A rogue board of Christo-fascist county commissioners, who surprised voters in a dominating takeover of a West Michigan county in 2022 elections, have been trying to fire Ottawa County (Michigan) Health Officer Adeline Hambley for 10 months.
The agenda has been seen as a referendum on how the county health department enforced state mandates on masking during Covid, even while Ms. Hambley was not the health director at the time mask mandates had been implemented for K-6th grade students — the primary unforgiveable offense. Hambley became health director in December 2022.
Hambley soon sued the board for trying to remove her without a termination hearing and cause, as required by state law, and on allegations of whistleblower act violations, as well as alleging that the far right majority has repeatedly interfered with her state-authorized health duties.
Now the board has offered the county’s public health officer $4.1 million to leave her job, the largest settlement in the county’s history and nearly the exact amount the board cut from the public health department’s budget this year.
The deal has yet to be drawn up and signed by the parties involved.
The move was approved by the majority of the board who were endorsed by Ottawa Impact, a far-right fundamentalist group created by now-board Chair Joe Moss and Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea. Three non-Ottawa Impact board members voted no.
The new Ottawa County Board tried to replace Hambley at their very first meeting in January 2023 with a safety manager of a local HVAC company with a record of opposing COVID regulations and pushing unproven treatments.
In January, a video surfaced of the HVAC man mocking Governor Whitmer and the state’s sign language interpretor.