MiddletownJournal.com

HAMILTON — After receiving support from his agency's governing board and criticism from local police chiefs, Butler County Emergency Management Director William Turner is offering to resign.

In a letter dated Monday, Dec. 22, to EMA board President Dennis Conrad, Turner asks the board and county commissioners for extended health insurance benefits, and full reimbursement of his vacation and sick leave.

If the requests are granted, the resignation would be effective Feb. 28, according to the letter.

Turner said 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 the board respects his decision and accepted the listed 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 lot of money to Butler County."

Turner recently came under fire when the county Chiefs of Police Association unanimously expressed a "lack of confidence" in Turner's leadership. This spurred two county commissioners to ask the EMA board replace him. It instead passed a unanimous measure in support of him and approved a pay raise for Turner in 2009.

Turner's letter states he is offering to stay until Feb. 28 so that he can see the county through several pending grant applications, and to give him time to find another job. He has 951 hours of accumulated sick leave and 578 hours of vacation leave, county records show. He is asking that it be reimbursed at his 2009 salary of $81,674.

County employees generally receive health coverage for the rest of the month they quit; Turner wants it through April or until he finds another job. Employees who resign get all their accrued vacation time, but not their accrued sick leave.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.