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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > December > 22 > Entry
EMA director’s resignation offer
After receiving full support from his agency’s governing board and unanimous criticism from local police chiefs, Butler County Emergency Management Director William Turner is offering to resign Feb. 28.
In a Monday, Dec. 22, letter to EMA board president Dennis Conrad, Turner asks the EMA board and county commissioners for extended health insurance benefits and full reimbursement of his vacation and sick leave.
Here is the letter:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
‘I don’t want to stir up any fights’
Turner said Monday night he would not give a reason for his offer until county leaders have responded. “I don’t want to stir up any fights or say anything.”
The EMA board did not ask Turner to resign, Conrad said. But he said they’ll respect his decision and accept his health insurance and pay requests.
“I have no problem with it,” Conrad said. “Bill has done a good job for the county as far as I’ve seen. I know there’s been controversy, but he’s brought an awful amount of money to Butler County.”
Turner recently came under fire when the Butler County Chiefs of Police Association unanimously expressed a “lack of confidence in the leadership of (Turner),” citing a “litany of concerns” and “vacuum of leadership” at the EMA.
This spurred two county commissioners to request the EMA board replace Turner. They did not, and instead passed a unanimous measure in support of him and approved a pay raise for Turner in 2009.
Commission President Charles Furmon, who supported Turner as a member of the EMA board, or Commissioner Donald Dixon, one of Turner’s most vocal critics, could not be reached for comment.
Turner has 951 hours of accumulated sick leave and 578 hours of vacation leave saved up, according to county records.
County officials say Turner’s request differs from what a regular county employee would get if he or she resigned.
County employees generally receive health insurance coverage for the rest of the month they quit; Turner is asking for it through April 2009 or until he finds another job, whichever comes first. Employees who resign do get all of their accrued vacation time paid in full, but not their accrued sick leave.
Turner’s letter says he is offering to stay until Feb. 28 for two reasons: so that he can see the county through several pending grant applications, and to give him time to find another job.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Emergency Management Agency
Comments
By Citizen
December 23, 2008 2:59 PM | Link to this
This is a joke!! What kind of resignation offer is this?! In other words Wild Bill is saying, “pay me 24 weeks of sick time and 15 weeks of vacation”. That equals 39 weeks plus another 9 weeks through the end of Feb. Billy can enjoy a full year of pay at taxpayer expense. Joke, Joke, Joke, all of Butler County Goverment is a horrible JOKE!!!
By Don Carpenter
December 25, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this
I would think the commissioners will study this proposal very carefully. It will be a tough sell. Out there, in the real world, where I live, this would be viewed as a attempt to ‘shake down’ the system for personal gain. What to do, what to do? Obviously, with the shaken confidence of the Commissioners and the perceived lack of preperation by the public, it is time for new direction which will instill the leadership and understand the political problems that come along with the position. Who can name all the executive directors of the major county agencies? Whoever ends up with this I hope has a clue about how to do the job! I have no personal agenda against the current director, I can tell you first hand as an insurance agent how woefully inadequate the situation was handled. It exposed a weakness and demonsrated a lack of assitance that is just not acceptable.