Ottawa County Board votes unanimously to retain Hambley as health officer

OTTAWA COUNTY — Thirteen months after the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, led by a new far-right majority, attempted to fire her, officials have agreed Adeline Hambley will remain the county's health officer, after all.

Following a nearly 12-hour closed session Monday, Feb. 26, commissioners voted 11-0 to keep Hambley and Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray in place as part of a settlement agreement to end Hambley's long-standing lawsuit against the board.

Other parts of the agreement: all litigation is dropped, a multi-session termination hearing will end with no determination, a judge will determine how much of Hambley's attorney fees will be covered, and there will be no monetary award for damages.

Should the board attempt to fire Hambley again, they must agree with a public-binding three-person panel with one member selected by Hambley's attorney, one selected by Ottawa County's attorney (Kallman Legal Group) and arbitrator Thomas Behm.

More: Judge says vote on $4M settlement wasn't 'clear enough'

Members of Ottawa Impact, founded by Board Chair Joe Moss and Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea, attempted to demote Hambley to “interim” health officer shortly after they were sworn in Jan. 3, 2023. They intended to replace her with Nathaniel Kelly, who most recently worked as a health and safety manager at a Grand Rapids-area HVAC company.

Hambley sued in February, kicking off a year of unprecedented strain between the board and the county's health department.

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

Throughout the summer, the board, Administrator John Gibbs and Hambley battled over a proposed budget for the department. In the end, the OI majority voted to cut millions.

Moss filed notice Sept. 27 that a termination hearing was planned over allegations of “incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty" during budget negotiations. The hearing, the first steps of legally firing a health officer, began in October and has stretched on through several recesses for more than four months.

In a Nov. 6 session, the board voted 7-3 to “accept counsel’s recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities in the case of Hambley v. Ottawa County.” Following the meeting, multiple sources close to the matter told The Sentinel the agreement included paying Hambley $4 million to resign, plus the resignation of Mansaray.

Following reports of the settlement amount, Ottawa Impact commissioners attempted to walk back the agreement. As recently as Feb. 22, Moss referred to the settlement and dollar figure as a “false narrative.”

Hambley filed a motion in court to see the settlement enforced, but during an evidentiary hearing in January, Muskegon County 14th Circuit Court Judge Jenny McNeil found — although an agreement was discussed — the vote made publicly wasn't clear enough to be legally binding.

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Hambley's attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard and representatives from Kallman have since disputed what was actually said in the hearing — which was closed to the public. The Sentinel filed a motion Feb. 7 to have the transcript of the hearing released to the public.

That motion, along with several from Howard, were scheduled for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, in Muskegon.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ottawa County Board votes unanimously to retain Hambley as health officer