OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — For roughly 14 months, John Gibbs served as Ottawa County administrator, and he didn't do any interviews with FOX 17.
A day after Gibbs was fired, he's opening up. FOX 17's Matt Witkos sat down with him for over 30 minutes to hear his side.
The former county administrator had a lot to say. He called several county commissioners and leaders impulsive and vindictive.
He adds that despite his termination Thursday, Gibbs says his personnel file is clean and the allegations against him are false.
"I find I'm seeking justice. Absolutely. For sure," Gibbs told FOX 17.
Former Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs is telling all.
"There's no coherency. No strategy, no vision direction; it's based purely on mostly two things: impulse and vindictiveness," Gibbs added.
It comes after commissioners voted 10-to-1 Thursday night to terminate Gibbs with cause.
"Terminate Mr. Gibbs's contract for cause because the Board has determined that Mr. Gibbs, in connection with the performance of his duties under the employment agreement, has been dishonest, committed gross misconduct and/or committed willful malfeasance," Chairperson Joe Moss said at Thursday's meeting.
This comes after severalserious allegations about Gibbs were made public by Moss.
A source has told FOX 17 that most of them came from two of Gibbs's hires: his senior executive aide and the deputy county administrator.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed no record of HR complaints filed by these employees naming Gibbs.
"There's nothing on my file; there's no complaints. They just came up with this literally a couple of weeks ago, whatever. They could throw stuff at the wall to see if it sticks. And they basically came just from one person, a disgruntled employee," Gibbs added.
The former county administrator was hired on Jan. 3, 2023, moments after the Ottawa Impact majority was sworn in.
"I love the Ottawa Impact commissioners. I loved what they stood for. They pushed back against all the lockdowns and things. I agreed with that. They wanted limited government, transparency, good governance. I supported all of that. So, I was very excited to come in and work for them," Gibbs said.
That love is souring, Gibbs says, despite his attempts to fix it.
"We need to do something with legal counsel, or else the county's not going to be able to operate without being able to get good legal opinions. And so I recommended keeping the Kallmans for litigation but getting new counsel, perhaps, for municipal law issues in the county.
The Kallman Legal Group is Ottawa County's corporation counsel. They were also hired on Jan. 3, 2023. Gibbs says within months, there were problems.
"The Kallman Legal Group does very good work in the area that they specialize in; nothing against them whatsoever in that area. But when it comes to county law, known as municipal law, they simply don't have the background there. And it shows," Gibbs said.
The firm was tasked with fighting several lawsuits against the county, including one involving Gibbs.
He's named in an age discrimination lawsuit regarding the hiring process for his senior executive aide, Jordan Epperson.
An unredacted email shared with FOX 17 Friday shows the county's HR director was concerned with his pick for the role.
"I also have concerns regarding the comments you made in front of the interview panel about the ages of the candidates and your ability to 'boss' Mr. Epperson around easier because he is younger," Ottawa County Human Resources Director Marcie VerBeek wrote in an email in June.
Gibbs denies age played a factor.
"He had better recommendations. Also, he had more experience working in state and local government. The other candidate had zero experience working in state and local government," Gibbs added.
As the county still faces that lawsuit, Gibbs tells FOX 17 that after his termination, he may sue, too.
"I don't want to have a lawsuit. I don't want to do that. I don't want to go to litigation. I'd rather have a peaceful settlement, and that's what I offered the Board. I said, 'Let's do this amicably. Let's do this peacefully.' But they refused to do that. So now it's turned to what it is not, which I didn't want, but there will be justice now because of what they have done," Gibbs explained.
FOX 17 did reach out to all the commissioners and the Kallman Legal Group.
READ MORE: Ottawa County votes to censure colleague following HR complaint against county administrator
"I voiced these concerns over a year ago, making the recent turn of events all the more remarkable."
Commissioner Doug Zylstra shared on social media why he cast the only no vote to terminate Gibbs. You can read his full statement here.
"I voted no on the Motion to Terminate Mr. Gibbs' Contract because, while I understand there are a number of serious accusations against Mr. Gibbs, especially the allegation of threat to bodily harm Counsel Jordan, and the allegation that he made degrading remarks about some of the female commissioners, I believe we have not given the matter full due process."
David Kallman says he stands by his previous statement from over a week ago.
READ MORE: Ottawa County Administrator put on paid leave
"We are disappointed that Mr. Gibbs made baseless and false accusations against our office in an attempt to deflect scrutiny from his own actions."
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