County: HR director who received $40K severance deal had no complaints, discipline on record

OTTAWA COUNTY — More details have been released about a severance agreement worth more than $40,000 between Ottawa County and its human resources director; however, a justification for the deal has not been made clear.

The agreement between the county and former HR director Scott Hawkes was approved by county commissioners at a June 23 meeting. The document and its details, however, were not disclosed in the public documents commissioners consider when voting during meetings, often referred to as the meeting's "packet."

The only information made public was that the agreement had a value of $40,082.32 and that the county and Hawkes "desire[ed] to enter into an agreement to memorialize their understanding pertaining to the end of the employee's employment" and that, effective June 22, Hawkes would receive eight weeks of gross pay and health insurance through September in exchange for his voluntary resignation.

Agreement details

Ottawa News Network obtained the severance agreement on July 13 through a Freedom of Information Act request filed on June 19.

The agreement states that Hawkes will receive a lump-sum payment of $23,082.32. He is also entitled to up to 26 weeks of unemployment.

The county also agreed to list Hawkes' official reason for leaving as a "voluntary resignation as well as a letter of reference and a "brief endorsement" for future employers.

That endorsement, penned by Waterman, says Hawkes is "a knowledgeable, professional human resources director, who could be an asset to your organization."

Hawkes, for his part, agreed not to apply for positions within the county "or any of its funded units of government." He also agreed to release the county from "any and all claims, complaints, charges, demands, grievances, claims for arbitration, and/or other causes of action (pending or contemplated) of any kind.

What those potential claims could be, however, have not been made clear.

In its FOIA request, ONN also requested a copy of Hawkes' personnel file. According to records provided by the county, Hawkes received no complaints or disciplinary action from the county.

The county is an "at will" employer, meaning either the employer or employee can end the working relationship at any time, without notice and for any (or no) reason.

Employers, however, sometimes offer severance packages to at-will employees to protect themselves from future lawsuits, protect trade secrets, prevent former workers from soliciting clients, or to manage image, among other reasons.

No clear reason

Current policy allows County Administrator Patrick Waterman to authorize and sign contracts up to $70,000 without prior approval by the board of commissioners.

To satisfy legal oversight, these contracts are subsequently brought before the board during regular meetings in the form of a post-execution ratification list, which is how Waterman presented the Hawkes severance agreement on June 23.

Commissioner Doug Zylstra, the lone Democrat on the board, questioned the need for a severance agreement if there were no clear reasons to do so.

"I believe in treating all our employees with dignity and generosity, both ongoing and outgoing employees alike," Zylstra said, "but I also think we need to treat our employees with even-handedness and fairness.

"Unless outgoing severance is going to be a standard practice for all our departing employees, I don't think an agreement of this nature is a precedent that we should be setting."

Other commissioners didn't engage in discussion on the issue, and Waterman did not provide further details.

The post-ratification contracts list was approved at the meeting by a 10-1 vote, with Zylstra voting against the measure.

Wage study pushback

The timing of Hawkes' departure comes just weeks after commissioners approved an employee wage study for county employees on May 19.

The study, however, was not popular with all employees, particularly because the recommended adjustments left more than a dozen employees unsure of where they stood on wage advancement. It also excluded union employees, which affected dozens of employees, including those in the county's health and community health departments and courts and the sheriff's department.

"I would like you to reconsider preventing the union employees from benefiting from the wage study immediately," health department employee Tom Niebor said at the board's April 30 meeting.

Niebor, who serves as the local union representative for the health department, said the wage study had several flaws, including that certain positions such as managerial, administrative assistant, fiscal and treasurer roles were "clearly favored."

"I'm sure they are all well deserved, but the distribution of these shows clear favoritism," Niebor said.

In addition, Niebor said the bigger step wage increases only apply after four years, and before that, employees are actually paid less.

"This essentially red circles new employees to benefit the long-term employees," he said. "Any union group that would accept this as part of a wage study is hurting itself."

