OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ottawa County will pay more than a quarter million dollars for two employees by the end of the year for them to leave their positions.
FOX 17 has learned Deputy County Administrator Ben Wetmore and Senior Executive Aide Jordan Epperson are set to receive lump sums to leave by the beginning of 2025.
Documents show that the agreement for Wetmore will cost the county $175,000. The deputy administrator took on the role of interim county administrator in October.
“I appreciate the board’s bipartisan willingness to give me the same consideration given to past administration separations,” Wetmore wrote an email to FOX 17.
Epperson's agreement will cost the county north of $111,000 after a $75,000 lump sum payment and five months' salary plus health benefits during that time.
Under the agreement, Epperson "may choose to reject health insurance coverage and receive the full cash value of the health insurance as part of the lump sum severance payment."
In an email to FOX 17, Epperson says he did decline the health benefits.
“I am very grateful to the county and its citizens for my time spent here. I wish the incoming board/administration the best of luck in serving their constituents. I look forward to assisting their transition and answering any questions they may have,” Epperson emailed in response to questions from FOX 17.
In total, Ottawa County will pay just over $286,000 for the two separations.
*A prior version of this article said the total cost of the separations would be more than $300,000. However the insurance payout to Jordan Epperson was much less than we calculated, since that payment only covered his premium payments, not the county's cost for health insurance.
Both were hired by the former County Administrator, John Gibbs, who was let go earlier this year.
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Chairperson and Ottawa Impact Founder Joe Moss took to social media to explain wanting to help create a smooth transition for the incoming Board.
“The current Board of Commissioners approved severance and separation agreements for two administrative employees,” Moss wrote on his professional Facebook page. “Both agreements approved yesterday are in line with past severance agreements and relevant details considered by the Board.”
HOW WE GOT HERE
In 2023, the Ottawa Impact majority took majority control of the County Board of Commissioners. On their first day in office, they fired the current county administrator and hired Gibbs to take the top job.
Gibbs hired Epperson and Wetmore to be in his administrative office. The senior executive aide position, which had pay of $132,000 with benefits, was a center of controversy following claims Gibbs picked Epperson because of his age.
This led to a lawsuit of age discrimination that was settled in September for $225,000.
The former county administrator was let go in February by the Board of Commissioners that hired him just over a year prior. Moss released a number of allegations of Gibbs making threats and lewd comments towards commissioners and overruling board decisions, among other things.
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Gibbs has explained many of the allegations are false or misleading. His attorney at the time when these allegations were made public explained that they all came from Wetmore and Epperson.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed no record of HR complaints filed by these employees naming Gibbs.
LOOK BACK AT PREVIOUS SEVERANCES SINCE 2023
Moss and, along with other Ottawa Impact commissioners, made sweeping changes back in 2023, moments after they took office.
They voted to fire the predecessor to Gibbs, John Shay, and Ottawa County Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department Director Robyn Afrik.
The county had to pay Shay $210,000 and a year's worth of health benefits per his contract. The Board’s move to dissolve the DEI office led to Afrik getting $25,000 and three months of health benefits.
Gibbs, who was fired for just cause, sued the county for his termination. A federal judge ruled Gibbs did not have protection under the First Amendment when acting as the county administrator.
His lawsuit also claimed violations of Michigan's whistleblower protection act and his employment agreement. The judge ruled those allegations must be brought in state court.
Read the separation agreement between Ottawa County and Senior Executive Aide Jordan Epperson
Ottawa Co Jordan Epperson Separation Agreement by WXMI on Scribd
Read the separation agreement between Ottawa County and Deputy County Administrator Ben Wetmore
Ottawa Co Ben Whetmore Separation Agreement by WXMI on Scribd
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