Health officer’s lawyer to call 5 witnesses in January hearing

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A judge ruled Monday morning that an evidentiary hearing will take place in mid-January as Ottawa County’s top health official tries to force the county into a $4 million lawsuit and employment settlement.

An exact date for the hearing was not decided on.

Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley’s lawyer, Sarah Howard, is expected to call five witnesses during the hearing to discuss what happened in closed session on Nov. 6. The hearing is expected to take two hours.

Howard said she has subpoenas out to the county Clerk Justin Roebuck, Ottawa Impact co-founder and Commission Chair Joe Moss, and commissioners Doug Zylstra, Jacob Bonnema and Roger Bergman.

Judge Jenny McNeill added that she will be reviewing the minutes from the commissioners’ closed session.

Howard is asking the court to bind the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners to a deal that would include a $4 million payout to Hambley. In exchange, Hambley would leave her position and Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray would resign with a severance of one year’s pay.

Health officer, Ottawa County bringing in mediator

Howard argued she and her client believed the deal had been reached but that county leaders tried to back out because of negative backlash to details that were published in the press. The county’s attorney, David Kallman, said nobody ever agreed to anything.

A hearing on the motion was supposed to happen last week but was delayed because the judge needed time to review motions to quash subpoenas for four county commissioners and the county clerk to testify. The motions argued the subpoenas sought the illegal disclosure of what was discussed in closed session.

Howard also filed a motion last week asking to amend her complaint to include claims that the board violated the Open Meetings Act in how it handled the scheduling of a hearing for Hambley’s removal and why it went into closed session as the hearing continued, the Holland Sentinel reported. On Monday, the court decided to grant the motion.

Conservative county commissioners backed by political action committee Ottawa Impact have been trying to oust Hambley all year, voting in their first meeting in January to remove her. She sued, saying that was illegal. Commissioners countered that she was never properly appointed by their predecessors. The Michigan Court of Appeals finally ruled that Hambley was rightfully appointed, but also that the board could fire her if it could prove cause under state law.

A September document signed by Moss laid out a case for cause, alleging misconduct in the way she handled this year’s budgeting process.

The hearing for Hambley’s removal got underway Oct. 24 and included two days of testimony in which Hambley’s lawyer tried to show her client simply wanted to ensure the Ottawa County Department of Public Health could operate properly. Hambley testified she went to the press because she believed the general fund dollars to the agency would be limited to $2.5 million, which she said would cause it to close. Commissioners ultimately decided the health department would get about $4.8 million from the general fund but its total allocation for the fiscal year was less than the year prior.

Commissioners held off voting after the conclusion of testimony. The following week, they pushed the vote back again. On two subsequent days, there were hours of closed-door negotiations before the hearing was recessed again.

Hearing over Ottawa County health officer’s $4 million settlement delayed

When it reconvened last week, there were a few more hours of closed session before the county and Hambley’s attorney announced they were bringing in a mediator to help them reach a settlement. The county will pay for the mediator.

“If (the county is) willing to mediate, I will accept that as hopefully moving in a good direction and we’ll make every attempt to work with them on it,” Howard said last week.

“I believe it’s a positive direction, it’s a positive step and it’s a good faith step by the board to show that they are really serious about trying to resolve issues,” David Kallman, the commissioners’ lawyer, said.

The removal hearing will remain paused while mediation is underway. It’s unclear how long discussions would take or what the outcome could look like.

—New 8 Reporter Byron Tollefson contributed to this report.

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