Interim East Ridge city manager and Director of Public Safety Eddie Phillips said he will retire on Aug. 2.
"I love the City of East Ridge, and I'm very proud of the accomplishments we have been able to achieve during my tenure as chief," he said in a statement to the mayor and council. "Even though the public safety department has proven successful over the last 12 years, in the future you will have to decide if you want another public safety director or return to separate fire and police chiefs as we had 12 years ago."
The new interim city manager will be Freida Wheeler, who is the director of city services.
As public safety director, Phillips operated as both police chief and fire chief. He succeeded Tim Gobble in the city manager post.
Gobble was forced out earlier this year. He served as jail chief for Hamilton County before being named to the state parole board by Gov. Bill Haslam.
The East Ridge Council is reviewing a new round of candidates for the city manager post. They wanted former Red Bank city manager Chris Dorsey for the job, but he opted to take the city manager position on Signal Mountain.