OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The termination hearing for Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley will go ahead as planned.
The Michigan Court of Appeals voted against postponing the hearing on Wednesday.
The hearing comes after Hambley publicly pushed back against cuts to her department during the budget process.
The chairperson for the board of commissioners, Joe Moss, filed the termination notice in September.
Moss claims that Hambley caused panic in the community, lied about the budget and budget process and failed to cooperate.
Hambley's attorney says they are considering all legal options and preparing for the hearing on Oct. 19.
The budget in Ottawa County has been heavily debated for weeks, largely because of potential health department cuts. County Health Officer Adeline Hambley is one of dozens of people who spoke against the cuts.
According to budget documents, the adopted FY24 budget includes $4,873,790 in operating transfers to the county's public health fund. Numbers obtained from the Health Department claim this is the amount of general funds the department will receive from the county, down from the more than $6 million originally requested by the department, but up from the $2.5 million mark that had been floated by some commissioners and blasted by Hambley as having the potential to close the department's doors weeks into the new fiscal year.
This is not the first time the board has tried to remove Hambley from her post. The newly-elected board voted on Jan. 3 that they would make Hambley the Interim Health Officer while they worked to hire Nathaniel Kelly for that position. Kelly has been an outspoken critic of pandemic safety measures like masking and social distancing.
Earlier this year, Hambley filed a lawsuit against Ottawa County and seven out of the eight new commissioners who took office in January. The lawsuit states "the demotion of Hambley to 'Interim' Health officer was a constructive termination of her employment as the Health Officer for the County."
The lawsuit asks a judge to remove the "Interim" designation and award Hambley an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
That legal dispute is ongoing.
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