Ottawa County tries, yet again, to quash hearing on $4M settlement

OTTAWA COUNTY — The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is trying, for a third time, to prevent an evidentiary hearing from taking place next week that would hear testimony from officials on whether or not they reached a $4 million settlement agreement with Adeline Hambley.

On Thursday, Jan. 11, county corporation counsel David Kallman filed a motion with Muskegon County 14th Circuit Court Judge Jenny McNeill — who is overseeing Hambley's lawsuit against the county after all Ottawa County judges recused themselves — asking her to "adjourn or cancel" the evidentiary hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19.

McNeill ruled Dec. 4 that she would privately review the minutes from a closed session in early November to determine whether the settlement was, in fact, reached with Hambley, the county's health officer, in exchange for her resignation.

More: Judge will review closed session minutes to determine if $4M settlement was reached

The board seemingly voted to accept the agreement that day after the more-than-eight-hour closed session. Details of the agreement included paying Hambley a total of $4 million to step down 10 months after the board tried to demote her without cause in January 2023. She sued in February, claiming the attempt to demote her was unlawful and alleging the Ottawa Impact majority on the board has repeatedly interfered with her state-authorized health duties.

Ottawa Impact is a far-right fundamentalist group created by current Board Chair Joe Moss and Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea after they unsuccessfully challenged the previous board and health officer over COVID-19 mitigation mandates in 2020 and 2021.

If enforced, the settlement would be the largest in the county's history and nearly the exact amount the board cut from the health department's budget last year. The agreement also called for the resignation of Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray.

On Dec. 20, Kallman requested McNeill issue a "protection order" preventing the hearing from taking place, arguing McNeill should be able to use the minutes alone to rule that "corporate counsel (Kallman) never made any recommendation to either offer, or accept, a $4 million settlement."

More: New filings: Ottawa County doesn't want testimony on closed session

"This confirmation can be done without revealing anything that was actually discussed in closed session," Kallman wrote.

McNeill responded this week to Kallman's filing, saying she would hear the matter just before the scheduled evidentiary hearing.

On Thursday, Kallman said McNeill never signed a formal order for the hearing and argued the lack of ruling on the request for a protective order "will greatly affect how the evidentiary hearing is conducted, what testimony will be permitted, and what evidence can be submitted."

Kallman also said McNeill never issued any order regarding the county's Nov. 27 motion to quash — meaning to reject or void — subpoenas that Hambley's attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard, issued. Howard issued subpoenas for County Clerk Justin Roebuck as well as Moss, Jacob Bonnema, Doug Zylstra and Roger Bergman.

Kallman said the request to reject the subpoenas "must also be decided prior to any evidentiary hearing."

Subscribe: Receive unlimited digital access to your local news coverage

McNeill said in December that Howard was entitled to the hearing, asking Kallman: "Would you not say, though, that we have inconsistent claims on what happened and that she's entitled to an evidentiary hearing?" to which Kallman responded: "No."

"In the interest of justice, I think we should have a complete record for the Court of Appeals," McNeill told the attorneys, saying the case likely will end up there regardless of what she decides.

In April, McNeill granted Hambley a preliminary injunction that allowed her to remain in her role until a trial could take place. However, the Court of Appeals partially vacated the injunction, saying the board has the legal right to fire Hambley, as long as state law is followed.

After approving deep budget cuts to the health department in October, Moss filed charges against Hambley, which culminated in a multi-day termination hearing to remove her "for cause." The hearing was halted before its conclusion as the board and Hambley entered settlement negotiations.

After the lengthy closed session Nov. 6, Moss made a motion in open session to “accept counsel’s recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities in the case of Hambley v. Ottawa County." The motion was approved, with all OI-backed commissioners voting "yes" and Bonnema, Zylstra and Bergman voting "no."

On Dec. 4, McNeill asked Kallman "What specifically did the board vote on?"

"There was no recommendation from corporate counsel for a $4 million settlement," Kallman replied.

"What was your recommendation?" she asked.

"I can't say specifically because it was in closed session," Kallman responded.

McNeill seemed skeptical.

"If the intent was to continue negotiations, why weren't those words used? That's not what this language says," she said referencing the board's motion.

Howard previously argued, if the board was merely approving continuing negotiations, why did the board's minority vote against the measure?

"I've no idea why three commissioners would have voted against continuing negotiations," she told reporters after the Nov. 27 hearing where McNeill considered the motion to quash. "I think those three commissioners thought they were voting against agreeing to force my client out for $4 million."

Meanwhile, the Michigan Supreme Court has not yet responded to Kallman's appeal of the COA's earlier ruling that found Hambley was correctly appointed in the first place. Kallman told reporters the appeal was meant to "preserve my clients' rights" as legal proceedings continue.

Howard responded to the appeal, saying Hambley officially began in the role once the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed her qualifications on Dec. 21, 2022 — and the defendants acknowledged it.

Hambley and Mansaray remain in their positions for now.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarahleach@hollandsentinel.com. Find her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County tries, yet again, to quash hearing on $4M settlement