KALAMAZOO, MI -- Former Kalamazoo County chairperson Julie Rogers unexpectedly resigned from her position this week. Board leadership says she was asked to leave because of her behavior but Rogers denies the claim.
A letter issued by the new chair and vice chair Thursday claims Rogers has mistreated staff and overstepped her authority over the past few months. Rogers said the claims have “no basis in fact” and are politically motivated.
Rogers stepped down during the Tuesday, July 7 board meeting saying that she was passing the baton to then-vice chair Tracy Hall as an example of leadership continuity given that Hall is running unopposed in the upcoming election.
Rogers is seeking the Democratic nomination for the state House’s 60th District seat in a hotly contested race against fellow commissioner Stephanie Moore.
On Thursday afternoon, Hall and newly appointed vice chair Mike Seals sent a letter to board members saying they did not want to begin with “with a cloud of secrecy hanging over the county board.”
The letter states that Hall and Seals were first informed by a county government official of problems with Rogers’ conduct while she attended a professional conference in February. Hall told MLive Thursday that the problems were related to Rogers being intoxicated.
Following the alleged incident at the conference, Hall, Seals and commissioner Zac Bauer set a meeting for March 13 to ask Rogers to resign as board chair, according to the letter. This was the same day the county government buildings were ordered closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the meeting was then postponed.
The letter states Hall compiled a list of examples of Rogers’ behavior from months of internal communications.
Examples listed include Rogers allegedly going outside of her authority and “manipulating information to garner control among the board and staff.” Additionally, the letter states Rogers was “disparaging county government leaders while intoxicated at a social function in March.”
The letter goes on to say, “even though no formal complaints have been filed against Julie Rogers, there has been much time and energy devoted to dealing with issues related to her conduct. Most recently, Julie Rogers contacted many county government officials during late hours while intoxicated.”
“This letter is no way meant to shame Julie. As her friends, we believe she needs help and have encouraged her to get it,” Hall and Seals said in the letter.
Prior to Hall’s letter, Moore sent a letter to commissioners on Thursday asking for transparency about Rogers’ behavior. She accused Rogers of abusing her power and inappropriately representing the county.
In her letter Moore said she was saddened and “deeply disappointed this behavior has went unchecked for such a long period time which has created a hostile working environment and a enormous amount of liability for the county.”
In a statement to MLive in response to the allegations against her, Rogers said Hall and Seals “teamed up to attempt to derail my campaign with false allegations for which they produce no proof.”
Rogers said Hall, Seals and Moore were attacking her with false allegations and were “engaging in a smear campaign.”
Hall has endorsed Moore in the Aug. 4 primary. Seals supports Rogers and said Thursday that he would not pull his endorsement, despite co-authoring the letter.
“They spread falsehoods in the heat of a campaign for personal and political goals,” Rogers said in her statement. “I hope the people of Kalamazoo will reject this transparent attempt to prevent my victory at the polls through the extraordinarily depraved and orchestrated campaign of deceit by Hall and Seals.”
In November, a federal lawsuit from fired corporate counsel Beth White specifically named Rogers and Moore alongside the county. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Whistleblower’s Protection Act, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, and violations of the Open Meetings Act.
The lawsuit describes Rogers’ behavior as critical, micromanaging and setting unrealistic timelines.
When MLive was investigating the communications between Rogers and White, Rogers suggested to Hall that she delete any text messages regarding the lawsuit. The interaction was recorded in a voicemail that was obtained by MLive through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In a statement, Rogers said she immediately regretted the voicemail.
More on MLive:
Tracy Hall is the first openly gay woman to lead Kalamazoo County board
2 Kalamazoo County commissioners compete for Democratic nomination in state House race
Firearm licenses reopen with fingerprinting available at Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office
Kalamazoo County applies for $171K state hazard pay for first responders
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Letter claims county chair resigned over inappropriate behavior; she cites ‘smear campaign’ - mlive.com
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