In Barnesville city court Wednesday, Judge Rob Morton threw out a DUI charge against former chamber of commerce president Christopher Deraney. An additional charge of failure to maintain lane was reduced to failure to use due care and Deraney was fined $1300 which he paid on the spot. Deraney was arrested early on July 14 by Barnesville police after shutting down his downtown Barnesville restaurant. In a controversial move, the chamber board voted to terminate Deraney on Sept. 27, just after Buggy Days ended. The Herald Gazette is reaching out to BPD chief Craig Cooper, Deraney’s defense attorney Eric Hearn and chamber of commerce chairman Mark Farmer for comment. After his exoneration, Deraney said, “While I am grateful proper justice was served today, I’m still remorseful for the actions that led to it on all accounts. It’s a sad day and it’s a shame for the chamber of commerce, its membership and the business community that the good and forwardly innovative work we started a year and a half ago had to cease prematurely because of ill-advised information. Perhaps, in the future, the organization will choose to strengthen from within rather than be guided from without. I hope they take greater care in guarding their own as even their staff should be considered an investment. As for me, Harriette and the staff at Two City Tavern we shall continue to bring the noise and fun and downtown promotion and such all on our very own.” ******************** NOTICE: This story and photo are under copyright. They may not be republished or disseminated in any form – including social media – without explicit permission. *********************
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