Ottawa County votes to accept settlement in Hambley case

OTTAWA COUNTY — The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners voted 7-3 to accept a settlement recommendation after eight hours in closed session on Monday, Nov. 6, in the case of Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley.

It wasn't immediately clear what the terms of the settlement were, although the board's Ottawa Impact majority voted for the outcome, while three non-OI commissioners, Doug Zylstra, Roger Bergman and Jacob Bonnema, voted no. Commissioner Kyle Terpstra left prior to the vote. The board voted to reconvene at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.

The board met at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 6, for the fourth day of a hearing that initially began Oct. 24. Immediately after calling the meeting to order, Board Chair Joe Moss motioned to enter into a closed session to consult with corporate counsel regarding Hambley’s lawsuit against the county. A vote to enter closed session passed 11-0.

Board members, lawyers from Kallman Legal Group and a handful of Ottawa County staff members — all of whom frequently left and reentered the meeting room — met in closed session for more than seven hours.

More: Ottawa County again delays decision on firing health officer

At various points, some commissioners returned to the board table while others remained in the meeting room. Four lawyers representing KLG also left the room for long stretches.

Sarah Riley-Howard, attorney for Hambley, told reporters the recess will provide time to put the agreement in writing and receive final board approval.

“Usually something like that is reduced to writing and final approval at a board meeting,” she said. “Unfortunately, I cannot give you any specific details until things are finalized.”

Howard said there “had been some discussions with the other side” regarding settlement prior to Monday’s meeting, but didn't provide detail of those discussions. She also said Hambley will remain the health officer “until something else changes,” as there was no vote to remove her.

Howard said her client will continue “like she has been for the last 10 months” until the meeting Nov. 14.

“She’ll keep doing the job every day and putting one foot in front of the other like she has the whole time,” Howard said.

Hambley and the board's Ottawa Impact majority have been battling in the courts for months. The disagreement began when OI commissioners voted to demote Hambley from permanent health officer to "interim" health officer in favor of a candidate ideologically aligned with themselves.

Ottawa Impact is a far-right fundamentalist group created by Moss and 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 the board in February, claiming the attempt to demote her was unlawful and alleging the OI majority has repeatedly interfered with her state-authorized health duties.

In April, a circuit court judge granted Hambley a preliminary injunction that allowed her to remain in her role until a trial could take place later this year, however, the Michigan Court of Appeals partially vacated the injunction, saying the board had the legal right to fire Hambley if state law was followed.

Moss filed notice Sept. 27 that a removal hearing was planned over allegations of “incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty.” Moss’ allegations revolve largely around health department budget negotiations, which culminated in $4 million in board-orchestrated cuts and half a dozen layoffs for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

The hearing began Tuesday, Oct. 24. Eight witnesses testified that day, followed by two more witnesses — Hambley and County Administrator John Gibbs — on Wednesday before the board began deliberations.

Before taking a vote, commissioners voted to recess until Oct. 30. That day, commissioners met for only minutes before recessing again until Monday, Nov. 6.

Howard told reporters Oct. 25 she felt the delays were “performative.”

“I don't think there's anybody on that board that doesn't already know how they're voting," she said Oct. 25. "I think to drag it out is really more of a disservice to the community, but that's where we are.”

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Howard added she didn't feel the hearing was fair, saying it had “incredible structural problems.” She pointed to an inability to call commissioners as witnesses, having commissioners that voted to remove Hambley on Jan. 3 participate, and being limited in her answers from Gibbs about the hiring of Jordan Epperson due to pending litigation.

For the most recent hearing updates, visit hollandsentinel.com.

—  Contact Sarah Leach at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com. Contact Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County votes to accept settlement in Hambley case