County Commission | The Magazine June 2017 | Page 39

A voice from
Alabama’s
67 counties
Jonathan Gaddy,
MA, CLEM
EMA Director, Calhoun County
President, Alabama Association of
Emergency Managers (AAEM)
Q
What are
some
of the key
issues facing
emergency managers and local
officials in Alabama?
A
It has been six years since
April 27, 2011, and twice
that long since the last hurricane
in Alabama. We have many new
elected officials and department
heads in our counties and cities
as well as new leadership in a lot
of our private sector partners. We
absolutely must have strong trust
and partnership between emergency
managers and the decision-makers
and leaders in our communities.
Emergency management cannot be
successful if it is an afterthought or
if it is buried within a bureaucracy.
Getting a community ready
takes years. Emergencies and
disasters will occur regardless of
how prepared we are for them.
Overcoming them also involves a
lot more than just the
police, fire, EMS, and
9-1-1 agencies' response
– it takes the whole
community. That is why it is crucial
for officials at all levels – local, state,
and federal – to work closely with
their county emergency managers.
The time to get ready is right now.
to move toward a position where
all public servants are public
servants all the time. We need to
train all personnel in a few basics
traditionally done by volunteers,
because it is getting harder to keep
trained, dependable volunteers.
Q
What actions need
to be taken to ensure
Alabama is prepared for the
next disaster?
A
We need to make sure that
state and local government
are on the same page. The majority
of infrastructure impacted by a
disaster is local, so we need to make
smart investments in mitigation,
insurance and planning. For their
part, the state has generously helped
us pay the cost share on FEMA-
declared disasters, but we must
fund the state disaster recovery
program because FEMA assistance
is going to be harder to get. And
we have to get away from the old-
school mindset that sees EMA as
folks who sit around writing plans.
Plans don't save lives; people do.
Along the same lines, we need
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