Sheriff Joe Arpaio fired his chief deputy last week, but Dave Hendershott is being allowed to resign before the scheduled date of termination.
Is that really a resignation? Typically, when someone's forced to resign from a company or governmental agency, the boss doesn't first state in writing that the employee is being terminated.
The Arizona Republic, which just broke the news, also reports that Arpaio claims he'll release "new documents" next week. We're not sure if that's a reference to the 1,022-page investigative report on the Munnell Memo that he's sitting on, or something else.
The article states that one of Arpaio's lackeys on administrative leave due to the Munnell accusations, Larry Black, has chosen to respond to a termination letter in writing rather than subject himself to a name-clearing hearing. We assume that's due to the potentially embarrassing questions about his relationship with another of Arpaio's top men on leave, Captain Joel Fox, that might come up in a hearing. For more details about the scandal going on under Arpaio's nose, read our recent feature article, Love Connection.
Arpaio says he accepts Hendershott's "retirement," reminding us that Hendershott will get to keep his $51,000 annual pension pay even if his alleged wrongdoing results in federal prosecution. That probably won't be enough to keep him in his Tuscan-estate-style luxury rental home in north Phoenix, but maybe he'll end up hitting a taxpayer-funded jackpot with his lawsuit against the county.
