IONIA — On Wednesday afternoon, the Ionia County Personnel Committee voted to reinstate a fired Road Department employee.
Linda Pigue
Stephanie Fox
Just a few hours later, Ionia County Administrator Stephanie Fox and Finance Director Linda Pigue both resigned, effective March 31 and March 16, respectively.
Fox has been the county administrator since 2011, while Pigue was hired in early 2020.
The Personnel Committee voted 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon to reinstate Bud White to his job with back pay and benefits. Commissioners Larry Tiejema and Georgia Sharp voted yes while Scott Wirtz voted no.
Fox had fired White on Feb. 18. White has been with the county for 31 years between his part-time and full-time employment. He most recently was road superintendent.
A county official provided the resignation letters of Fox and Pigue to the Daily News. Fox emailed both resignation letters to county commissioners shortly before 6 p.m. today.
Bud White
Fox said she was resigning based on the Personnel Committee’s failure to uphold White’s termination, which she said was made “in clear accordance with existing board resolutions, policies, and the advice of county attorneys.”
“I cannot begin to express my disappointment that the board has chosen to reinstate Mr. White, an untrustworthy employee,” Fox wrote. “What is especially disappointing is that (Road Department Director) Mr. (John) Niemela’s six weeks of employment at the Road Department carried more weight in the board’s decision than Ms. Pigue’s 18 months as the interim Road Department director and my 37 years of experience with the county.”
In her letter of resignation, Pigue also cited the Personnel Committee’s failure to uphold White’s termination as her reason for resigning. She listed a variety of accusations against White, which apparently were brought up in closed session at his hearing and which Sharp said at Wednesday’s meeting would not be discussed in open session.
“Since I believe I have shown Mr. White to be dishonest and untrustworthy, I will resign rather than continue trying to identify and prevent misappropriation of county and state resources,” Pigue wrote.
More than 20 Road Department employees attended Wednesday’s meeting to show their support for White, and several spoke during public comment.
Read Fox’s resignation letter here: Fox resignation
Read Pigue’s resignation letter here: Pigue resignation
A complete story about Wednesday’s Personnel Committee’s meeting and the resignations of Fox and Pigue will be published in Friday’s Daily News.
