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Michael D. Pitman reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Michael at Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2011 > April > 11
Monday, April 11, 2011
County’s top deputy retired, rehired
Butler County Sheriff Chief Deputy Tony Dwyer is the second person in emergency services to retire and be rehired.
Earlier this year Fairfield fire Chief Don Bennett retired and was rehired by Fairfield City Council. Then it was done by Dwyer a couple weeks ago when he retired on March 31 and was rehired effective April 4. He came back taking a 15 percent pay cut — which still puts the 48-year-old at just more than $90,000 a year. He was making about $105,900.
Dwyer said it’s not an uncommon practice and a number of members in the law enforcement community have done so over the years — they just weren’t rehired by the jurisdiction they retired from.
Dwyer was looking at other options, possibly being a police chief somewhere else. But the chief deputy elected to continue to work for Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and be the sheriff’s office second-in-command.
Jones said he didn’t want to have another jurisdiction reap the benefits of the time and training invested in Dwyer, who started with the sheriff’ office at 21 years old in the county jail. He’s been the chief deputy for as long as Jones has been sheriff. That’s why he said, “He’s a very valuable employee to me.”
In a time where cuts are the norm, is it a bad thing for a government employee who retires be rehired at a lesser cost? That question is left up for citizens and editorial columnists to address, but bottom line the retire-rehire move, or “double dipping,” is allowed.
So, if you were in the position to retire and be rehired, would you? If you wouldn’t, why not?
