The Woodstock Town Board has accepted the resignation of Custodial Department laborer Michael Innello, a convicted Level 3 sex offender who was hired last year and retained despite public outcry over his criminal history. His resignation takes effect Friday, Sept. 11.

“This is a parting of ways,” Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis said. “He’s going to go wherever he’s going to go, and we’re going to move on.”

Courtis said Innello would be entitled to compensation for any leave accrued during his time as a town employee, but no other form of severance would be paid.

Innello gave no reason for resigning, and the town did not negotiate his departure, Courtis said. The board knew he had been pursuing a commercial driver’s license.

The board accepted the resignation Tuesday, ending a saga that defined former Supervisor Bill McKenna’s final year in office and drew intense scrutiny over a lack of transparency in town leadership.

Despite the outcry over Innello’s employment, Courtis said terminating him as a union employee became “very challenging” after his probationary period ended in September 2025. The town did not pursue termination through arbitration with Innello or the union, and he remained on the town’s payroll.

The Communications Workers of America, the union representing Innello, filed a brief grievance saying the town could not fire him without cause, according to Courtis. The union declined to comment.

Innello did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Innello was first hired by the Town Board as a seasonal maintenance worker in March 2025 and promoted to a full-time laborer position in June. McKenna knew of but did not disclose Innello’s status as a Level 3 sex offender, the category with the highest risk of reoffending in New York, before board members voted to hire him.

Innello, 33, was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to five years in state prison for sexually abusing a woman who was physically incapable of consent and possessing child sexual abuse material depicting an 11-year-old, according to the New York Sex Offender Registry. He was released on parole in 2024.

The board voted 3–0 to terminate Innello’s employment on July 22 because its members had not received pertinent information before hiring him.

McKenna did not file the necessary termination paperwork with the Ulster County Personnel Department, citing the town’s “ban the box” policy, which limits when the town may inquire about an applicant’s criminal history. Courtis and then-board member Bennet Ratcliff filed the paperwork themselves.

Days later, McKenna filed paperwork to reinstate Innello without bringing the matter to the board for a vote. Innello was put back on the town’s payroll and received about a week of back pay, Courtis said.

Asked whether McKenna had the authority to place Innello back on the town’s payroll unilaterally, Courtis said, “Absolutely not. The Town Board hires, the Town Board fires.”

Ratcliff, who did not seek reelection last year, said the town’s acceptance of Innello’s resignation effectively acknowledges that he remained a town employee, even though the board never voted to reinstate him.

Courtis, who became supervisor in January after winning an election to succeed McKenna in November, agreed.

Referring to McKenna, Courtis said, “We were willing to do everything the right way. But the former guy just decided to bring him back and back-pay him for the time he wasn’t here. And so he’s been on the town’s payroll.”

McKenna did not respond to a request for comment.

Courtis said the board has discussed ways to improve the town’s hiring, onboarding, and offboarding procedures, including mandating employee reviews and working with the police department to conduct background checks on job applicants. The town does not mandate employee reviews outside of law enforcement, Courtis said.

She hopes to put the proposed hiring changes before the board late this year or early next year following legal review. Courtis is running for reelection in November as New York shifts most town elections to even-numbered years.

“We’re not using these things to not hire someone, but perhaps there’s just a better job for someone,” Courtis said. “And the board has a right to know who they’re hiring.”

Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.