Hawkes, for his part, publicly supported the study by Baker Tilly, saying it allowed the county to remain competitive and attract top talent. The delays, however, seemed to be a point of frustration.

"There have been some delays internally," he told commissioners at the April 30 meeting. "That is going to delay our employees once again from market increases that are due to them."

He also appeared to not support including union employees in the wage study.

"Those employees don't have the right to bargain," he said of non-union employees. "Our other employees that are unionized will have their rights to bargain."

The board tabled the study at the April 30 meeting.

The pushback led to several delays of the wage study's implementation.

Niebor pointed to 2023 and 2024, when the far-right faction on the board known as Ottawa Impact held a controlling majority of commissioner seats and that the handling of the most recent wage study hearkened back to OI's tactics of gaining leverage of union employees.

"You can offer the wage study increases to union employees at any time. The unions will call a vote from our members, and they will decide if they approve it or not. This allows for a democratic workplace and gives the wage study extra validity if it is passed," Niebor said.

"Not providing this option is the same tactic used by Ottawa Impact when they ran the board previously in order to gain leverage in negotiations."

Ultimately, the board approved the wage study at its next meeting on May 19 — without including union employees.

Waterman and Hawkes signed the severance agreement 29 days later.

The agreement noted that Hawkes had been given 21 days to consider the agreement; however, it allowed him to voluntarily sign the agreement in less time.

Controversial hiring

Hawkes' hiring came at a tumultuous time for Ottawa County.

The same day the county board approved a controversial severance agreement for former interim administrator Ben Wetmore in December 2024, he told Hawkes to report for work — without completing the county's hiring process.

Read More: County commissioners say they were misled, pressured to approve severance agreements

The move caused internal confusion over whether Hawkes' hiring was valid and if Wetmore had the authority to continue accessing confidential employee information.

Wetmore signed his original agreement on Dec. 10, 2024; however, the agreement was re-approved on Dec. 19 after a lawsuit challenged its validity.

Read More: Howard challenges legality of severance agreements, Crockery Lake contract

“On Tuesday, Dec. 17, Ben (Wetmore) requested HR provide an update on the background check process for Mr. Hawkes," then-interim HR director Zac VanOsdol wrote in a Dec. 19 email to county commissioners. "Per the (board of commissioners) approved ‘Severance and Separation Agreement’ for Ben, HR was unable to provide Ben with an update on the process because that is confidential information and violates Ben’s agreement."

VanOsdol said Wetmore contacted Hawkes directly and told him to report to work on Thursday, Dec. 19, even though the required background and reference checks through the county’s systems had not yet been completed.

The OI-led board did not address the hiring process discrepancy, and Hawkes' employment was permitted to continue.

What happens next

Hawkes' departure adds to a mass exodus of the county's HR senior leadership since 2024.

Former longtime director Marcie VerBeek resigned in May 2024 after numerous lawsuits filed against the county and the board included allegations of wrongful termination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims against the OI-led board.

After Hawkes was hired over VanOsdol, who had been serving in the interim director role, VanOsdol resigned in mid-2025. A longtime benefits specialist also recently left the county's employ.

Currently, the county shows Sarah Allen as interim director. The assistant director position is currently vacant, as is one of five analyst positions.

The county has publicly posted the position for the HR director role. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. July 15.

Regardless of how the county moves forward, employees said trust has been shaken with approval of Hawkes' severance agreement.

"The commissioners’ decision to award this severance pay is a step backward in trust for CMH employees with county leadership," said Clark Cunningham-White, a social worker at Ottawa County CMH and the local union representative for CMH employees.

"At a time when inflation is outpacing wages, we are concerned about a ‘one rule for management, another rule for the rest’ approach to leaving government employment," he said.

"Despite this disappointing behavior, we are committed to negotiating in good faith with management as bargaining approaches," Cunningham-White said. "We will work constructively to advocate for fair wages for CMH employees that work hard and play by the rules. Our chapter will always stand up for employees, who will always show up to serve Ottawa County residents in the months and years to come."

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.