OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Six hours and eight witnesses into Ottawa County's termination hearing for Health Officer Adeline Hambley, she and her attorney are fighting to keep her in the post and prove to commissioners that she is not guilty of incompetence and negligence charges brought against her.
Members of the public watched Tuesday as the county's board room was transformed into a courtroom for a hearing on whether to fire Hambley.
"We believe that all of the evidence will clearly show that a termination of Adeline Hambley as the health officer is unsupported and unlawful under MCL 46.11," Hambley's attorney, Sarah Howard, told commissioners.
The charges stem from actions taken by Hambley during the county's budget process, when Hambley spoke to the press and the public about potential cuts to the Department of Public Health's budget that she said may have forced the department to close its doors.
Originally filed by Board Chairman Joe Moss, the charges allege her past claims about the county budget were false, as the budget had yet to be finalized at the time. The charges also allege her claims that County Administrator John Gibbs cut her out of the budget process were also not true.
Hambley's attorney, however, called multiple witnesses Tuesday, seemingly aiming to have other county employees corroborate that Hambley did not show incompetence or neglect to them while in the post.
"You've never observed Ms. Hambley engaging in any form of employee misconduct, have you?" Howard asked the Human Resources Director Marcie VerBeek when she took the stand.
"Not that's been brought to my attention, no, in my opinion," VerBeek answered.
"And you never observed any incident where Ms. Hambley was exhibiting habitual or willful neglect of duty?" Howard asked.
"Not in my opinion," VerBeek said.
Similar answers were given by other witnesses, with little cross-examination from county legal counsel.
"This isn't for us to present evidence," Ottawa County legal counsel David Kallman told reporters. "This is for Ms. Hambley to be heard at a hearing, not for us to be heard. [MCL 46.11] says it's Ms. Hambley's opportunity to be heard, so we're giving her that opportunity."
Howard has said that she has harbored concerns over the fairness of the hearing, given past actions and statements from commissioners that she has felt indications that they have predisposed intent to fire Hambley.
Kallman, however, has asserted what he believes would be the fairness of the meeting, and said he was pleased with Tuesday's events.
"Everything went great today," Kallman said. "There were a couple of comments, and I'll be doing this in my closing tomorrow, that, frankly, prove our- not our allegations, the allegations that are pending before the board right now."
The hearing will pick back up again on Wednesday at 8 a.m.
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