South Kent News

Confidentiality agreements and severance payments doled out by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration are causing controversy, according to reporting from Bridge Michigan.

These revolve around former Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) Director Steve Gray and former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon. Both have recently resigned without any explanation.

Gray’s department failed to prevent fraud and pay many of the unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Gordon received criticism for health orders regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Both men resigned, with Gray receiving $86,000 in severance pay and Gordon receiving $155,000 severance; these payouts are equivalent to over six months' salary. They both signed agreements forbidding them from publicly discussing the reasons for their respective resignations.

Steve Gray, UIA director | University of Michigan

While serving in the Michigan Senate in 2013, Whitmer criticized former Gov. Rick Snyder for being excessively secretive and developing public school policies in private.

When she ran for governor in 2018, Whitmer promoted a 10-point “Sunshine Plan” with the goal of making government more transparent. She supported additional regulations on lobbying, increases in disclosures regarding personal finance for public officials and more regulations for political action committees.

Most of the above policies did not become law upon Whitmer becoming governor because they were not passed by Republicans who control Michigan’s Legislature.

Whitmer also criticized Snyder’s office for being exempt from Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, but she has not complied with requests for public records as governor either. She also ordered that Michigan employees immediately report “any irregularity or discrepancy involving public money" in a series of executive directives, according to Bridge Michigan.

Whitmer defended her administration in public earlier this week in a press conference. “The nature of a separation agreement when someone in a leadership position leaves is that there are terms to it, and you can’t share every term to it,” she told Bridge Michigan. “There were no improprieties” she said, referring to Gordon and defending his record, saying that he was “an incredibly important part of our response” to COVID-19.