Hollister officials Thursday interviewed four finalists for the fire chief job, the mayor confirmed.
A panel of 10 interviewed four finalists for the job Thursday and hope to have someone named in the coming weeks. The city manager is expected to interview the two finalists.
Hollister council members in March 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.
Most recently, in 2014, O’Connor earned $138,993, according to records.
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