Geno Marconi is retiring from his role as New Hampshire's longtime ports director.
Or at least, that’s what his employer says is happening. Marconi, who has led the Division of Ports and Harbors since 2002, says otherwise.
The dispute kicked off Tuesday, when Steve Duprey, chair of the Pease Development Authority’s board of directors, announced Marconi’s retirement during a public meeting.
“We have been advised by the New Hampshire Retirement System that Director Marconi has submitted his paperwork to retire, effectively, January 1st of this year,” Duprey said. “And I think that is public knowledge, although we did not get the notice directly from the employee.”
(Duprey also sits on NHPR’s Board of Directors but has no direct role in our news coverage.)
Marconi, who is 73, has been on administrative leave since April. In October, he was indicted for allegedly sharing confidential motor vehicle records related to PDA board member Neil Levesque in an alleged act of retaliation. His wife, Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, is also facing charges for allegedly trying to influence the investigation into her husband.
NHPR reached out to the New Hampshire Retirement System following the meeting to confirm Marconi’s formal retirement date, but the agency declined to comment.
Then late Tuesday evening, an attorney for Marconi issued a statement denying that he was hanging up his hat.
“Geno has not retired,” said Robin Melone, Marconi’s legal counsel. “The PDA made an announcement this morning without contacting or speaking to Geno. Had they contacted him, they would know that he remains optimistic about resuming his role at the PDA.”
Melone, however, declined to answer questions about whether Marconi has submitted paperwork to the retirement system, or if he has withdrawn any such paperwork.
While on administrative leave, Marconi has received an annual salary of nearly $154,000.
Marconi spent nearly 30 years as a Division of Ports and Harbors employee. His criminal trial has not yet been scheduled.
Myles Greenway, who was tapped to replace Marconi as the ports director, is also departing the agency, Duprey announced Tuesday. Tom Maciel, the division's operations manager, will assume the director's duties while the agency conducts a search for Greenway's replacement.
(Editor's note: this story has been updated to reflect statements from Marconi's legal counsel.)
