Recall effort against Ottawa County's Lucy Ebel will move forward

OTTAWA COUNTY — Recall petition language for Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel was approved Monday, July 17, by a three-member elections commission.

The effort will now move forward to signature-gathering.

Park Township resident Larry Jackson filed the petition language July 3, hoping to get a recall election on the November ballot for Ebel, who represents the county's second district.

More: Recall paperwork filed against Ottawa Impact District 2's Lucy Ebel

More: 'When it's convenient to be Latina': Hispanic leaders doubt claims Ebel recall is race-based

Ebel is a member of Ottawa Impact, which currently has a six-member majority on the board. The far-right fundamentalist group was formed in 2021 after clashes with the county and state over COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Ebel, who represents constituents in Holland Township and Park Township, defeated Republican incumbent Joe Baumann by 332 votes in the primary (1,560-1,228). She went on to face Democratic challenger Joe Spaulding in the general election and won by 578 votes (5,089-4,511).

Since taking office, Ebel and other Ottawa Impact-linked commissioners have pushed through a series of controversial decisions, including firing the previous county administrator and former corporation counsel, demoting the county health officer and eliminating the county's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office.

Those decisions have resulted in two pending lawsuits against the commission and a six-week investigation from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The recall language focuses on the board's attempt to replace health officer Adeline Hambley with their own pick, demoting her to "interim" health officer, even after she was appointed by the previous board and approved by the state.

The recall petition filed Monday states: “On Feb. 28, 2023, Commissioner Lucy Ebel voted for a motion to correct the previous board of commissioners’ December 13, 2022, resolution that appointed Adeline Hambley as administrative health officer for Ottawa County. Commissioner Ebel voted for the motion after Ms. Hambley challenged in court the commission’s designation of her status as interim health officer.”

Hambley sued the board in early February, claiming OI-linked commissioners have repeatedly interfered with her ability to do her job. Two weeks later, the OI commissioners voted to “revise” the December resolution appointing her — effectively setting up a legal argument for the board to claim Hambley wasn’t properly hired in the first place.

Hambley’s lawsuit is currently awaiting oral arguments before the Michigan Court of Appeals, after commissioners appealed a lower court’s ruling granting Hambley a preliminary injunction.

Sarah Riley-Howard, the attorney representing both Hambley and the Committee to Recall Lucy Ebel, spoke for Jackson and the group Monday. She said the petition language was clear and factual and should be approved under state statute.

More: Right to appeal partially granted for Ottawa County in Hambley lawsuit

Ottawa County GOP Chair Brenden Muir spoke on Ebel's behalf Monday, saying grammatical and punctuation issues with the two-sentence petition language — in addition to research required of signers to understand the context of the recall effort — should warrant rejection.

"I believe this petition should be rejected due to clarity issues," Muir said. "It's too ambiguous. I don't think someone standing on the sidewalk will understand it at the first read."

Ebel made a brief statement to the commission, saying she stands by her campaign promises and the decisions she's made while in office.

"I was elected by my constituents to follow through with the campaign promises I made. ... I stand by the decisions I made. ... As a woman of faith, I will continue to stand my ground."

Ebel ended her comments by quoting scripture: "We will be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Jesus is Lord over Ottawa County."

There was little debate between the three-member election commission, which includes County Clerk Justin Roebuck, County Treasurer Amanda Price and Probate Judge Mark Feyen. All three acknowledged Muir's criticisms, but said they weren't monumental enough to reject the language.

"I think this puts some of this back on the voter, for voters to ascertain certain things," Roebuck said, addressing Muir's assertion that potential signatories of the petition would need to conduct research of their own.

He cited two previous cases in Michigan where recall language was approved and then appealed in court, saying that, even when incorrect dates and other issues were found, courts have not thrown out recall petitions in favor of correcting them to move forward.

"I believe it holds true to the statute," he said of the petition's wording.

The vote to approve the language was unanimous.

July 3 was the first eligible day for constituents to file recall petition paperwork for the current board of commissioners. Under state law, recall petitions can't be filed against officials with two-year terms in the first or last six months of their term. Those serving a longer term, such as state senators, who serve four years, can't face petitions in their first or last year.

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“We’re pleased that the Election Commission agreed that our petition language is clear and factual, and we’re excited and ready to move forward with getting signatures," Jackson wrote in a statement after the decision." Lucy Ebel is too extreme for Ottawa County, and we’re confident there are thousands of voters in District 2 who agree.”

Monday's approval triggers the signature-gathering phase. The group must gather a minimum of 2,480 signatures — 25 percent of the number of voters who cast a ballot in the last gubernatorial race in Ebel's district — in order for the recall vote to make the November ballot.

Ebel has 10 days to appeal the commission's decision. If she doesn't, she also has the right to challenge the validity of any or all of the signatures the recall effort submits. The deadline for signatures is Friday, Sept. 15.

Her former opponent, Spaulding, who is coordinating petition circulation, added, “The recall committee has been working 24/7 to be prepared to start gathering signatures the minute our language was approved. We have nearly 200 volunteers ready to hit the streets.”

— 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: Recall effort against Ottawa County's Lucy Ebel will move forward