The Grand Rapids Comptroller’s Office struggled with employee churn and allegations of a hostile work environment prior to the city moving staff out of its office, according to emails and meeting memos obtained by The Grand Rapids Herald.
Comptroller Max Frantz is currently suing the city, alleging it violated the Grand Rapids City Charter by moving staff and undermining his ability to perform functions he claimed are outlined in the document. The city claimed the changes were needed to address a hostile work environment and failures to meet deadlines.
Frantz was appointed to the office in 2019 and was reelected in 2022.
Between 2020-24, six employees resigned, seven retired, and two transferred out of the comptroller’s office, according to a city memo compiled by then Human Resources Director Randi Bowers-Payne and CFO Molly Clarin.
In response to an email with questions about the allegations, Frantz said the retirements were among staff with long tenures at the city. Transferring between departments is normal, he wrote in the email, as it allows staff to gain additional experience. Turnover and burnout were because of short-staffing, Frantz wrote. The comptroller’s office remained at 16 employees, compared to Fiscal Services, which grew from 39 to 52 staff in the decade leading up to 2024.
“It’s not fair to ask people to absorb that gap indefinitely and I do think that has had a substantial impact on the department,” Frantz wrote via email. “A department cannot be deprived of resources and support and be surprised when burn out emerges. That’s a resourcing failure that has impeded building resilience and led to additional consequences.”
“Independent Auditors issued the city an audit finding in 2025 identifying material weaknesses in the timely completion of standard accounting procedures and the ability for the city to provide timely financial information,” he wrote. “Our team asked for more help, we brought those requests to city leaders and they were denied.”
It is unclear if the number of resignations includes Deputy Comptroller Curt Reppuhn, who notified Human Resources of his pending resignation on Aug. 26, 2024.
The month before his resignation, Reppuhn had been placed on a performance improvement plan, discussed by Frantz and Bowers-Payne, after several employees complained about Reppuhn’s leadership.
In notes from an informal exit interview, Reppuhn named Frantz as a significant reason for leaving. He stated that the comptroller was bad for the city and was “wasting” Reppuhn’s talents.
Reppuhn accused the comptroller of burning bridges with other city leaders.
“The Deputy Comptroller perceives he is excluded from things happening at the city, because the City Manager doesn’t want him to be included in Cabinet meetings,” the notes stated.
In 2024, Frantz reported the purchase of $500 for tickets to a downtown fashion show to Michigan State Police. Prosecutors ultimately decided no crime had been committed.
The notes stated, “When asked what needs to change, Deputy Comptroller indicated, ‘Max [Comptroller] needs to go.’”
Reppuhn did not respond to requests for comment.
In December of that year, the City Commission voted to move 13 employees out of the comptroller’s office into Fiscal Services.
Following the notice of Reppuhn’s resignation, City Manager Mark Washington, Clarin, Deputy City Manager Doug Matthews, and Bowers-Payne met in early September, per a city memo.
Clarin declined to comment on the story, through a city spokesperson. The city also declined, citing pending litigation.
Matthews and Clarin both said in the meeting they were aware of multiple complaints from comptroller staff about a hostile work environment and poor leadership. Washington disagreed, per the memo, and said he would not consider taking any action without documentation of complaints.
The memo, collected in response to this meeting, contains a timeline of complaints within the comptroller’s office and disputes with Fiscal Services.
On Jan. 26, 2023, Labor Relations forwarded Frantz recommendations for Reppuhn, including that he refrain from making sarcastic or condescending remarks to employees, check his email and employee leave requests in a timely fashion, and he refrain from favoritism.
Three months later, Clarin emailed the city manager and cc’ed the City Attorney’s office. In it, Clarin alleged Frantz had told Reppuhn, his deputy, to set up a meeting with Plante Moran, the accounting firm which conducts the city’s audits, informing them that the comptroller would take over the audit contract.
Clarin alleged never hearing about this change from Frantz directly, despite repeated requests for meetings on the topic. Reppuhn informed Clarin the comptroller would accuse Plante Moran of fraud for putting the contract in her name.
“When Comptroller staff inform me about these situations, they start first by apologizing for their boss’s behavior,” Clarin wrote.
A year later, in an April 4, 2024 meeting of Grand Rapids fiscal leadership, the comptroller and deputy comptroller allegedly accused the CFO of defunding the comptroller’s office. The meeting concerned an upcoming project deadline, ostensibly for the new financial system software referenced at other points.
Clarin offered temporary funds in support. Both Frantz and Reppuhn responded that they needed four new hires. The CFO then said the comptroller’s office should not depend on the additional hires for the implementation.
Frantz then accused Clarin of defunding the internal audit arm of his department, per meeting notes. At this point, Clarin offered that a Fiscal Services staff member to assist, and both Frantz and Reppuhn accused the CFO of taking the comptroller’s responsibilities away.
According to the notes, Frantz asked if Clarin had argued against hiring new staff in the comptroller’s office to the city manager. Clarin said she had in fact advocated for the hires, but that it wasn’t her decision.
In an email exchange following the meeting, Clarin told Reppuhn the accusations at the meeting surprised her.
“I was frustrated from being accused of undermining your budget request among other things that were said. I believe I have been collaborative with you and was taken off guard by the discussion,” she wrote.
Notes from a May 21, 2024 exit interview for a comptroller’s office employee confirm the strained relationship between the two offices. The employee, whose personal information is redacted, said Reppuhn and Frantz were constantly at odds with Clarin. The employee also said comptroller staff felt unsupported by Reppuhn and complained about his leadership.
“The Deputy Comptroller (DC) would ‘test’ employees hoping they would say something wrong so he could disrespect and embarrass them,” the notes stated.
Another exit interview, dated June 24, 2024, expressed frustrations with both the comptroller and the deputy comptroller. This employee, whose personal information is also redacted, said staff struggled to receive clear directions from Reppuhn and Frantz.
“Comptroller told (redacted) if (redacted) wanted a raise, (redacted) should get another job and a better education. (Redacted) found this response to be insensitive and disrespectful,” the notes stated.
The exit interview quoted the employee as saying, “Max (Frantz) needs to go.”
After multiple HR and union complaints from the comptroller’s office, Bowers-Payne met with Frantz on June 7, 2024. Under the area of “concern” was that Frantz was unaware of staff frustrations. The comptroller agreed that a performance improvement plan for Reppuhn was necessary. In early July, Bowers-Payne sent Frantz the performance improvement plan.
Reppuhn met with HR on Aug. 26, 2024, to notify them of his resignation.
Days later, at the request of Washington, Clarin emailed both Frantz and Reppuhn about managing the audit and the implementation of the new financial system in the midst of departures. The action items included hiring new employees, filing an extension for the audit, adding a financial analyst to comptroller staff, and looking at increasing comptroller staff pay.
Write to juliana@grherald.com