John Gibbs asking for $630K to resign from Ottawa County administrator role

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI — A new letter from an attorney representing Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs asks the county board of commissioners to pay Gibbs $630,000 in exchange for his resignation.

The letter, sent by Ann Arbor-based attorney Noah Hurwitz to board Chair Joe Moss on Feb. 15, states Gibbs is “amenable to resigning his position in consideration for the lump sum payment of the entire amount owed to Mr. Gibbs pursuant to his employment agreement, $630,000.”

In the letter, Hurwitz claims Gibbs has been harassed, defamed and belittled by the county “following his constitutional expression of free speech” for “rightfully criticizing the performance of the county’s corporation counsel in furtherance of the public interest.”

RELATED: Warning letter from John Gibbs to be topic at Ottawa County special meeting

According to Hurwitz, Gibbs claims he was confronted by Moss on Monday, Feb. 12, and was “threatened with termination” if Gibbs didn’t voluntarily resign. Hurwitz said Moss’s alleged actions incriminated the county for violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act. Hurwitz claims Moss told Gibbs that “board members want you gone, especially after the letter Butzel sent.”

The Butzel letter is referring to a letter Gibbs’ former attorney sent the board of commissioners in January, threatening legal action against the county if he is fired.

Gibbs’ new attorney, Hurwitz, said Gibbs is not voluntarily offering his resignation, but that the offer is “a substantial discount from the damages, costs and attorney fees that arise from litigation.”

RELATED: John Gibbs threatens legal action against Ottawa County if he’s fired

The day after the alleged Moss and Gibbs confrontation on Feb. 12, Gibbs declined to appear for a county board meeting on Feb. 13. During that meeting, commissioners voted to temporarily freeze Gibbs’ ability to hire and transfer county staff.

The board of commissioners is meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 22 in a special meeting called to “consider a response to the letter from County Administrator John Gibbs.”

The meeting was called so last-minute that notices of the meeting were hand-delivered to commissioners by sheriff’s office deputies.

RELATED: John Gibbs skips meeting where Ottawa County strips him of hiring power

According to Hurwitz, Gibbs plans to attend the Thursday meeting. His employment contract with Ottawa County runs through Jan. 2, 2026, and states the contract can only be terminated for cause in the event of things like dishonesty, misconduct or willful malfeasance.

Gibbs has not yet received any type of performance review since his appointment to the administrator role on Jan. 3, 2023, which was one of many surprise actions taken by the newly seated, ultraconservative majority faction on the Ottawa County board called Ottawa Impact. Moss co-founded Ottawa Impact.

Neither Gibbs nor Moss immediately returned a request for comment about the Feb. 15 letter.

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