Tag: Skip Holbrook

Huntington City Council Fine With Handling of Ex-Police Chief Payout

Huntington officials have decided Mayor Steve Williams was not at fault in ordering a payout to the city’s former police chief.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Huntington City Council Finance Committee voted Monday behind closed doors that a $34,000 payout to Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook for accrued sick leave did not require further investigation.

The council’s former chairman Scott Caserta had said Williams’ payout to Holbrook was illegal and a malfeasance of office.

Caserta had been stripped of his chairmanship because council members said he released documents related to the payout to the Cabell County Prosecutor’s Office rather than follow the city council’s investigative process.

Williams says Holbrook had earned the payment, which he received after resigning in March 2014 to become the police chief in Columbia, South Carolina.

Huntington Police Chief Resigns

Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook announced his resignation this morning. 

Holbrook will take over the same position in Columbia, South Carolina, a city with a population over 130,000. Holbrook said he sees many similarities between the two jobs.

It starts at the top and the common similarity I saw here is they have tremendous officers, they have a tremendous management staff that were stymied or handcuffed and were not allowed or had the capacity to move the department in a certain direction,” Holbrook said.

Since taking over in 2007 Skip Holbrook has revitalized the Huntington Police Department and helped clean up neighborhoods and put a dent in the fight against drugs in the area. Holbrook leaves a department with a $12 million budget and will take over a department with 460 employees and a budget at nearly 32 million. Holbrook’s departure is effective April 7th. Huntington officials will form a committee to begin the search for Holbrook’s replacement.

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