MASON — The city has hired Michael Drumm, 46, to be its third fire chief in the past five months. Mr. Drumm replaces former Chief Billy Goldfeder, who resigned in October, and interim chief Randall Staley, whose contract expired last month.

        A fireman for 24 years, Mr. Drumm has been employed for the past eight years as fire chief in Markham, Ill., a suburb of Chica go. He was one of five finalists in a nationwide search conducted by the city.

        "We had several highly qualified candidates for this position,” City Manager Scot Lahrmer said Tuesday. "Mike Drumm's experience at all levels from a volunteer to fire chief, his knowledge of issues dealing with growth, and his experience in overseeing the operations of a fire company will all be of great value to the city.”

        Mr. Drumm, who is also a part-time police officer in Monee, Ill., began his fire career as a volunteer in 1977. His experience includes stints as a shift supervisor, deputy fire chief and fire chief with the Markham Fire Department.

        He has a master of science degree in public service management from DePaul University in Chicago, and a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University. He is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy's executive fire officer program.

        Mr. Drumm will start at a yearly salary of $56,000. His first day on the job will be Feb. 20.

        “There is a tremendous opportunity for me to work with a fairly new fire department in Mason,” Mr. Drumm said. "There's a lot of pride in that department, and that's one of the things that attracted me to Mason. I want to build on the programs that are already in place and enhance the mission and vision of the fire department.”

        As head of Mason's 2 1/4-year-old fire department, Mr. Drumm will oversee more than 80 full- and part-time firefighter-paramedics who handle more than 3,000 calls for service a year. However, his biggest challenge early may be to bring stability back to a fire department that was hit hard by the controversial resignation of Mr. Goldfeder last year.

        Mr. Goldfeder, who played a key role in the establishment of the Mason Fire Department, quit in October amid an internal investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed several female employees.

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