OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — A Michigan Court of Appeals decided Thursday that the Ottawa County Health Officer was properly appointed to the position.
Three judges heard oral arguments in the case Wednesday and issued their opinion the next day.
The court determined that Adeline Hambley was properly appointed to the position of Ottawa County Health Officer in December of 2022.
"We affirm the trial court’s ruling that Hambley was properly appointed as health officer of Ottawa County, but we conclude that the Commission nonetheless retains the authority to terminate Hambley if the Commission complies with the procedures and standards prescribed in MCL 46.11(n)," the court wrote in their opinion.
"We are obviously extremely pleased that the panel agreed with us and with the trial court that Health Officer Hambley is the lawful health officer and has been since December, and that, therefore, their demotion of her was illegal and contrary to statute," Hambley's attorney told 13 ON YOUR SIDE Thursday evening.
The defense attorney representing Ottawa County, David Kallman, argued that the board didn't actually vote on Hambley's confirmation, but instead voted to approve the hiring conditions. Kallman based the argument on minutes from the previous county Board of Commissioners in December that said Hambley's hiring was based on three things: clearance through a background check, clearance through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and approval from the Board of Commissioners.
During the oral arguments on Wednesday, at least one of the judges seemed skeptical of the argument. The judge indicated the language of the signed resolution appointing Hambley likely made clear the then-board's approval.
"What you're suggesting is the equivalent of digging back into legislative history or comments made during the course of a debate on the floor to override what the ultimate act is when, the legislature for example, passes a bill," Judge Christopher Yates said. "And I don't see why we would accept that invitation to create chaos in determining what a county commission did by looking at every scrap of information we can get from the meeting to try and figure out what they actually did when a resolution is clear and unambiguous on its face."
Following the ruling, Kallman told 13 ON YOUR SIDE he disagreed with the court's decision to affirm Hambley's position as the duly-appointed, not interim, health officer.
"We think it's very clear: the minutes of the meeting control, not the resolution," Kallman said. "You can't have a resolution that changes what the minutes recorded of what the actual vote and decision of the board was. That can't be changed."
While the court affirmed Hambley's appointment as health officer, they also reaffirmed the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners' statutory authority to remove Hambley if she "proves to be 'incompetent[,]' or 'guilty of official misconduct, or habitual or willful neglect of duty,' as contemplated by MCL 46.11(n)."
On that determination, Kallman welcomed the judges' decision.
"We're very pleased that the Court of Appeals agreed with us, and that the board can follow the law," Kallman said. "And they intend to do so."
Kallman said the county plans to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court the ruling that Hambley is the appointed health officer.
This could have the potential to further delay any potential trial and Hambley's hopes of getting a now-vacated court order revived that protected her from termination without cause.
As a result of the ruling, Hambley is still facing a termination hearing brought forth by the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners after Chairman Joe Moss claimed in his initial hearing filing that she demonstrated incompetence during the county budget process earlier this year.
"We will present a full case in her defense at the hearing and, if they remove her, then we'll go back to the court and ask for relief from the court," Howard said Wednesday.
Moss claimed that Hambley caused panic in the community, lied about the budget and budget process and that she failed to cooperate with that process.
In response to the termination hearing, Hambley's lawyers made public over 500 pages of emails from the weeks and months leading up to the latest attempt to remove her from her post.
In these emails, the law firm representing Hambley released information they say was left out of Moss's charges when he moved to convene the hearing.
On Wednesday Howard told reporters she had lasting concerns over the potential unfair process Hambley may face in the termination hearing.
"We know what [commissioners have] intended since day one," Howard said. "And so it's really hard to have a lot of faith in this commission as an impartial decider of the facts, given all of the statements they've made since the beginning that what they want to do is install their own person."
On Thursday she said that, while conversations were ongoing regarding the hearing and some agreements had been made, her concerns persisted.
"I think it's a mystery that I have some serious concerns that this commission is inadequately impartial body, which is required under the law for a hearing to be considered fair and have adequate due process," Howard said. "I don't think there's any way for this particular Commission, or at least some of its members to be considered impartial since they fired her illegally on day one and have taken a number of other actions which really call into question their impartiality."
"If we go forward with the hearing, I think it's very important that I be able to call witnesses with subpoena," Howard said. "And the other side has now agreed that that's going to happen. So, you know, that has a positive development. And so, we'll just have to see how the hearing shapes up and what it looks like going forward."
Kallman on Thursday asserted that the hearing would give Hambley a fair chance to state her case for commissioners' consideration.
"Ms. Hambley will have a full opportunity to be heard at this hearing as well as her attorney and any witnesses, anybody they want to call to come and speak on her behalf," Kallman said. "And she'll have her day and then it's up to the board."
Following further discussions between the legal teams, that termination hearing is now scheduled for Oct. 24.
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