Hollister council members Monday unanimously approved hiring former Fire Chief Bill Garringer as interim chief.
Garringer succeeds the retired Mike O’Connor as fire chief.
O’Connor accepted early retirement as part of the city’s wider offer in the fall to all employees. His departure came on the heels of allegations of nepotism and time card fraud from the firefighters union. An outside investigator ruled those claims were false but did recommend changes to administrative procedures.
Garringer served six years as chief of the Hollister Fire Department and retired at the end of March 2007.
The city expects to have Garringer on board for “a couple months” while it employs an outside search firm to find a permanent successor, according to the council agenda. Garringer would be available 30 hours per week at a rate of $110 hourly.
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