OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — A court hearing over whether Ottawa County should pay $4 million to its health officer was delayed Monday.
Health Officer Adeline Hambley's attorney says the deal was real but the county's attorney argues it wasn't set in stone.
Muskegon County Judge Jenny McNeill called both attorneys into her chambers for about 15 minutes.
Once they came out, the judge postponed the hearing to read over the many documents submitted by both attorneys since last Friday.
"We are going to adjourn until next Monday at 9 a.m. And at that point in time, we are going to hear arguments on the various motions. We're not going to take testimony," Judge McNeill said.
On Friday, Hambley's attorney, Sarah Howard, submitted paperwork looking to have county officials testify on where the settlement stands.
Those named include Ottawa Impact Founder Commission Chairperson Joe Moss, Commissioners Roger Bergman, Jacob Bonnema and Doug Zylstra, three members often outspoken against the Ottawa Impact majority and County Clerk Justin Roebuck.
All of them were in a closed session where attorneys reportedly discussed a possible end to Hambley's lawsuit against the county.
Monday morning, the county's attorney, David Kallman, filed documents looking to stop that testimony.
"I think it's really telling if they're trying not to get on the stand right and trying not to disclose these closed-session meeting minutes," Howard said.
The hearing has now been pushed to Dec. 4, when attorneys say they plan to make the case on where the settlement stands and if hearing from witnesses could answer critical questions.
One is the reason behind the board's vote of 7-3 to "move to accept counsel's recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities in the case of Hambley v. Ottawa County as addressed during closed session."
FOX 17 obtained through court documents an email exchange sent by Kallman Legal Group Attorney Stephen Kallman to Howard, which outlines a tentative agreement of $4 million and Hambley's resignation minutes before the Board's vote.
"So there's no way the Board could vote to approve email, tentative discussions as a final settlement when they didn't even know those emails existed. I mean, that's just common sense. I mean, how can you vote on something that you don't even know exists?" Kallman Legal Group Attorney David Kallman said.
Hambley has faced a contentious year. In January, the newly elected Board majority voted to demote her. Hambley went public in August when county leaders had worked on significant cuts to the Health Department's budget. A few weeks later, Moss brought forth charges and accused Hambley of incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty during the county's budgeting process.
The Board majority scheduled a removal hearing in late October, which is still ongoing.
"On November 6, we came back and said, 'Well, okay, let's put the brakes on, see if we can resolve it.' And that's kind of where we've been for the last three weeks," Kallman said.
"I suspect they'll go back into closed session. And we'll try to continue some type of negotiations with this issue hanging out there," Howard added.
The removal hearing is scheduled to start at 1:30 inside the Board of Commissioners room on Tuesday.
