Change at Emergency Management?

[seagrovegirl]

What is with all the hysteria? I have confidence in our current Sheriff and do not think Mr. Barker is the only qualified person in the county, or within the Sheriff's Dept. to hold the EOC position. The difficult aspect of gettng someone to take the job will be finding someone who wants to be on call 24/7 year round, then add our current emergency situations on top of that. It's a huge, exhausting responsibility. I am not defending Mr. Barker, just not seeing his resignation as a crisis situation.

 

[idlewind]

I don't know the reason Mr. Barker left his position and I don't care. What I do care about is that the person who is the director of emergency service and response in this county have the experience and backround to handle major disasters that might occur and a cogent plan in place to deal with such an occurrence. Emergency medical responce and disaster planning is no place for an inexperienced director. They should learn from the ground up, IMO.

You have hit the nail on the head. Now maybe someone will answer this question instead of playing politics. If anyone will bother to look this was my original question and it is still unanswered. We'll worry about the whys of the matter latter.

 

[wrobert]

What is with all the hysteria? I have confidence in our current Sheriff and do not think Mr. Barker is the only qualified person in the county, or within the Sheriff's Dept. to hold the EOC position. The difficult aspect of gettng someone to take the job will be finding someone who wants to be on call 24/7 year round, then add our current emergency situations on top of that. It's a huge, exhausting responsibility. I am not defending Mr. Barker, just not seeing his resignation as a crisis situation.

Agreed, when I spoke to Mike he seemed very surprised the whole thing was newsworthy. Not like the EOC is closing down.

 

[ShallowsNole]

*delete*

 

[TheZohan]

Big fight at the office

 

[Tom Cooper]

You have hit the nail on the head. Now maybe someone will answer this question instead of playing politics. If anyone will bother to look this was my original question and it is still unanswered. We'll worry about the whys of the matter latter.

Walton County has / should have clear guidelines and plans to deal with most emergencies. It is also their job to dessiminate the information as needed in a timely manner, and many of the most important decisions are not made without direct communication with the BCC.

Contrary to some, there are capable leaders within the organization, who should be recognized, who can formulate a decision and carry out the plans. When you have someone who plays the politics to be self serving instead of one who focuses on the job that will benefit the citizens you end up in a quagmire.

The bigger question is do we have the personnel, plans and precedures in place in the event of other events such as hazardous incidents, major aircraft incidents, or other natural or man made disasters?

With that said, each member of the community has a responsibility and a duty to themselves to be prepared for disasters and not depend on immediate assistance from the county or any other government agency after the event. Hope this gives you some light.

 

[idlewind]

Agreed, when I spoke to Mike he seemed very surprised the whole thing was newsworthy. Not like the EOC is closing down.

If he is that naive he did not need to hold the job he had. When a former reserve deputy gets arrested and that makes headlines, he should understand this is a biggie.

 

[seagrovegirl]

If he is that naive he did not need to hold the job he had. When a former reserve deputy gets arrested and that makes headlines, he should understand this is a biggie.

OMG...the sky is falling.:roll:

 

[scooterbug44]

I do not know what happened, but I get the sense that once again there is more to the story and folks w/ agendas posting.

I just hope the taxpayers aren't shelling out for another "retirement" package or some consultant when someone should have just been fired. :roll:

 

[Bob Wells]

Read this AM on WJHG.com that Mr Barker was on a paid administrative leave and was being investigated prior to resigning. Saying that let me say this for some of the folks who commented earlier. That could be viewed as QOBF (quit or be fired) if it is true. Also, it seems that when this all blew up the Sheriff did not advise that there was an investigation ongoing concerning Mr Barker and that he would tell some of you folks that he does not see this as newsworthy. Full disclosure, I did not vote for the Sheriff but do believe he is doing a good job. In my opinion there seems to be some crow being served, if this story is to be believed