Geoff Belyea, currently the assistant fire chief of the American Canyon Fire Protection District, will take over as chief starting July 1.
“We are very pleased to appoint Geoff Belyea as our fire chief, effective July 1,” said American Canyon Mayor Leon Garcia, chair of the fire district board, at a Tuesday City Council meeting.
American Canyon City Attorney William Ross announced the move to hire Belyea as chief at the meeting.
Belyea will succeed Mike Cahill, the current chief, who was drafted out of retirement in August 2020 to run the department as a retired annuitant. That means he’s receiving retirement benefits from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and is therefore limited in the number of hours he can work each year. Because of recent CalPERS regulations, Ross said, it became necessary for the city to modify its contract with Cahill so that his employment ends on June 30.