Thumbnail photo: Bill Gillespie (fourth from left) will lead Crescent City Fire and Rescue as its interim fire chief until the city and the Crescent Fire Protection District can find a permanent chief. | Photo courtesy of the City of Crescent City Bill Gillespie will return to Crescent City as its interim fire chief, leading a department that has grown into a hybrid agency relying on volunteers and career firefighters to keep the community safe. Gillespie had led Crescent City Fire and Rescue for about four years after Steve Wakefield retired in 2018. He was chief when voters approved the Measure S tax measure and benefit assessment for the fire district that led to the hiring of three paid fire captains. Under his successor’s leadership the department achieved a Class 2 ISO rating. “The department, it’s a combination department — volunteer and career — but above all it’s a professional department that serves this community very well,” Gillespie said Monday. “It will be neat coming back, too, with some of the things that came out of Measure S and came out of the fire district assessment to be able to step in now three-and-a-half years later and see where some of this progress has happened.” Gillespie accepted the appointment, picking up the reins that Kevin Carey is leaving behind. Carey’s last day with Crescent City Fire and Rescue is Dec. 26, according to City Manager Eric Wier. Gillespie’s first day on the job will be Dec. 29. The City Council on Monday also chose Ray Altman to serve on an ad-hoc committee with the Crescent Fire Protection District as it seeks a new full-time chief. Councilors appointed their new colleague Steve Shamblin to be Altman’s alternate. Finally, councilors approved an amendment to the city’s position control, adding Gillespie’s retired annuitant interim position to its list of authorized positions and pay ranges for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler was absent. According to Wier’s staff report, the California Public Employee Retirement System allows “retired annuitants” to work for a participating agency when they have the necessary skills and who will be working for a limited time to fill an unexpected vacancy. Under CalPERS regulations, the annuitant must be retired from public employment for more than 180 days. They can only work up to 960 hours in a fiscal year and cannot work overtime. Their hourly pay must also be within the established range for their position. Under CalPERS regulations, the employee will receive no additional benefit, incentive or compensation other than the hourly rate. According to the City Council’s resolution, Gillespie’s hourly compensation will be $76, which is on Step 5 of the pay scale for fire chief classifications within the city. “We are partners with the district,” Wier said, referring to the Crescent Fire Protection District. “And so it’s pretty much equal funding, it’s 50/50 for the chief position especially.” Gillespie stepped into the interim fire chief role in 2018 following Wakefield’s medical emergency, which led to his retirement. Wier said he was about three months into his position as interim city manager when this happened and credited the department’s battalion chiefs for helping with that transition. Gillespie’s interim role turned into a permanent position with the fire department. In 2020 voters approved Measure S, the 1 percent sales tax to support the fire department, public safety, road repairs and the swimming pool. In 2021, residents within the Crescent City Fire Protection District’s boundaries approved a tax assessment that allowed it to move forward with a hybrid department staffed with volunteers and three paid fire captains. Carey was the fire chief in 2023 when those fire captains — Beau Smith, Everett Buell and Jason Borges — were sworn in. On Monday, Carey said that though he didn’t know it, Wakefield left Gillespie a department that would continue to advance into the agency it is today. The outgoing fire chief said Gillespie did the same for him in 2022 when he joined the department. “In return, I hope I’m leaving him an awesome progression and trajectory,” Carey said. “But I’d like to thank all of you sitting up there on the Council. I’d like to thank you for your leadership and the opportunity to lead the department. It truly is difficult to make this decision to leave.”