Johnson City Police Chief Karl Turner and the department's second-in-command, Debbie Botelho, have accepted an early retirement incentive from the city and will retire this year.Â
Turner and Botelho are just two of the 23 city employees with more than 30 years of consecutive service to the city who elected to accept the buyout, which will provide them with a lump sum of six months' salary. A total of 58 employees were eligible for the incentive, something the city commission elected to offer in December to help the city better prepare for impending retirements and create opportunities for promotions.Â
Those who accept the offer will be retiring on Feb. 28, unless otherwise approved by City Manager Cathy Ball. Ball said Thursday that they'll only be extending the retirement date of one employee who works in police department's evidence lab so they can "have somebody cross-trained better."Â
Among those who accepted the buyout are Public Works Director Phil Pindzola and Parks and Recreation Director James Ellis.Â
"It was kind of a way so that we could figure out where we were so that we could start that rebuilding," Ball said of the incentive, adding "it is exciting times, but it's also times where we're going to have that real loss of knowledge."Â
The JCPD was hit the hardest by the retirements, with seven — including three of its highest-ranking officers — opting to retire.
Turner's retirement, along with the other's in the police department, come after he, the city and several unnamed officers face a lawsuit filed by a former prosecutor who alleges she was fired in retaliation for pressing the department to further investigate a man accused of several rapes.Â
The lawsuit filed by former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kateri Dahl in June accuses Johnson City Police Chief Karl Turner of manufacturing false complaints about her job performance as a pretext to fire her because she continued to push for a deeper investigation into the man. In the lawsuit, Dahl claims Turner may have been protecting the man from prosecution because of a corrupt connection with the police department or to cover up the department’s incompetence in investigating him.
In the lawsuit, Dahl also said the department botched the man’s arrest on a federal warrant for illegally possessing ammunition. A trial is set for May 14, 2024 in Knoxville.Â
Five will retire from Public Works, and the same number will go from the city's water and sewer department. Two from Parks and Rec took the incentive, and the purchasing, fire, fleet management and risk management departments each had one.Â
All told, the retirements mean the city will be losing centuries of experience, but Ball said she's "confident we will be able to either recruit or promote" people capable of filling those roles.Â
"We will definitely have some hiccups along the way," Ball said. "I don't think this could happen without that, but of course we're working very hard to replace them."Â