After nine very long and tumultuous years of court dates and negotiations and legal appeals, the fight over former Waco Assistant Police Chief Larry Kelley continues. In fact, it’s largely back to square one after last week’s decision by the Texas Supreme Court.

The big question now looming: Should the battle over Kelley — dismissed by then-Police Chief Alberto Melis in 2001 after Kelley’s arrest for driving while intoxicated in Austin — be permitted to drag on?

We think not, and for a host of good reasons. For Kelley’s own sake and now his financial well-being, not to mention that of the city that once employed him and placed great faith in him, we urge him to cut his losses and drop further legal action. For the record, Kelley formally retired from the force last May.

Last Friday our state’s highest court found that the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco erred in allowing an arbitrator to reinstate Kelley on the police force, even as the arbitrator demoted him and suspended him for 180 days. City attorneys — quite naturally concerned about the right of police chiefs such as Alberto Melis and now Brent Stroman to run their own departments, make key appointments and exact discipline as they see fit — correctly resisted the 10th Court decision, which is why the case went on to the Texas Supreme Court where it was argued in April 2008.

The high court’s ruling arising from these arguments is only now coming forth, almost two years later. We know that the city, standing on principle and concerned about legal precedent impacting other cities, has invested a great amount of taxpayer dollars in protecting the right of police chiefs to manage their own departments. (The legal tally for our city now stands at about $200,000 during the past nine years.) How much, we wonder, does Kelley really want to expend in this legal labyrinth — especially now that the Supreme Court has also made it clear he is not entitled to collect attorneys’ fees in this case?

Now that a new hearing can be held with limits on the arbitrator’s authority, City Attorney Leah Hayes hopes the arbitrator will rethink his earlier decision to overturn the chief’s dismissal of Kelley. The city continues to think that Kelley’s dismissal was the right course considering the awkward example his presence in the police department might have in view of his DWI conviction.

This charade has gone on long enough. Again, for Kelley’s sake and that of the city that trusted him, Kelley should rethink the wisdom of his war on our city, especially in view of the high court’s ruling on Kelley’s legal fees. The time has come for him to move on to other matters and let the city of Waco get on with its daily business.