OTTAWA COUNTY, MI — In the midst of the 2024 fiscal year budget process, Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs has asked the county health department to provide a version of its budget that was reduced by nearly half, the county health officer said.
In a Facebook post written by embattled Health Officer Adeline Hambley on the county’s department of public health page, Hambley said Gibbs asked her on Tuesday, Aug. 22, to propose a new budget with a nearly 50% reduction by Thursday, Aug. 24.
“Proposed budget reductions of this size will significantly impair, and likely eliminate, various public health services and the health department’s ability to maintain public health and safety,” Hambley wrote in the post. “It is ridiculous to expect that services in 2024 could be completed with a budget below 2009 funding levels.”
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The request from Gibbs came a day after a special finance committee work session meeting in which county commissioners discussed the 2024 budget. At the meeting, Chairman Joe Moss proposed a general fund reduction for the county’s department of public health, taking the budget from a $6.4 million general fund contribution down to $2.5 million.
During that Aug. 21 meeting, Gibbs said it would be better practice to have other Ottawa County departments wait until next year’s budget for an across-the-board 5% budget cut, which was previously proposed by Commissioner Gretchen Cosby.
“I think that the goal you had mentioned of a 5% reduction is something very much within the realm of what we can analyze, but I don’t know if it’s possible within the timeframe of the fiscal year 2024 budget,” Gibbs said Monday. “My recommendation is to make this a conversation that goes into the next year’s budget.”
Cosby originally proposed the countywide 5% budget reduction as an effort to be fiscally responsible and mindful of the “inflationary pressures” that residents are feeling.
Hambley and the county health department have frequently butted heads with Moss and Gibbs, along with other members of the ultra-conservative political group Ottawa Impact that Moss founded.
Earlier this year, Ottawa Impact county commissioners attempted to remove Hambley from her role as county health officer and replace her with Nate Kelly, who most recently worked at an HVAC company.
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This attempt by Ottawa Impact commissioners has led to an ongoing lawsuit between Hambley and several Ottawa Impact county commissioners.
In Hambley’s social media post, she stated that commissioners want to give up a “significant amount of grant money, allegedly because of various political considerations,” particularly grants related to COVID-19.
“If the commission moves forward with this level of budget-slashing, I believe it will be a clear act of unlawful retaliation against me for bringing a wrongful termination suit for attempting to remove me as the appointed administrative health officer, and for the trial court’s decision to grant me judgement on that claim,” Hambley wrote. “Moreover, such actions may subject the county to other legal consequences, such as the issuance of an administrative compliance order to the local governing entity by the state of Michigan for failure to demonstrate adequate provision of required services to the community.”
Ottawa County government leaders are at a regular county board of commissioners meeting Tuesday night. It began at 6:30 p.m. In one of the early public comments, the issue of the proposed cuts to the health department was brought up.
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