Bellingham names new fire chief, public works and communications directors
Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood filled three top administrative positions, including the city’s fire chief, public works director and communications director.
Meanwhile, a search for a new Parks and Recreation Department director will continue, Fleetwood said in a statement posted at the city’s website Tuesday, May 19.
Nicole Oliver will remain interim parks director until a replacement is found for Leslie Bryson, who retired in January 2020.
Named to new positions Tuesday were:
▪ Bill Hewett, fire chief.
Hewett, who has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from Columbia Southern University, has been Bellingham’s interim fire chief since March 2019, when he was promoted from assistant fire chief to replace Bill Newbold, who retired.
Hewett was raised in Bellingham and started his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter.
Since then, he has been an assistant chief at the former Whatcom County Fire District 2, now South Whatcom Fire Authority, and was a Whatcom County fire inspector for nine years.
He became assistant chief of Whatcom County Fire District 8 in 2010, and was hired as an assistant chief by Bellingham in 2013, when District 8 and Bellingham Fire began a close collaboration.
▪ Eric Johnston, public works director.
Johnston has been interim public works director since August 2019, replacing Ted Carlson, who became general manager of Sanitary Service Co.
Before then, Johnston was an assistant director of public works, in charge of the operations division.
He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Washington State University and was Oak Harbor’s city engineer from 2001 to 2012, when he was hired by Bellingham.
Johnston has been an advocate for the city’s recent environmental initiatives, and he often uses one of the city’s fleet of electric bikes for city business downtown.
▪ Janice Keller, communications director.
Keller had been communications manager for the Bellingham Public Library since 2014 but had stepped into the role of communications director amid the city’s response to the new coronavirus pandemic.
She has a master’s degree in public administration from Evergreen State College and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from Western Washington University, and also served as Bellingham’s communications director from 2001 to 2014.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 12:01 PM.
