Allegedly driving a county-owned vehicle with alcohol in his system has cost the Pulaski County building inspector his job. The county commissioners voted unanimously Monday to discharge Doug Hoover from his employment.
Board President Chuck Mellon said Hoover was pulled over by a Pulaski County sheriff’s deputy around 1:00 p.m. EDT last Thursday. While Hoover was reportedly within the legal limit to operate a vehicle, it was apparently enough to get him fired under the county’s policy handbook.
“He did not commit any criminal act,” Mellon read from a prepared statement. “He did, however, violate county employee policy by operating a county vehicle with a level of alcohol in his system.”
Mellon said Hoover was compliant and agreed to all required tests. He was then placed on suspension until Monday’s action.
Building Department Assistant Karla Pemberton was appointed interim building inspector. Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer suggested that county officials may want to look at adjusting the department’s job duties before finding a permanent replacement.
“The office could probably be more effectively run if the department head were the person who were spending more of the time in the office doing plan review, coordinating, supervising, and if the inspector were the second position, as opposed to the person who is out of the office doing most of the inspections being the department head,” Origer said.
Hoover had served as Pulaski County’s building inspector and plan administrator since 2016.
