During negotiations to reach a mutual employment separation agreement, Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley made an offer to the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners (OCBOC) to resign her position in exchange for $8 million. She later reduced her request to $4,455,000 and then again lowered her request to $4,000,000. The OCBOC never agreed to this or any other settlement offer. The $4 million settlement offer made by Hambley was leaked to the media and flipped around as if the OCBOC, not Hambley had made the offer. Then, Hambley’s team made an attempt to enforce a non-existent settlement agreement by filing a motion which is scheduled to be heard on Monday, November 27, 2023.
Seven OCBOC were named in the complaint including Joe Moss, Sylvia Rhodea, Lucy Ebel, Gretchen Cosby, Rebekah Curran, Roger Belknap and Allison Miedema. The response to the motion includes an explanation, timeline, and several emails showing what actually happened during the negotiations, as well as background information related to the motion.
The OCBOC is currently in recess for an ongoing MCL 46.11 (n) hearing which began on October 24, 2023, to consider the removal of Adeline Hambley as Health Officer for demonstrating incompetence, misconduct, and neglect of duty during the FY24 budgeting process. Hambley is accused of making false claims that caused public confusion, and failing to cooperate in the county’s budget process. The hearing is scheduled to resume Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Here is a timeline of recent events.
October 24, 2023 – MCL 46.11 (n) hearing day 1, Testimony of several witnesses
October 25, 2023 – MCL 46.11 (n) hearing day 2, Administrator Gibbs testimony
October 31, 2023 – Discussions of a possible settlement began between attorneys
November 1, 2023 – Attorney Sarah Howard emailed corporate counsel with a settlement offer
November 3, 2023 – Attorney Howard’s Settlement offer forwarded to BOC
November 6, 2023 – MCL 46.11 (n) hearing day 3, Closed Session Negotiations (Hambley offered to resign for $8,000,000 and then lowered her request to $4,000,000)
November 8, 2023 - Media reports a settlement has been reached
November 14, 2023 – MCL 46.11 (n) hearing day 4, Closed Session Negotiations
November 16, 2023 - Motion to enforce non-existent settlement filed by attorney Howard
November 22, 2023 – Response to motion filed by corporate counsel
November 27, 2023 – Motion to enforce non-existent settlement hearing scheduled (this hearing has been rescheduled to December 4, 2023 at 9:00)
November 28, 2023 – MCL 46.11 (n) hearing day 5 scheduled to resume at 1:30
The complaint filed by Adeline Hambley’s attorney Sarah Howard alleges that seven OCBOC agreed to a final settlement on November 6, 2023, after a full day of closed-session meeting negotiations. According to the response to the motion, talk of possible settlement options began on October 31, 2023, and “on November 1, 2023 corporate counsel received an email from Attorney Howard with a settlement offer.” The response explained that the parties had been involved in extensive settlement discussions for three weeks and the attorneys had met on multiple occasions to discuss options. It further explained that corporate counsel was working on negotiating two possible settlement agreements to present to the OCBOC; one in which Hambley would remain employed by Ottawa County, and another for if she were to resign her position.
According to the response, during the course of closed-session negotiations on November 6, 2023, around 1:30 in the afternoon, Attorney Howard made an offer to OCBOC for Hambley to resign her position in exchange for $8,000,000. (p. 5). Around 3:00, Attorney Howard offered $4,455,000 in exchange for Hambley’s resignation. Around 4:30, Attorney Howard offered $4,000,000 in exchange for Hambley’s resignation. Corporate Counsel made no offers. Unable to reach an agreement, the board voted to accept the recommendations from corporate council and continue litigation and settlement activities to try to reach an agreement. In other words, the board simply voted to continue negotiations. (p. 7) Around 5:00 on November 6, 2023, unbeknownst to the OCBOC, Attorney Howard requested corporate counsel summarize “the potential terms of Plaintiff’s offer,” as was understood by corporate counsel. (p. 6) Corporate counsel complied with this request by sending an email. Two days later, on November 8, 2023, that email was presented to the public. Media reports stated that the OCBOC had agreed on a $4 million settlement with Hambley, and this email was provided as “proof” of the agreement.
The media reports referred to insiders who had provided the information. Some reports stated that multiple sources had provided information on the settlement. The Daily Beast article referred to statements from Commissioner Doug Zylstra and Commissioner Jacob Bonnema. In addition, Commissioner Jacob Bonnema provided a statement on his Facebook Page.
So, what is really going on here? If these were good faith negotiations there would have been no media leaks, and requests would have been made for reasonable amounts of money; one year’s severance pay for example. These leaks and bogus press articles do not appear to be about taking an action in the best interests of the Ottawa County Health Department, nor do they appear to be about taking an action in the best interests of Adeline Hambley. They appear to be more about taking down the Ottawa Impact supported commissioners that were overwhelmingly voted in by county residents, as well as keeping the local government establishment system in place.
Just like many American citizens have been plagued with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) caused by obsessive media reporting portraying him as a dictator who did not have the best interests of the people in mind, a portion of Ottawa County residents have unfortunately developed Ottawa Impact Derangement Syndrome (OIDS). Like TDS, OIDS is caused by a progressive vision of how government and society should work. OIDS spreads most easily among those not grounded in solid constitutional principles, as they are more susceptible to obsessively biased and repetitive media reporting which portrays the Ottawa Impact commissioners as secretive, destructive elected representatives. They are not. They are local residents seeking to remove government waste and abuse, and the establishment does not appreciate their efforts.
Anyone who has ever purchased a car or house or signed a contract knows that, technically, all legal agreements are tentative until a final draft is signed. Settlement discussions are not binding offers, and corporate counsel does not have the authority to approve an agreement on behalf of the OCBOC. The authority rests with the OCBOC. Therefore, a final agreement has not yet been reached, but by leaking the details of the email to the media, it appears Attorney Howard is attempting to force the commissioners to abide by the terms of Hambley’s excessive offer while creating countywide political chaos that is designed to discredit the Ottawa Impact commissioners.