Instead of being elected on an annual basis as in years past, officers from the Westbrook Fire Department’s call company will now be nominated for three-year terms.

This year, pending City Council approval, the new officers for the call companies will be the following: in Squad 1, Rich Dorr, captain, James Gammon, lieutenant and Michael Corey, lieutenant; in Engine 2, Gene Dunn, captain, Russell Hawkes, lieutenant and Harry Vokey, lieutenant; in Engine 3, James Harbaugh, captain and Russell Bearor, lieutenant; in Ladder 1, Randy Mitchell, captain, Chris Rogers, lieutenant and Anthony Cataldi, lieutenant.

Fire Chief Gary Littlefield said that the policy was recently changed to move away from annual elections of officers to having an application and interview process. Littlefield said the new process “puts some credibility into the system,” and stops the process from being a popularity contest.

Candidates interested in becoming call company officers apply for the position, Littlefield said. Qualified candidates then go through an interview process with a member of the call company, a member of the EMS squad, a full-time fire captain, the deputy fire chief, an officer from another fire department and the EMS director. The results of the interviews are then forwarded to Littlefield to make the final appointments, he said.

Littlefield said the call companies have embraced the new system, and he added that members of the call companies had a hand in developing the new system.

This article was submitted by Staff Writer Mike Higgins.