MUSKEGON, Mich. — A 14th Circuit Court judge has delayed a key hearing in the case of Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley.
On Monday, the court had expected to hear testimony from top county officials including County Commission Chairman Joe Moss; commissioners Roger Bergman, Doug Zylstra and Jacob Bonnema; and County Clerk Justin Roebuck. The testimony was meant to be in relation to closed-door discussions the Board of Commissioners had with their legal counsel regarding settlement discussions with Hambley.
Hambley's attorney, Sarah Howard, has asserted that a deal had been reached between Hambley and the county, which led to them asking Circuit Court Judge Jenny McNeill to enforce the settlement as part of the hearing. The deal, she detailed, would include the county paying Hambley $4 million in exchange for her resignation and an end to her ongoing litigation against them that stemmed from their attempt in January to remove her from the post without prior notice.
Howard told reporters she believes testimony from witnesses and a look at the minutes from the closed-door discussions will reveal that their 7-3 vote taken on Nov. 6 to accept their counsel's "recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities" was an acceptance of the terms.
"I think it's necessary to take evidence here, given the representations that were made by the defense in their response brief, that we think are just not true," Howard said Monday. "And we think that evidence will fairly clearly refute those."
County legal counsel, however, has refuted her claims. They've asserted that commissioners' vote was not meant as an acceptance of terms and that counsel did not make a recommendation regarding a final settlement.
"Corporate counsel never made a recommendation for any settlement to be accepted or voted on by the board ever, in all these closed sessions in the last few weeks," Kallman told 13 ON YOUR SIDE earlier this month. "These are settlement discussions. It's a process."
Motions to quash - or stop - subpoenas for testimony are a key part of what Judge McNeill will consider when the now-rescheduled hearing takes place in early December.
The motions were made by both county legal counsel and an attorney representing Roebuck.
Kallman told reporters, without a court order, offering the closed-door minutes for examination could not be done.
"I personally have no problem with [the closed-door session minutes] if it's being supplied, but we have to follow the law," Kallman said. "And, you know, we're constrained. I mean, there's nothing more I can do. So, if the judge orders differently, awesome. You know, but we can't just volunteer to violate state law."
Howard, however, said testimony and the court having access to the minutes was necessary to establish that the settlement was, indeed, final.
"Unfortunately, at this point, I think that the legal issues in my mind are clear that there was a binding settlement," Howard said. "The law says it's an objective standard, what people believed and not what was in the mind of the two sides. It's not a subjective standard.
The hearing has been rescheduled for Dec. 4 at 9:00 a.m.
Commissioners are expected to resume their special meeting on the fate of Hambley's position and settlement talks on Nov. 28.
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