Middleburg Police Chief Bill Klugh is retiring after just six months on the job.
Klugh, who began Aug. 1, 2011, will effectively retire May 1.
Klugh said the decision came after he realized he was eligible for retirement.
“Since retirement [compensation] is based on my pay from my last job, it just didn’t make sense to keep working,” Klugh said.
He was formerly an officer for the Fairfax City Police Department.
Despite the short tenure, Klugh has by all accounts been a boon to the town that lost former Chief Steve Webber following controversy surrounding the Dee Dee Hubbard embezzlement case.
Hubbard was arrested Nov. 30, 2010, accused of using her role as property manager for Jack Goehring III to deposit $9,192.50 worth of rent checks meant for Goehring into her own account.
Middleburg Police orchestrated the arrest, which played out on the streets of Middleburg. Hubbard was eventually acquitted.
“We appreciate the knowledge and skills that Chief Klugh has brought to our police department and know that we will be left with an even stronger department,” Mayor Betsy Davis said. “I thank Chief Klugh for his guidance and wish him well in his retirement.”
Klugh completed what the Town Council referred to as a significant numbers of improvements to the department, including revised police policies, better organization and inventory of the evidence room, updated safety plans and new training initiatives.
Klugh also procured new equipment and built relationships with other law enforcement agencies in the region while improving the budget.
“I made a commitment to be here. I feel a little bit like I’m letting the town down by leaving so early,” Klugh said. “That wasn’t my plan. One thing I will say is I’ve done some good things in the short time I’ve been here. I’m leaving in a short period, but at least it’s on a positive note.”
Town Administrator Martha Mason Semmes, who officially received word of the chief’s departure on Jan. 26, said Klugh made great contributions to the department. She wished him well in his retirement.
The retirement salary is actually an average of the last three years of service. He wasn’t double dipping since he was already in the Va. Retirement System from FFX City PD. But I agree it does sound like he was trying to boost his salary average for retirement purposes. Too bad for Middleburg they were hoping for another long term Chief like Weber.
??? He spent money, introduced himself to other departments and improved the PD?? Sounds like this guy hated it there. Webber was there a long time and had arrested Hubbard the first time years before his retirement. Her second arrest wasn’t the reason for his retirement, he knew how to calculate accurately when he was eligible. Sounds like the new guy was both miserable and greedy.
I agree, how do you not know when you can retire? I don’t understand what the Hubbard arrest has to do with the sudden retirement announcement. The LTM also knows that Chief Webber’s retirement was planned long before the Hubbard incident, and that was acknowledged by the Mayor and some council members. It has also been publicized that the Hubbard investigation and arrest was conducted by the State Police. Please stick with the facts.
He never even bothered to introduce himself to most of the town businesses, as most of his predecessors had done. Seems more like he planned this short stop all along. Good riddance, user.
Really??? Can a person be so stupid as to not know when they are eligible to retire. Oh, silly me, I just woke up today and learned that I’m eligible to retire. Lace of commonsense and ignorance is usually frowned upon in leaders.
What a waste of time and money! This guy was not a “fit” for Middleburg from the start. The town was “wowed” by his resume, and forgot about the people he would be serving. His plan was to “double dip” on his retirement from the start. He just could not take the slow life long enough to bring his plan to fruition! Next time, look “within” before you look “without”!!
What an idiot. He completely took advantage of the town. Used us to boost his retirement salary. Probably for the best though. Mif he is not smart enough to even calculate his retirement (VRS has an online tool), then he probably would have been a disaster for the town. I hope nobody even thinks about giving this scammed a reference when he applies for his next “screw them over” job. Now we get to spend months and thousands of dollars conducting a search for a new chief.
Spectacular vetting and use of taxpayer money. Does he get two pensions now????
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