Ass’t town manager gone; police chief steps in

Sahuarita Police Chief John Harris has temporarily stepped in as assistant town manager after Larry Dobrosky’s abrupt departure June 24.

Lt. James Gerrettie is acting police chief, Town Human Resources Director Debbie Bice said Thursday.

Dobrosky’s last day at Town Hall was June 23. He handed in a resignation letter to Town Manager Jim Stahle on June 24 giving one month’s notice, Bice said. The letter offered no explanation, saying, “after careful consideration, I have decided to resign as assistant town manager.”

Dobrosky attended the June 22 Town Council meeting and his departure was announced without explanation to surprised department heads at a weekly staff meeting on the afternoon of June 23.

Gerrettie has been with the Sahuarita Police Department following several years and had a long career with the Tucson Police Department. Aside from Harris, the police department employs 50 people, including officers and civilians.

Dobrosky began working for the town as assistant manager on Nov. 13, 2006, and his current annual salary is $128,112.14. He remains on the payroll on an on-call basis until July 24, but is at his home in the Phoenix area and is not coming to Town Hall because of the sensitivity of his position, Bice said.

“When he handed in his resignation, he gave a month’s notice, but because he has check-signing capability and the master keys, Jim said he’d be on call from home, that we don’t want him here,” Bice said. “He is available to us on an as-needed, on-call basis. At certain levels it’s not a good move to allow an employee to continue working because of the sensitivity of what they have access to.”

When he first began working for the town, Dobrosky briefly commuted from the Phoenix area, where his wife and children remained, then he rented an apartment in Sahuarita and returned home on weekends, and he recently rented a room in a home in Rancho Sahuarita. He is now with his family full time, friends and colleagues said. Dobrosky could not be reached for comment.

Harris, who has worked in the blue police uniform, now comes to work in a dress shirt and tie. He said he will continue in the acting assistant manager role for several months until Stahle decides on a permanent course of action. Stahle was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

Harris said he does not want to become permanent assistant town manager, but said certain projects need to be continued. It is not known whether the town will advertise for another assistant manager and if so, how long it would take to hire one. The position is included in the 2009-10 budget.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738