ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — Mayor Laura Lewis is proud of Ithaca’s new fire chief.

On Wednesday, the Common Council voted unanimously to appoint Rob Covert as permanent chief of the Ithaca Fire Department. During a public event yesterday, Lewis said Covert’s three-decade tenure speaks volumes about his professionalism.

Covert, a 1989 graduate of Cornell, had served as acting chief since Tom Parsons retired last year.