OLIVE TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Mar. 1, 2024) – The 14-month tenure of John Gibbs as Ottawa County Administrator is apparently over.
During Thursday night’s biweekly business meeting, the county board voted 10-1 in support of chairman Joe Moss’ motion.
Gibbs, who was appointed when the current board assumed their duties on January 3rd of last year, had been an unsuccessful US House candidate in the previous November’s election, losing to Democrat Hillary Scholten. He was alleged to have made disparaging comments about female board members, the faith of some of the commissioners, and threats against county attorney Jack Jordan. Gibbs, who has denied the allegations, was standing on terms in his contract, which runs through the end of 2025, that requires compensation in pay and benefits if he is dismissed without cause.
The one no vote for sacking Gibbs came from third-term District 3 commissioner Doug Zylstra, as the Holland Democrat explained in social media afterward, “I believe we have not given the matter full due process. I would have preferred that we carried out more investigation and then mediate our differences before taking the action we did. It is my hope that we can take the proper processes to hire a new administrator so that we once again have a fully functioning and responsive administrative office.”
Gibbs was not present during this meeting, although he was invited to attend, and there was no immediate word as to whether he would challenge this action in court. It was not made clear whether Deputy Administrator Ben Wetmore would assume the operational leadership duties in the interim, as Moss said that efforts to search for a permanent replacement should begin next week.
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