‘Chardon Will Take Care of Chardon’

January 8, 2026 by Allison Wilson

Approximately a decade ago, the Geauga County Maple Leaf sat down with recently-retired Chardon Police Chief Tim McKenna to discuss his days on the force.

Last month, McKenna sat for another interview after retiring for a second time — spurring a sense of deja vu as he reflected on his last eight years as Chardon Township trustee and closed the book on a 45-year career in public service.

There will not be a third retirement, he said.

“The first thing a few people said to me (was), ‘Are you going to run for (Chardon City Council),’” McKenna said, referencing his recent move from the township back into the city. “I am not going to run for city council.”

Looking back on his first leg of public service, McKenna, born and raised in Northeast Ohio, said policing runs in the family.

“My dad was a police officer,” he said. “My dad retired out of Bratenahl (Police Department.)”

McKenna began his policing career in 1978, working stints at the Chardon and Chester police departments before eventually being hired as a patrolman in Chardon in 1980. He became chief in 2004 and retired in 2014, according to previous reporting.

At the time of his first retirement, McKenna said he had not considered serving in local government.

“I was almost retired a year,” he recalled. “A group of people asked me to take a look at things (in Chardon Township). They didn’t like what they saw, what was taking place in the township. There was a lot of turbulence amongst the trustees at the time.”

McKenna began attending township meetings and agreed improvements were needed.

“Rather than sit there and complain, I said I’ll throw my hat in the ring and if I’m elected, I’ll tell them to change things,” he said.

While he entered office with a clear goal, McKenna said the transition from police chief to township trustee took some getting used to.

“One of the biggest problems I had when I first got elected was, when I was the chief, I had the final say,” he said. “When you’re one of the trustees, one of the three, you have to come up with a consensus for all three of you.”

Despite the learning curve, his experience as police chief provided him a foundation for working with people, he said.

“You’re not going to satisfy everybody on everything you come up with,” McKenna said. “You have to listen to everybody’s side and come up with the best scenario for everyone.”

That approach helped resolve infighting within the Chardon Township Road Department, where McKenna said he spent a significant amount of time during his tenure.

“I met with them and I said, ‘Listen guys, you’re too small to be fighting with each other, you’re too small to not respect each other.’ We just had a meeting of the minds,” he said.

His guiding philosophy for the eight years was simple.

“If it’s good for the township, we’ll do it. If it’s not good for the township, we won’t do it,” he said.

McKenna recalled challenges related to the road department’s budget.

“We had about eight different attempts to get a road levy passed and after 24 years, we finally got one passed,” he said.

As a result, Chardon Township has paved five roads in the past year — something the township had never been able to do before, he said.

In addition to the levy passage, McKenna cited the hiring and appointment of employees such as Administrative Assistant Lisa Nelson and Fiscal Officer Edward Slusarski as highlights.

“They’re in good shape. One of my final things going out the door was, ‘Guys, you’re in good shape, all you got to do is look to the next four years, getting as many roads paved as you possibly can,’” McKenna said.

One of the most positive moments of his tenure, McKenna said, was a trustee meeting discussion between a representative from Redwood Apartment Neighborhoods and residents about a proposed expansion that could have included annexation of township land.

“(It was) a full house. There wasn’t a seat available otherwise,” he said. “And nobody really got up in arms and started yelling and screaming at anybody. It was just a good dialogue back and forth between what the company was proposing and what the wishes of the township residents (were).”

The township is small and close knit, McKenna said, something he noted while discussing Trustee Brian Valletto, who was elected last November to fill McKenna’s spot.

McKenna was police chief during the 2012 shooting at Chardon High School that left three students dead and two injured. Valletto was a paramedic on the first squad to arrive and the individual who requested four helicopters, McKenna said.

He said operations ran smoothly that day in part because first responders knew one another, by face if not by name.

“Brian coming on is very familiar, with growing up here and knowing what a small town can do for each other,” McKenna said. “As I said during that operation, I said, ‘Chardon will take care of Chardon.’ I don’t say it often enough, but they do. They do take care of each other.”

McKenna said he previously hired Valletto as a police dispatcher and later encouraged him to run for Chardon trustee.

“I saw him grow up,” he said. “I am very pleased that he is taking over one of the positions as trustee.”

When interviewed a decade ago, McKenna said the people and the radio calls were what he would miss most after retiring from the police department. After retiring from the township, his answer was similar — “meeting with the guys” and staying involved in township operations.

“It was time to go. It was after 45 years of public service,” he said. “I’ll be 70 in May and five years ago, we decided we were gonna be snowbirds and go down to Florida, spend a little bit of time down there.”