Hamilton City Council approves longevity pay, hires police clerk and moves December meeting after parade

Hamilton City Council handled routine organizational business and a handful of personnel and administrative items before moving into an executive session to discuss litigation.

The council approved a $19,000 longevity-pay package for city employees that distributes payments by years of service: 0–1 years $50; 1–5 years $100; 5–10 years $300; 10–15 years $400; and 15 or more years $500. The proposal was presented as a single recommendation and put to a voice vote; no opposition was recorded on the audio after the vote call.

Council members also declared a 1970s Ford tractor (serial number U-seven1740) assigned to the Parks and Recreation Department as no longer usable and authorized it to be sold as surplus property.

The body acknowledged water meter set rates adopted under the previous administration effective July 7, 2025, with specific fees read into the record: a 3/4-inch meter at $1,000 ($1,450 with a road bore) and a 1-inch meter at $1,350 ($1,850 with a road bore). A motion to accept the acknowledgement received a second and moved forward with no opposition recorded on the audio.

On personnel matters, city staff described the hiring process for a police clerk after Bailey McCarley left the department. The process included application review, employer and applicant reference checks, criminal and driving-history checks, social-media reviews, and interviews. Council appointed Bethany Tucker to the clerk position and approved a starting rate of $15.84 per hour; the audio records "None opposed" after the vote call.

The council also authorized opening applications to fill one existing certified police officer position (the posting deadline announced as Nov. 25, 2025).

A council member moved — and the body approved — an agenda amendment to change the start time of the Dec. 1 council meeting to begin immediately after the city Christmas parade, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The meeting concluded its public business with several community announcements (a tree lighting at City Hall and Thanksgiving-week garbage pickup schedule adjustments) and then entered executive session to discuss litigation.

Quotes from the meeting included Richard Kitchens, owner of Sports Gallery, thanking viewers and customers for attending the broadcast, and a department representative summarizing the police-clerk hiring process: "We started a background investigation, which included the criminal history, driver history, ... social media history reviews" and concluding, "we did choose Bethany Tucker, out of the candidates that we had." The council did not name movers or seconders in the audio for most motions.

The council took the actions described above during a routine organizational meeting; the session then recessed to executive session to address litigation matters.