By Sarah Leach on Oct 11, 2024

What is the cost of Ottawa Impact? About $3 million and counting

The cost of Ottawa Impact controlling the county’s board of commissioners has now edged to nearly $3 million over the past two years in unexpected costs — and that total is expected to rise.

News Opinion

OTTAWA COUNTY — The cost of Ottawa Impact controlling the county’s board of commissioners has now edged to nearly $3 million over the past two years in unexpected costs — and that total is expected to rise.

That total is derived from various severances, position expansions, department additions and costs tied to five separate lawsuits filed against the board since January 2023.

The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is set to see a shift in its controlling majority in 2025 after several OI incumbents and new candidates lost in their respective Republican primary races in August.

The election came after a tumultuous tenure of the Ottawa Impact controlling majority that began in January 2023, when the far-right fundamentalist group assumed a majority on the 11-member board.

The group was formed by Joe Moss and Sylvia Rhodea in 2021 after they took issue with pre-K-6 school mask mandates and other mitigation measures issued by the state and local health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moss launched the political action committee under the premise of “defending parental rights” and to “thwart tyranny” within the state and federal government. Now, he and Rhodea are the chair and vice chair of the board, respectively.

Severances: $235,000+

On Jan. 3, 2023 — the day the incoming OI commissioners were sworn into office — the majority pushed through a series of sweeping changes, including firing former county administrator John Shay and the county’s corporation counsel and eliminating the county’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Firing Shay cost the county $210,000 plus the remainder of the year in benefits. Former DEI Director Robyn Afrik pre-negotiated a severance package with the 2022 board — fearing that OI would shutter the department — for $25,000, which amounted to three months in pay if she agreed not to pursue litigation.

New departments and expanded positions: $512,648

The OI majority also approved expanding two existing positions and the creation of a new county department, despite pushback from the minority members on the board on the justifications for the decisions.

In March 2023, the board approved expanding an executive assistant position to the county administrator to become and executive aide position, which added $37,350 in pay and benefits. At the time, former administrator John Gibbs justified the request because of the more “hands on” responsibilities the job demanded — although he didn’t provide specific ways in which the role changed from his predecessors, Shay and former longtime administrator Al Vanderberg.

In June 2023, the OI majority approved a new position in charge of communications efforts, including reviewing and authorizing press releases from the county and coordinating media relations.

At the time, Gibbs wrote in a memo to commissioners that the position “lays the groundwork” for a communications department, which he said would align with “best practices” and enable the county to share information through things like podcasts and videos more efficiently.

The move, which came with a $20,000 price tag, came shortly after Gibbs ordered that all media interviews, website updates, social posts, press releases and newsletters from all county departments be subject to administrative review, with some notable exemptions.

In the budget approved for fiscal year 2024, which ran Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, the OI majority opted to create an expanded veterans affairs department, for a cost of $455,298, according to budget documents from the county.

This included the hiring of a director in December as well as other hires and costs over the past year. For fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1, the board approved to increase the department’s budget by another $21,766, for a total of $477,064.

Legal services and lawsuits: $1,321,760

The lion’s share of the increased costs to the county, however, come with the numerous lawsuits filed over the past two years — give to date between February 2023 and May 2024.

In 2022, the county paid $240,000 in legal services. In 2023, that increased 84% to $442,100. In 2024, the county paid $438,200 in legal services and has budgeted $430,200 for 2025.

The county’s insurance authority also is a separate factor that can be calculated. This entity handles all settlements and litigation costs the county incurs for lawsuits filed against it, which could include anything from a slip and fall on a county-owned sidewalk to the publicized lawsuits that have played out in the press against the board.

In 2022, the Ottawa County Insurance Authority paid out $230,000, which jumped to $589,460 in 2023, an increase of 150%. In 2024, the OCIA paid out $792,000, an increase of 34% from 2023 and a 244% increase from 2022. For fiscal year 2025, the board approved $750,000 in expected expenses through the insurance authority.

In terms of individual lawsuits, the yearlong litigation between the board and the county’s Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley was settled in February, with her remaining in her job. Despite her not receiving a monetary award, the county was ordered to pay her attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard, $188,000 in legal fees and the county attorneys billed $233,900.

A second lawsuit was settled on Sept. 10, this time for an age-discrimination allegation from Ryan Kimball, who sued the county late last year for alleged age discrimination after Gibbs didn’t select him as his administrative aide.

The $225,000 settlement was the result of a full day of mediation where the parties reached an agreement, with $150,000 awarded to Kimball and $75,000 awarded for his legal fees. The county spent $29,730 on the case through July, the most recent figures available, so that figure will rise.

A third lawsuit also ended in December when the Michigan Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a lawsuit that alleged the incoming OI commissioners violated the state's Open Meetings Act in the months after being elected in 2022, but before taking office. Even though the case saw only two hearings, it still came at an expense of $47,100 for the county.

Two other lawsuits remain ongoing to date:

Rev. Jared Cramer filed his lawsuit in early October 2023 in U.S. Western District Court, claiming Moss used his position to "endorse a particular set of religious beliefs and exclude a particular set of religious beliefs" and therefore "is discriminating against certain religious beliefs," which is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The lawsuit came after Cramer said he requested to give an invocation in spring 2023, and even sent a certified letter to Moss in a second request, but that he received no response until after the litigation was filed. The county unsuccessfully tried to have the lawsuit dismissed in July. The county attorneys have billed the OCIA for $36,170 through May, according to the most recently available records.
Gibbs also has an ongoing lawsuit against the county, after he was fired “for cause” on Feb. 29. Gibbs sued on April 8 in federal court claiming the board retaliated against him, violated his First Amendment rights and that Moss defamed him on social media that “lack factual support” and that Moss “knew that the defamatory statements were false.” The county has paid $30,205 through May (the most recent records available) for its attorneys to defend the county and Moss in the case.
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Miscellaneous

Other items that have increased costs are:

The OI majority changed the county’s motto from “Where You Belong” to “Where Freedom Rings,” which cost approximately $45,000 to update signage, letterhead and other county branding materials.
Corporation counsel costs have increased by about $10,000 per year after the OI majority fired previous longtime attorney Doug Van Essen and hired conservative Lansing-based law firm Kallman Legal Group.
The board also has commenced a search to hire its fifth administrator in three years — after firing Shay and Gibbs just 13 months apart and hiring Interim Administrator Jon Anderson. The county could spend a minimum of $63,000 to the talent firm it has “engaged” to conduct the search after Commissioner Doug Zylstra publicly shared that the firm Moss personally selected stands to gain “30% guaranteed of first-year base salary,” assuming a candidate accepts the position. The county has not yet signed the partial draft of the contract and could change, although Zylstra’s attempts to discuss the search at Tuesday’s regular meeting were unsuccessful — with Moss saying it “wasn’t time yet.”

Incoming county commissioners in 2025 also will serve through 2029 to reflect a revision to state law to expand county commissioner terms from two to four years.

— Contact Sarah Leach at SentinelLeach@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach. Subscribe to her content at sentinelleach.substack.com.

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