Logan police chief hired as village administrator

The Village of Logan council didn’t have to look far to find a new village administrator.

It tapped its police chief, Rodney Paris, as the new leader of village operations. He officially was hired March 2.

Paris said in a phone interview he was ready to go a different direction in his career.

“I’ve served 26 years in law enforcement, and I was ready for a change but didn’t want to retire,” he said. “I felt like I could do a good job for the people of Logan and the visitors who come to town.”

Paris said among his high-priority goals are to improve the village’s infrastructure — namely, water, sewer and streets.

“We just want to find ways to build partnerships in the community,” he said. “More than anything, we want to serve the people we should be serving.

“I think we’ve got a great council and a great team on the ground, and we’ve got to make things happen,” Paris added.

Paris will be paid $78,000 a year to run the village.

“We’re excited to see what the future holds (with Paris),” Mayor David Babb said.

Paris will remain police chief until a new one is hired, though he admitted his hours in that department have been reduced.

“I’m primarily taking care of only administrative roles until we can fill that position,” Paris said. “We have an amazing group of officers that are running the department for me.”

Paris said he hopes a new chief is seated by May 1. The village posted a notice about the opening in mid-March.

Babb said a total of six people applied for the administrator position.

Paris replaces Scott Parnell, who was fired unanimously by village councilors in December after a little more than four years in the position.

Babb did not disclose a reason at the time for the firing, but stated “it was an ongoing issue.”

Parnell’s tenure brought the village leadership stability for a while after a few years of turmoil.

Larry Wallin, the village’s administrator for a total of almost 30 years, came out of retirement for a second time after the village council fired administrator Trevor Thompson in January 2018.

Wallin also had retired in 2016 but returned in 2017 after his successor, Jim Neece, resigned.