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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > April > 06 > Entry
More than 50 vie for EMA post
More than 50 people from across the United States submitted applications to become Butler County Emergency Management Agency director by the Friday, April 3 deadline.
I started listing all of them when I got the first few in, but I don’t have time to type up all 50. Sorry.
The list includes Middletown City Councilman Bill Becker, who has served as both police chief and city manager.
Becker can legally hold both jobs, as long as he abstains from any discussion or vote concerning city funding of the EMA, according to a March 25 opinion from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (You can read that here: click on 2009-010).
Former EMA Director William Turner had cautioned against this, saying it would call into question any large grants that went to Middletown.
Becker believes his long history in Middletown is an asset, though, according to his application’s cover letter.
“I have been involved in public service most of my adult life and I see this as an opportunity to continue to serve Butler County in a meaningful capacity,” the letter says. “My experience as a police chief and city manager allows me to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.”
Other applicants include the former emergency management director of Monroe County, former Clearcreek Fire District fire chief in Warren County, current emergency services coordinator for Madera County, California, and deputy directors of emergency management in Ottawa County, Ohio, and Winnebago County, Wisconsin.
Pay for the job starts at $60,000 per year, according to the job announcement.
Mark Sutton, Fairfield Twp. trustee and chairman of the EMA board, said the board will meet Tuesday, April 7, to narrow down the field and decide which candidates to interview.
“I don’t know of any reason we can’t have somebody hired by the end of May,” Sutton said.
The lack of a director could already be taking a toll. The EMA board is trying to decide whether to turn down an $18,000 homeland security grant because there’s no one to plan the training exercise the grant is supposed to fund.
Turner stepped down after harsh criticism from local law enforcement and county commissioners following the Sept. 14 windstorm.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Emergency Management Agency
Comments
By Lichia
April 7, 2009 8:21 PM | Link to this
I wounder how you came to the decision that out of fifty plus applicants the story would center on just one of them. Is someone puitting pressure on that John Becker be the EMA director without looking at his qualification and the other applicants?
By Butler Watcher
April 8, 2009 5:04 PM | Link to this
Unfortunately the EMA board believes the only qualified person is someone that’s either a policeman, fireman or public bureaucrat. The real problem is the board itself, whom just allowed two grants to expire means Butler County gets no money for emergency training exercises. This board, comprised mostly of small town township trustees needs to be dissolved and replaced with citizens that have far more experience.
By Fire Fighter
April 13, 2009 6:54 PM | Link to this
In the past the EMA website always offered four to eight different training opportunities in emergency management and homeland security, now it now has two courses posted and both have been canceled. I wonder if we will ever see the training offer like it was in the past.
By Bob
April 13, 2009 6:59 PM | Link to this
Is it true that the county may lose over a quarter million dollars this year because the sheriff and county commissioners have not completed required homeland security training? If true they all should resign just like Turner did.
By Wally
April 13, 2009 8:59 PM | Link to this
Bob, I’ve been told they offered the training and two of those you mentioned refused still to complete it.