ESCANABA — A feud over the Delta County Airport, its management and the county continued Thursday, when two former airport managers attended the Delta County Board of Commissioners meeting — both seeking to clear their names.

The convergence of the two managers on the meeting was brought on by Freedom of Information Act requests from Former Airport Manager Andrea Nummilien, who led the airport from October of 2019 until June of 2023. Nummilien sought documents and information related to an investigation into her activities at the airport that was launched after her resignation that she says was spurred by a harassment complaint she filed against the county’s then-board chair, Dave Moyle.

Two FOIA requests were denied by the county, prompting appeals by Nummilien. The first appeal was extended by the county board during a special board meeting held Monday afternoon. The board voted to “acknowledge the receipt” of the second appeal without comment following a closed session during Tuesday’s regular board of commissioners meeting.

The FOIA request that was extended Monday sought the names of the people interviewed by the county’s attorney at the time of the investigation, Scott Graham, as well as copies of notes, recordings, or summaries of the interviews. It was denied because, according to the county the “information doesn’t exist.” County Administrator Ashleigh Young later clarified during a meeting late last month that the county was not in possession of the information, as Graham “owns his notes.” However, it was later noted that the 2020 Michigan Supreme Court case “Bisio v. City of the Village of Clarkson” established that documents created by an attorney working for a public body is part of that public body’s record and is subject to FOIA.

The legally-permitted extension was evoked by the commissioners — none of whom were seated at the time of the investigation — to allow for any applicable documents to be retrieved from Graham. Yet a series of comments made by Nummilien and her now-resigned successor, Former Airport Manager Robert Ranstadler, has created arguably more buzz than any actions of the commissioners.

During the Jan. 21 county board meeting, when the FOIA denials were first discussed, Nummilien said emails between Moyle, Graham and Ranstadler that she received as part of a separate FOIA indicated Ranstadler and Young had violated security protocols.

“Within those emails was the revelation that Robert Ranstadler and Ashleigh Young allowed Scott Graham access to sensitive security information prior to him having security clearance. Congratulations. In the process of trying to besmirch my name and to continue besmirching my name, an incompetent airport manager, and incompetent county administrator, and an incompetent attorney all managed to commit a federal security breach,” she said at the January meeting.

Young did not comment on the accusation at that meeting, and Ranstadler — who himself has resigned and left the airport a few days prior on Jan. 17 — was not present. Ranstadler later sent a letter to the editor, published in the Daily Press on Jan. 28, refuting the claim. He was present Tuesday, taking to the podium during public comment to make a statement and ask the county to respond to the allegation that he and Young were “federal criminals.”

“What I do find shocking is the lack of reaction to her claims. Last month, Nummilien accused Young and I of committing federal security violations. Simultaneously, she complained about an unfulfilled FOIA request that deprived her of critical evidence. Despite this insufficient evidence, she asserted that we violated federal law. Nummilien did not frame this as opinion or conjecture. but rather as a statement of fact. Although the board addressed the FOIA issue, it has failed to challenge or even acknowledge her inflammatory accusations. According to Nummilien, without the benefit of investigation or trial, crimes were committed, full stop. I categorically deny any wrongdoing,” he said.

Ranstadler said Nummilien and her supporters had targeted him following his hire in October of 2023. He said the claims had varied but included accusations he had fabricated a report concerning compliance, staffing, and financial problems at the airport; attacks on his military service and his academic credentials; claims he had politically conspired with former commissioners; and that he had once been a spy for the CIA.

“If leadership is genuinely concerned in drawing upon outside talent to manage the airport, please consider what I have endured after living here for two years while managing the airport for just one. Will Nummilien be permitted to browbeat our next airport manager, or will this board respond? Her unchecked accusations do nothing more than discourage future applicants and erode public trust,” he said.

Ranstadler also reiterated statements he had made while employed by the county that the airport was in a state of administrative crisis following Nummilien’s departure by saying “the likelihood of its operating certificate being suspended or revoked were very real.”

Nummilien did not address Ranstadler’s comments during her own public comment Tuesday, instead thanking the board for their work behind closed doors in addressing the FOIAs — a reference to two separate closed sessions the county commission has had with legal counsel over the appeals. However, she had previously used Ranstadler’s letter to the editor Monday as evidence that the county could have answered her FOIAs with information it had, pointing to Ranstadler’s statements that he had been interviewed by Graham and helped set up phone interviews for other airport staff.

Outside of the FOIA appeals, the board briefly discussed the search for Ranstadler’s replacement Tuesday. Initially, the county had planned to hire on an interim airport manager for a year, but due to applications being received by the county, that plan was a scrapped. The county’s hiring committee for the position is set to review the applications Friday, with a possible recommendation for a hire coming to the commission in the near future.