Mayor Jim Ford announced Chief Ronald “Beau” Gooch’s retirement at Lewes mayor and council’s Monday, Nov. 16 meeting.

Gooch, who has regularly attended mayor and council meeting for the 14 years he’s served as chief, was also at this, his last monthly council meeting.

“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve,” Gooch said, after Ford’s announcement.

Getting information out of Gooch about his immediate future plans would have required a small room, bright lights, a barrage of pointed questions and heavy intimidation.

“I’ve always got something up my sleeve, but I’m not saying what is,” he said after the meeting.

Gooch, 54, began with the Lewes Police Department in May 1981. In the mid-1990s, as a lieutenant, he served as the department’s acting chief after the previous chief was demoted and subsequently fired.

In 1995, after an exhaustive search to fill the chief’s position, the city hired an experienced former Montgomery County (Md.) Department of Police officer.

But after serving as chief for one year, he suddenly resigned, citing personal reasons – although pay had been a point of contention throughout his short tenure.

Once again, Gooch was thrust into the position of acting chief.

Later in the year, Lewes Mayor and Council approved Gooch’s appointment as chief of police.

Gooch, a Cape Henlopen High School graduate and Milton-area resident, has served since 2007 as second vice chairman of Delaware Police Chiefs’ Council. He is also a member of the Delaware Chiefs’ Foundation and is an Order of Moose Lodge 646 junior governor.