A week after county commissioners declined to investigate a grievance filed against Interim County Administrator Lauren Cypher, the county has released the two-page document. The complaint, dated September 22 and filed by District 1 commissioner Rick Robbins, alleges that Cypher lied to the board in a public meeting about the timeline of payments on a county-issued credit card.

“I am writing to formally request an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the public statements and administrative performance of our interim Administrator, Lauren Cypher,” Robbins wrote in the complaint. “The core of this request pertains to public comments Ms. Cypher made during a regularly scheduled commission meeting on 07-21-26. Specifically, Ms. Cypher, on three occasions during that meeting made public comments pertaining to whether or not Undersheriff James Kiessel's county issued credit card had been paid on time.”

During that meeting, Tamara Kiessel, wife of Leelanau County Undersheriff James Kiessel, used the public comment period to blast the county over an unpaid balance on the sheriff’s office credit card, which had been issued in her husband’s name. She said Kiessel had submitted the card’s June statement to the county finance department for payment on June 10, but that the balance – which was due July 7 – had not been paid as of the July 21 meeting.

In his complaint, Robbins accuses Cypher of allowing “the account to reflect nonpayment,” and that the unpaid balance not only “caused harm to the undersheriff’s personal credit card status” but also “caused administrative delays and potential risk to the counties financial standing.” He also alleges Cypher was dishonest with the Board of Commissioners about when the June balance was ultimately paid.

“On 07-22-26, one day after the meeting, Ms. Cypher met with Treasurer Gallagher, and Chief Deputy Lautner in an attempt to pay the past due amount and any penalties incurred due to late payments,” Robbins wrote. “In addition to her meeting with Treasurer Gallagher and Chief Deputy Lautner, Ms. Cypher went to the Office of Undersheriff Kiessel seeking his assistance in an attempt to pay the now, past due County Credit Card. It should be noted that Ms. Cypher made three public statements at the regular commission meeting less than 24 hours prior, stating the credit card bill had been paid.”

Robbins' complaint goes on to claim that Cypher’s “false public comments regarding her actions shows a wanton disregard for the management of the public dollar,” and raise “serious concerns about her ability to perform her responsibilities in a transparent manner moving forward.” The grievance concludes by asking Board Chair Steve Yoder to initiate “a formal investigation to address whether these actions constitute a violation of county personnel policies, financial mis-management, and or ethical codes...”

The Ticker filed a FOIA request with the county on Friday, October 2 to obtain the Robbins complaint. The request was not granted until yesterday morning (Tuesday). In the interim, the Board of Commissioners voted not to investigate the complaint, with Yoder saying last week: “I believe we’ve had enough distractions, and I just want to close this book out.”

Cypher previously told The Ticker that she believed the Kiessel credit card issue “completely resolved,” citing the board’s recent approval of “a commercial card program that's underwritten on the county's tax ID.”

Read Robbins' full complaint here and here.