community grappled with everything from the accuracy of cases and deaths to the effectiveness of the various COVID-19 vaccines. We expect this to dominate opinions for a third consecutive year in 2022.

More: Read the opinion submissions on masks

3. 2020 election

One of the most shocking things in 2021 occurred only six days into the new year when a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., seeking to overturn Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election by disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes that would formalize Joe Biden's victory. Conservatives and liberals have continued to debate the legitimacy of the results of the 2020 election and what actually happened the day the Capitol was attacked. Despite an entire year of no evidence of voter fraud or election irregularities, staunch conservatives continue to hold the opinion that Trump won re-election.

More: Read the opinion submissions on Trump and the election

4. Race

As the nation continued to grapple with the fallout from George Floyd's murder and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, a little known topic called Critical Race Theory began to make headlines. The topic exploded in the public arena this spring — especially in K-12, where numerous state legislatures debated bills seeking to ban its use in the classroom — which wasn't actually being taught in K-12 curriculums. For many, it was easier to discuss CRT and a controversial statue in Allendale Township rather than tackling the deeper issues of race relations in America. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting closer to having actual conversations about the topics that truly matter.

More: Read the opinion submissions on Critical Race Theory

5. Council election

Holland City Council saw a changing of the guard as Myron "Mike" Trethewey retired after a 25-year tenure. We also saw Third Ward freshman Raul Garcia bow out after only one term amidst fierce local debates on public policy. Most interesting was the at large race where former councilman Ken Freestone challenged incumbent Quincy Byrd. Although the races are supposedly nonpartisan, it was clear the contest was a bit of a local referendum between the conservative (Byrd) and the liberal (Freestone). Byrd was criticized for being the lone "no" vote on the 2020 council vote to add protect LGBTQ people to the city's anti-discrimination housing ordinance. Freestone faced the challenge of running against council's only Black member. In the end Byrd prevailed and remains one of two racial minorities serving on city council as Garcia was succeeded by Belinda Coronado in the Third Ward.

More: Read the opinion submissions on candidates running for city council

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: What were the hot-button topics on the opinion page for 2021?