OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Friday, the day after the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners placed Administrator John Gibbs on administrative leave, Board Chair Joe Moss published to Facebook a letter detailing a list of complaints made against Gibbs.
The letter was sent by Attorney Brook Bisonet. On Feb. 13 the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners met and unanimously voted to hire the services of Bisonet and his firm to respond to a letter penned by Gibbs' attorney to the board in January.
The letter Moss shared Friday said that while it provides a list of complaints against Moss it does not cover all complaints that may exist. The letter also stated that Gibbs has been absent from scheduled board meetings in which the complaints were to be discussed.
The letter also states that Gibbs did not give notice that he would be absent from meetings and instead gave "numerous and conflicting answers" afterward for why he was not in attendance.
"Commissioner Moss believes that refusing to answer honestly and consistently about the reason he did not attend is dishonest," read the letter.
The letter continued with a long list of complaints made against Gibbs. Some of the complaints allege threats of physical violence, sexual/defamatory comments, placement of hidden cameras, wrongful terminations and more.
“I witnessed Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs threaten to physically harm Attorney Jack Jordan to Joe Moss immediately after an Ottawa County Insurance Authority Meeting," read one complaint.
Another complaint read “Administrator Gibbs had me assist him in bugging his office with a hidden camera fixed on his meeting table to record conversations with Commissioners and County Employees.”
You can read the full letter and list of complaints here:
It was just a little over a year ago when the new conservative Ottawa Impact Board took over, quickly moving to fire John Shay and replace him with John Gibbs.
Gibbs rose to prominence in 2022 when he ran for Kent County's 3rd Congressional seat, earning the endorsement of former president Donald Trump and defeating incumbent Peter Meijer.
Then, he lost to Democrat Hillary Scholten, the first Democrat to win the 3rd district since the 1970s.
After getting hired by Ottawa Impact in January 2023, Gibbs has been at the center of a number of disputes.
Gibbs and the board quickly moved to replace health officer Adeline Hambley after many openly criticized her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. That move led to a multi-million dollar wrongful termination lawsuit, which is still ongoing in court.
In October, another lawsuit. The suit claimed Gibbs passed over a more qualified 49-year-old executive aide candidate in favor of 23-year-old Jordan Epperson.
"During one of the first sessions, a comment was made. That he would be able to boss Jordan around," said a witness during the hearing on the ageism suit.
That lawsuit is also still ongoing.
Just last week, the board voted to strip Gibbs of his hiring power.
At Thursday's special meeting, the board met for a few hours in a closed session and then voted to place him on administrative leave.
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