In about a month, Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton will be to walk to work.

Of course, he won’t be sheriff anymore. He will be the chief of the Genoa Police Department.

Bratton, a resident of Genoa, sent his resignation notice out in mass text Wednesday evening to others including his administration, county commissioners, the county prosecutor and the Ottawa County Democratic Party.

The move followed a unanimous vote by four Genoa Council members called to a special evening meeting. Others were excused for work reasons.

“Notification will be sent out to all affected parties that I am resigning as sheriff,” Bratton told those at Genoa Town Hall shortly after being sworn in by Mayor Mark Williams. “That is going to take a while. Then it will go to the Ottawa County Democratic Party. Let them fight it out.”

Genoa has been without a police chief since Randy Hill left without warning in November 2010. He had been on administrative at the time, following a troublesome year including allegations of harassment and a hostile work environment.

A village committee had been searching for a new chief for months. However, the search stalled several times, often with politics being blamed.

“I think we made the right decision. We had a lot of tough decisions to make and obviously this is not what we expected to happen. But like I believe, good things come to those who wait,” Williams said in a telephone interview.

“We can’t change the past. We need to move forward and do all we can to make Genoa prosperous.”

Council members also sincerely thanked Mark Putnam, the consultant who helped them through the search and eventually brought Bratton’s name to the table.

Putnam, who is a personal friend of Bratton, told council Bratton was a fellow officer, a friend and a mentor.

His kind of leadership is hard to find and the village can only fare better for its decision, Putnam told council

“There’s been some political volatility in this village for some time,” Putnam said.  “But council set that aside and worked together. You absolutely did the right thing, at the right time for the right reasons.”

Bratton, who has worked in Ottawa County 20 years as both a chief deputy and sheriff, had earlier announced intentions to run for office again. About 15 months remain on his term.

But now there is ample time for any possible candidates to declare and get a decent campaign underway, Bratton said.

A reexamination of his personal and professional needs pushed him to take a new path, he said after the meeting.

“Genoa offered me a very generous package,” the sheriff said.

When he comes on board Sept. 23, his annual salary will be $58,000. He currently makes $59,600 for overseeing a county consisting of 42,000 residents along the Lake Erie shoreline.

As police chief, he will become part of Genoa’s police and fire pension fund, be eligible for a 3 percent annual raise and receive health benefits.

“The health plan Genoa has is better than the county’s plan. And that’s something I have to think about,” Bratton said.

Bratton explained that just over two years ago, he underwent triple bypass heart surgery.

The mayor noted prior to his hiring that Bratton has passed all physical examinations required to meet the requirements for police chief.

“I was very upfront with them about my heart,” Bratton said. “But of course, everyone knew it happened. But I offered them all the results of all my tests.”

Since becoming sheriff, Bratton has garnered a lot of attention for his oversight of a county with a heavy tourism population.

He drew national media attention in February 2009 when an ice floe broke away stranding ice fishermen.

The testy rescue in bad weather caused Bratton to lash out at ice anglers for lack of judgment in bad weather and to pursue a rescue fee because of the dangerous conditions rescuers undergo in those situations.

Prior to joining the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, he was an officer in the Northwood Police Department.

Genoa officials had interviewed candidates for replacing Chief Hill and were prepared to offer a contract but two apparent choices dropped out of consideration at the last minute.

Fiscal officer suspended
After meeting in executive session Wednesday for about 1 ½ hours, village council agreed to suspend fiscal officer Charles Brinkman for three days without pay.

Mayor Williams said the reason for the suspension was malfeasance but he declined to discuss the matter in detail.

Kevin Gladden, village administrator, will determine when the suspension is to be served, the mayor said.

(News Editor Larry Limpf contributed to this story)

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