In June 2025, the City of Eastland announced that then-Fire Chief Joe Williamson had resigned. At the time, rumors spread that he had been forced out or fired. A year later, The Alliance Gazette has re-examined the departure and obtained two related documents through public records requests, which are published in full alongside this article (in our google drive under “Williamson FD Separation”).
Former Deputy Chief Sam Williams told The Alliance Gazette in June 2025 that Williamson had been placed on administrative leave and later resigned around the time of a scheduled disciplinary hearing. The documents confirm that a disciplinary process was underway and that Williamson resigned on the date the hearing was set to occur. They do not establish whether the underlying allegations were true.
The Memorandum On May 23, 2025, City Manager Savannah Fortenberry issued Williamson a “Complaint and Notice of Contemplated Discipline.” The following are allegations made in that notice. Because Williamson resigned on the date the hearing was scheduled, the allegations were never contested, tested, or formally sustained.
The memo’s allegations center largely on the city’s storm-warning sirens and on Williamson’s working relationships with other officials. In broad terms, the City alleged that the sirens were not activated during an early-April storm and that Williamson was uncooperative as the city worked to establish a clear activation policy; that he posted a legal notice on a structure and read it aloud at a commission meeting without first consulting the police chief; that he asked the mayor and city manager to “take sides” rather than engage in a meeting about communication concerns; and that he resisted meeting with the county judge — also the county’s emergency management coordinator — about the city’s siren policy.
The memo characterized this conduct as insubordination and neglect of duty under the city’s personnel policy and directed Williamson to appear at a disciplinary hearing on May 27, 2025. The full memorandum, with each allegation in detail, is published alongside this article. The Resignation Williamson’s resignation letter is dated May 27, 2025 — the same day the disciplinary hearing was scheduled to take place.
The records do not indicate whether the hearing began, or whether Williamson submitted his resignation before, during, or after it. In it, he gave two weeks’ notice, wrote that it had been an honor to serve, and said he remained committed to serving on the fire department in a voluntary status. The letter does not address the allegations, and the city’s records contain no separation agreement, settlement, or non-disclosure agreement related to his departure.
Williamson’s Response The Alliance Gazette provided Williamson copies of both records and requested his response. He replied that he intends to issue a statement on the circumstances of his separation but could not give a timeframe, citing his own pending open records requests. We will publish his statement in full whenever it is received.
The documents confirm that Williamson’s resignation followed a formal disciplinary process the city never publicly described at the time. What they do not show is whether the allegations were true — a question left unresolved by his resignation on the day the hearing was set to occur.