Ridgeway, a Democrat, has been with the elections staff since fall 2018.
The investigation was sparked by a complaint made to the sheriff’s office, Sheriff Dave Duchak said. He and the elections board said in August that the investigation did not involve voting ballots or anything that would affect the integrity of any election.
At the time Ridgeway was put on leave, Board of Elections Chairman Dave Fisher said it was proposed “for the preservation of evidence.”
The investigation has now been completed, and the report turned over to the county prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Tony Kendell said the results of the investigation would be made public soon.
Fisher said Friday he could not comment on the agreement at this time because of the investigation.
Ridgeway’s lawyer, Jeremy Tomb of Troy, said Friday he did not have immediate comment on the separation agreement but likely would make a statement next week.
Among agreement provisions are that Ridgeway will not receive payment of unused sick and vacation in consideration of his placement on paid administrative leave in August. He has seven days to revoke the agreement.
The board Friday also asked elections Director Laura Bruns to post an advertisement for the deputy director’s position as soon as possible.
The elections office, which has four full-time employees, has handled the August special election, plus preparations and early voting for the Nov. 7 election with three full-time employees. The office also has part-time/seasonal employees.
Bruns noted that when a new deputy director is selected, there will not be much time for training before the work on the March primary gets underway.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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