As budget approval loomed, Hambley received notice of disciplinary hearing

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include Health Officer Adeline Hambley's emergency motion with the Michigan Court of Appeals that was filed Wednesday, Sept. 27.

OTTAWA COUNTY — As the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners debated a contentious fiscal budget Tuesday — with a heavy emphasis on deep cuts to the health department — Board Chair Joe Moss issued a warning to Health Officer Adeline Hambley that he intends to seek her termination next month.

Just after 11 p.m. Sept. 26, Corporation Counsel David Kallman emailed Hambley's attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard, saying Moss intended to file notice Thursday, Sept. 28, with the Ottawa County Clerk's Office. Moss filed Wednesday, instead.

"Please see the attached 'Notice of Hearing and Charges' against Adeline Hambley pursuant to MCL 46.11(n) issued by Commission Chair Moss," Kallman wrote to Riley-Howard. "A hearing will be set for Oct. 19, 2023, at 8 a.m. However, I am sending this to you as a courtesy ahead of time because this 'Notice of Hearing and Charges' (has) not yet been made public."

Hambley is already locked in litigation with the board, as Moss and his handpicked County Administrator John Gibbs worked to cut as much funding from the health department as the state would allow.

More: Hambley: State consequences loom as Gibbs orders cuts

Moss leads the far-right fundamentalist group Ottawa Impact, which he created with now-Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea after they unsuccessfully challenged the previous board and county health officer over COVID-19 mitigation mandates in 2020 and 2021.

Hambley sued commissioners in February, claiming the board's OI majority attempted to unlawfully demote her and repeatedly interfered with her state-authorized health duties.

On April 18, a circuit court judge in Muskegon granted Hambley a preliminary injunction that allowed her to remain in her role until a trial could take place later this year. The Michigan Court of Appeals denied commissioners the right to appeal the lower court’s ruling, but later granted a narrow window to appeal certain aspects — mainly whether the judge made legal errors in reaching her decision.

The COA scheduled a hearing for Oct. 11 and later advised that "all the parties are cautioned ... that they proceed at their own peril if they take substantial actions before this court hears oral arguments ... and subsequently issues an opinion resolving the issues presented in defendants' application for leave to appeal."

In the email exchange, Kallman asked if Hambley had "any interest ... to resolve all of her disputes amicably with one global resolution where the parties can go their separate ways."

In her response Wednesday morning, Howard said her client declined.

"She is not interested in a negotiated resolution of her case which would involve her resignation or her removal as health officer," Howard wrote. "Accordingly, we intend to oppose the charges at the proceeding that your email states that Mr. Moss intends to post notice with the clerk for."

The evidence Moss plans to use to justify the charges are detailed in several attachments documenting email exchanges between Hambley and Gibbs as the budget process played out.

The charges include:

• Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty by making false public representations about budgetary scenarios.

• Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty by falsely claiming that she was not included in the budget process.

• Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty by failing to cooperate in the budget process.

• Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty by making false claims that encouraged and caused confusion, anxiety, fear and panic in the community.

The charges are the culmination of several tense exchanges between Hambley, Gibbs and Moss after Moss announced in August his intention to cut the department's budget by nearly 60 percent.

Hambley said her attempts to negotiate with Gibbs were rebuffed, so she turned to the department's social media accounts to publish information on the staff, programs and services under threat. Days later, Hambley and her staff were locked out of those accounts, and Gibbs and Moss co-signed a "press release" they posted to the pages, calling Hambley "insubordinate" and "unprofessional."

Hambley refuted the characterizations in a series of press conferences and media releases, saying she's only advocating for the health and welfare of the public.

More: Moss, Gibbs and Hambley square off over health department budget cuts

"As the appointed health officer, it's a matter of law that I’m an administrative officer of the health department. I take actions and determinations necessary and appropriate to carry out local health department’s function, delegated under the law to protect public health and prevent disease," she told commissioners Tuesday. "So, there’s not a chain of command breached when I am communicating information to the public that is important to public health."

On Aug. 30, Hambley said she and her staff made efforts to "inform and educate county administration on the complexity of funding mechanisms and statutory program requirements of a local health department in Michigan," and that she's offered to "discuss public health programs, funding and legal requirements on numerous occasions."

She said those offers went unaccepted, and the county's fiscal services department was ordered by Gibbs to create a new budget for the health department — bypassing Hambley and her staff altogether — and "reduce funding in every public health line item."

Hambley has said every budget manifestation has featured inadequate funding levels that not only wouldn't serve the public appropriately, but could lead to an intervention by the state.

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The board voted 7-3 on Tuesday — with one commissioner abstaining — to approve the county budget after six hours of public comment, largely opposing the health department cuts.

Howard disputed the "sufficiency of proceeding on any charges" against Hambley, and said the entire commission hasn't voted to issue the charges, nor the public been notified.

Howard also disputed the pre-selection of a magistrate. Kallman said retired Ingham County District Court Judge Thomas E. Brennan Jr. had been selected to oversee the proceedings.

Howard said that decision might be challenged.

"As an initial matter, I may object to your unilateral selection of a judge once I’ve had more than a few hours to consider it," she wrote.

On Wednesday afternoon, Howard filed a request with the Michigan COA for an emergency order to stay, or delay, the termination hearing, arguing Moss didn't secure full board approval for the hearing before scheduling it, and that it is scheduled to be only eight days after the court hears arguments — likely before the court can rule on the case.

Howard also said in her filing that both parties were warned to not take action prior to the COA court date.

— Sarah Leach is executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter@SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: As budget approval loomed, Hambley received notice of disciplinary hearing