OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Embattled Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs was placed on administrative leave Thursday morning as he offered up his resignation.
In a letter sent through his attorney Noah Hurwitz to Chair Joe Moss, Gibbs would be "amenable to resigning his position in consideration for a lump sum payment of the entire amount owed to Mr. Gibbs pursuant to his employment agreement, i.e., $630,000.00."
"Mr. Gibbs is not demanding a king’s ransom like some of his contemporaries. Rather, the demand reflects the County’s contractual obligations to my client and represents a substantial discount from the damages, costs, and attorney fees that arise from litigation," the letter reads.
Gibbs' resignation could potentially end a tumultuous tenure filled with controversy and legal trouble.
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners went into closed session to discuss the County Administrator shortly after the meeting began Thursday morning. Board chair Joe Moss recapped the last several months of the county's business, including talking about the Adeline Hambley hearing, as well as Gibbs' interactions with other members of the board.
"The last few months have been interesting to say the least. We've had constant media attacks claiming the county agreed to a ginormous settlement. During this time, people, including Administrator Gibbs, really believed that that was true. He asked me on several occasions why the board was giving the health officer $4 million. I repeatedly explained that that was a false narrative from the media and from other people," Moss said.
"It has seemed that John's relationship with the board has become more strained during this time period and it was around this time that I started hearing some concerns from commissioners. At first, I thought it was related to the stress of the situation, to the law fair, to the media reports constantly sharing false narratives. However, concerns became more pronounced in December and in January and board members began to tell me they thought that the administrator had begun to disregard their direction," Moss added.
Moss then asked Gibbs if he would like to go to a closed session, to which he replied "sure."
After just over two hours in a closed session, the board returned to an open session and moved to put Gibbs on administrative leave. The move was then put to a vote where only one board member opposed. The meeting went to recess after Administrator Gibbs was officially put on administrative leave.
Ottawa County attorney David Kallman shared this statement:
“We are disappointed that Mr. Gibbs made baseless and false accusations against our office in an attempt to deflect scrutiny from his own actions. Board Chair Joe Moss noted in today’s special meeting that complaints have been lodged against Mr. Gibbs and the Board voted to immediately place him on paid administrative leave. None of these numerous and serious complaints originated from our office. I am sure Mr. Gibbs and his counsel will respond to these serious complaints before the Board of Commissioners makes a final determination as to his job status.”
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.
That brings us to Thursday's special meeting. The county's agenda says it will consider complaints against Gibbs, as well as an offer of resignation.
The board met for a few hours in a closed session and then voted to place him on administrative leave.
Hurwitz released a statement following the decision:
"Mr. Gibbs was confronted today with what the County described as recently uncovered allegations about his job performance that were never previously disclosed until this emergency board meeting. But as the public heard during the open meeting, the real reason that the Board is challenging Mr. Gibbs’ leadership is because he is using his position to oppose Board decisions that are detrimental to the County. These brand new allegations about his conduct were strictly obtained for the purpose of justifying a “for cause” termination. The forced leave of absence the Board placed him under is retaliation for Mr. Gibbs’ efforts to protect the County."
You can read the entire letter here:
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