Dundee names new fire chief
Brandon Hamilton was named Dundee Fire Chief by a unanimous city council vote Tuesday night.
He leaves South Sherman Fire and Rescue in the north-central Oregon community of Grass Valley as the interim chief to lead the Dundee department.
Hamilton replaces John Stock who was first placed on paid administrative leave in February 2020 by City Administrator Rob Daykin and later fired.
Stock reportedly discriminated against, harassed and intimidated a female member of the Dundee department over a period of several years.
A conciliation agreement was reached between the city and the firefighter with the settlement paying her $180,000.
Brent VanKeulen has served as the interim Dundee chief.
Hamilton will start work by the end of this month and will be paid $80,418 annually. Stock was making about $79,000 in addition to serving as chief of the Yamhill County Fire Defense Board.
Councilor Jeanette Adlong motioned to hire Hamilton. There was a second. She was joined by Ted Crawford, David Ford, Patrick Kelly and Tim Weaver in approving the hire. Storr Nelson was absent.
The council meeting was held via Zoom and Hamilton listened in to the discussion related to his hiring. It was originally thought he would be unable to attend because of a prior commitment.
He told the council he has 30 years of fire service experience and is excited to go to work in Dundee.
Hamilton recently had the opportunity to meet some of the staff at his new station and said he was impressed with personnel he will begin working with shortly.
"I'm looking forward to being a part of the team and I see a prosperous future (for the agency)," he said.
Hamilton is married and the couple has three children. He said they are anxious to settle down in their new community.
There were eight applications for the position and five were interviewed, according to Daykin, who recommended Hamilton be hired.
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