“The county was aware of alleged comments made by Mr. Gibbs that led the county to believe that it could not successfully defend against the claims of age discrimination. Therefore, it was in the best interest of the county to resolve the Kimball matter.” – Joe Moss
The lawsuit against Ottawa County by 49-year-old Ryan Kimball for age discrimination was settled for $225,000.
“During one of the first sessions, a comment was made, that (Gibbs) would be able to boss Jordan around. Mr. Gibbs made the comment that he preferred Mr. Epperson because he would be able to boss him around.” -Multiple witnesses
The first act of the Ottawa Impact commissioners elected in 2022, was to fire the competent county administrator John Shay without cause and appoint John Gibbs who they claimed at the time, was over qualified for the job. They later fired Gibbs after a dramatic back and forth between Gibbs and OI commissioners calling each other incompetent. An exchange that seems to have been more prophetic than at first realized.
Before being fired Gibbs required a personal aide, something the Ottawa Impact commissioners approved, a position that was never filled while John Shay was administrator. Gibbs then made the unfortunate comment in a public place that he preferred a younger aide that he could boss around.
Not Age Discrimination
The firing of John Shay, the appointment of John Gibbs, and the hiring of the unqualified Jordon Epperson was never about age discrimination. It was, and still is, about hiring loyalists regardless of their qualifications. Joe Moss and Ottawa Impact attempted to fire Hambley the head of the health department and replace her with unqualified Nathaniel Kelly, an act that almost cost the county $4 million and did cost us $188,000.
Once again, the tax payers are on the hook for Ottawa Impact commissioners’ foolish decision in appointing loyalist John Gibbs and allowing him to hire loyalist Jordon Epperson instead of a more qualified job candidate.
Republicans, this is on you!
Republicans consider themselves fiscal conservatives, it is Democrats who are the big spenders. And yet in this Republican controlled county, the perpetrators of numerous bad decisions that have cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars are still in place. Four of them will be on the ballot in November. It is highly likely Republicans will vote them back on the Board of Commissioners for another four years.
It is obvious Ottawa County has been the victim of a Christian Nationalist take over. In the last two years the Ottawa Impact majority on the Board of Commissioners has steered the county along the guidelines of the Christian Nationalist talking points.
- Constitutional County resolution
- Hiring Loyalists over competency
- The appointment of the expensive Kallman legal group – a firm whose expertise is religious freedom and Christian Nationalist cases
- Promoting Ottawa Impact extremists on the Republican primary
- The so called Innocence of Children/War on Children resolution
- Promoting anti-vaxxers
None of the above issues have anything to do with common sense county governing. Stop the expensive chaos Christian Nationalism has brought to Ottawa County. Vote out Ottawa Impact commissioners once and for all!
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