Pontiac Times

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the stand in the Michigan Senate in 2013, as minority leader, and criticized then-Gov. Rick Snyder for maintaining secrecy concerning his public school commission handling and policy implementation.

Now, Whitmer, who has succeeded Snyder as the current Michigan governor, is receiving similar backlash after failing to follow through with the transparency commitment she made in her 2018 campaign. 

“Snyder’s actions have been a far cry from the open and transparent governor he promised the people of Michigan that he would be,” Whitmer said on the floor that year, according to Bridge Michigan.

Whitmer's administration has been accused of secretly paying nine months' worth of salary to former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon and former Unemployment Insurance Agency Director Steve Gray. 

Gordon approved various COVID-19-related health orders, while Gray led a department that experienced hardships related to claim payments and fraud prevention amid thousands of job layoffs resulting from the pandemic. The two severances totaled $241,000, which was collected from taxpayer funds. Additionally, former Gordon deputy Sarah Esty formed part of a separation agreement in exchange for one extra month of pay, also sworn to secrecy.

Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) described the terms as “don’t-say-anything, cover-things-up, no-transparency-type contracts,” during a speech outside the Michigan Capitol, reported Bridge Michigan.

When asked to comment on the matter, Whitmer revealed that the confidentiality agreement prevented her from discussing further details. “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,” Whitmer told Bridge Michigan.

“This is an unprecedented time where there’s no transparency in how (COVID-19) decisions are being made,” Rep. Matt Hall (R-Marshall) said, according to Bridge Michigan. “Because of that, the public doesn’t know how they were made” and now there is a former cabinet member “being paid not to talk.”

The Michigan House Oversight Committee introduced new legislation last Thursday. Chairman Steve Johnson (R-Wayland) hopes the administration's agreements will drive a more transparent state government.

Upon assuming her position, Whitmer outlined the efforts she’d take to make the state “more open, transparent and accountable.” The tasks highlighted in the plan include new lobbying regulations, personal financial disclosures for state employees and the ability to revoke emergency laws that are considered debatable and disallow candidates to accept unlimited amounts of money from supporting political action committees.

None of the proposals were signed and approved before being released. Efforts to limit extension period grants to state departments were also minimal, according to Mackinac Center for Public Policy transparency and open government expert Steve Delie. The Mackinac Center filed a lawsuit against the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs after finding documents that proved business violations relating to the governor’s pandemic-related orders.

“I will use the governor’s authority under the Michigan state Constitution to extend FOIA to the lieutenant governor and governor’s offices,” Whitmer said on her campaign website. “Michiganders should know when and what their governor is working on.”

“I wouldn’t rate Gov. Whitmer’s administration particularly favorably on this topic, but I wouldn’t rate just about any large public body favorably on this topic either,” Delie told Bridge Michigan. “There's a general culture in Michigan that promotes a lack of transparency, and I think it’s a real problem because the purpose of FOIA is to ensure free access to information."