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Last updated on Thursday, April 12, 2012
(WORTHINGTON) - Worthington Town Marshal Dennis Conaway is ready for retirement. After he was reinstated to his position during the Worthington Town Council’s regular monthly meeting, he resigned, effective immediately.
Anna Rochelle, of the Greene County Daily World, reports that WPD Deputy Marshal Don Richardson, who has been serving as interim marshal during Conaway's absence, was appointed to be the new Town Marshal and is subject to a 90-day period of probation.
WPD Deputy Marshal Eric Floyd, who has served the town for 10 years, also submitted his resignation, effective on April 20.
The shuffle creates two open positions on the police force.
Reserve Officer Randy Raney was appointed to be a Deputy Town Marshal, filling one slot.
To fill the second opening, the Council will accept applications until April 20. The applications will be available in the Clerk-Treasurer's Office in the Worthington Municipal Building.
Several months ago, Conaway had signaled his intention to retire on Feb. 2. But after the Council received an accusation made against Conaway alleging the misuse of a grant, Conaway was placed on administrative leave on Dec. 13 pending the results of an investigation.
Town Attorney Jacob Fish said the investigation was recently concluded and Conaway was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Council met in an executive session last week to review the report on the investigation then in Tuesday's open meeting, voted in favor of Conaway's reinstatement.
Councilman Macky Stahl was serving on the Worthington Town Council twenty years ago when Conaway was first sworn in as Worthington's Town Marshall in the old Town Hall on Feb. 17, 1992. Conaway mentioned this as he handed his resignation letter to Stahl.
To Councilman Brent Sparks, Conaway handed an open letter addressed to the Council and the citizens of Worthington. As Sparks began to read the letter to the public, Conaway quietly slipped out the back door.
In the letter, Conaway said, "I remember the time when the police department worked out of a converted service station with one metal GI-style desk, two chairs, a single file cabinet and a communications system that was at best like having a string and two cans tied together."
The police department has undergone a lot of changes since that time.
He said the past few months have been difficult but he was appreciative that the investigation was very comprehensive and left no stone unturned.
Conaway wrote that it was with great pleasure and also regret that he was resigning and he hoped that in some small way he can continue to serve the citizens of Worthington.
There were no empty seats for this meeting and resident Tom Franklin, a former law enforcement officer who said he had spent 35 years in the field of law enforcement, spoke in support of Conaway.
"There is no police officer that I have more respect for than Dennis Conaway," said Franklin.
He told the Council he was disappointed in them because they did not show more support for Conaway considering everything he had done for the community.
"The care he takes for kids and the elderly is unsurpassed. I spent 18 years as a town marshal and I wish I could have done what he did," said Franklin.
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