Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Police Chief Recruitment

The past few weeks have been frustrating as I attempt to secure a new Police Chief.

I had been trying to woo the Baldwin City Police Chief to Concordia. I hired Mike McKenna four months before I moved to Concordia. I recognized his professional caliber. I want that level of competence as I replace Chief Maley. For several weeks, we negotiated and I finally lost out to Baldwin City as they increased their contract with Mike. He had been in charge of the early BTK investigation. You might remember, law enforcement officials credited the early efforts and the preservation of evidence as one of the keys to capturing BTK. I watched his investigative methods secure a confession to an internal theft situation of one of the local businesses.

There has been a complete turnover in officers in Baldwin City since I moved from Baldwin City to here. It is a direct result of raising the bar – expecting police officers to do police work at the highest level. There is a difference in the quality of officers here compared to the department Mike McKenna assumed in Baldwin City. The fellows here are competent, honest, and professional. Yes, I do know there are folks that criticize our Police force. Our fellows do need fresh leadership and this is a good time to find that leadership.

Now that Mike McKenna is not a candidate, I do have a major problem related to expectations. I have those same high expectations for the individual we eventually hire. The pressure will be on both the candidates and the City Manager to bring out the best candidate.

I am doing a “national” search now. Using the International Association of Chiefs of Police website, I have placed a recruiting ad looking for a new chief. It is one of the tools I used when I found McKenna. One nice thing is that it was free. In comparison, the cost of recruiting within Kansas is not free.

I will be mailing an announcement to every chief in every community this week. Included with the announcement will be a tri-fold brochure I prepared. If anyone wants a copy, send me an email (citymanager@concordiaks.org) and I will forward a PDF version that you can read, print or send to a friend. (A comment won't work since some of you use an email alias.) I even added a reference to this Blog so potential candidates can see what I focus on here.

While I am recruiting, I am still looking for an Interim Chief. I am using the Kansas Police Chiefs Association, the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, the KBI, the Kansas Highway Patrol, and referrals from people I know in the Police world. It seems like I am asking everyone I know if they know someone in the police community that might be interested in an interim position.

Finding an interim chief has been one of the frustrating elements I mentioned in the lead paragraph. I am looking for someone that has had “command” experience from being a Lieutenant, Captain, Deputy Chief or Chief. Usually, those folks do not want to get back into police work. Trying to get them back into law enforcement and the stress it produces is one reason they shy away from returning.

On the bright side, however, I have been able to secure administrative help in managing the Police Department. Former City Clerk/Commissioner Verna Ferguson will be watching the flock for me. Her many years of experience with the city provide her the skill to manage the administrative functions and it gives me peace of mind that someone who knows our system and is watching over things. (It really hasn’t changed that much in the 10 years since she retired.)

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

FEMA is not a First Responder

In an earlier Blog story this afternoon, I commented on an article I received from a City Manager friend who lives in New Mexico. He sent me the following article. Here it is as I received it.

Craig Martelle: FEMA is not a first responder (Craig Martelle, retired as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, lives in North Huntingdon. He recently launched the Strategic Outlook Institute, a public-policy organization.)

Don't be so quick to pillory the federal response in New Orleans. Immediate emergency management is primarily a local and state responsibility
Tuesday, September 06, 2005

As one who has received training by FEMA in emergency management and also training by the Department of Defense in consequence management, I believe that the federal response in New Orleans needs clarification.

The key to emergency management starts at the local level and expands to the state level. Emergency planning generally does not include any federal guarantees, as there can only be limited ones from the federal level for any local plan. FEMA provides free training, education, assistance and respond in case of an emergency, but the local and state officials run their own emergency management program.

Prior development of an emergency plan, addressing all foreseeable contingencies, is the absolute requirement of the local government --and then they share that plan with the state emergency managers to ensure that the state authorities can provide necessary assets not available at the local level. Additionally, good planning will include applicable elements of the federal government (those located in the local area). These processes are well established, but are contingent upon the personal drive of both hired and elected officials at the local level.

I've reviewed the New Orleans emergency management plan. Here is an important section in the first paragraph.

"We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to citywide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office. Our authority is defined by the Louisiana Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, Chapter 6 Section 709, Paragraph B, 'Each parish shall maintain a Disaster Agency which, except as otherwise provided under this act, has jurisdiction over and serves the entire parish.' "

Check the plan -- the "we" in this case is the office of the mayor, Ray Nagin who was very quick and vocal about blaming everyone but his own office. A telling picture, at left, taken by The Associated Press on Sept. 1 and widely circulated on the Internet shows a school bus park, apparently filled to capacity with buses, under about four feet of water. If a mandatory evacuation was ordered, why weren't all the taxpayer-purchased buses used in the effort?

Who could have predicted the anarchy resulting as a consequence? The individuals who devolved into lawless animals embarrass the entirety of America. (I worked in a U.S. Embassy overseas for a couple years and I can imagine what foreign diplomats are thinking.) What societal factors would ever lead people to believe that this behavior was even remotely acceptable?

The folks in New Orleans who are perpetrating the violence and lawlessness are not that way because of low income or of race, but because they personally do not have any honor or commitment to higher ideals. The civil-rights leaders should be ashamed at playing the blame game.

The blame is on the individuals. The blame is on the society that allowed these individuals to develop the ideal that the individual is greater than the national pride he is destroying. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was very clear in her comments that she was offended at those who suggested the suffering in New Orleans was prolonged because of race.

As a retired Marine, I hang my head in shame to see my fellow Americans degenerate so far. I spent so many years in the Corps helping the citizens of other countries rise to a higher level of personal responsibility to ensure that in case of emergency, anarchy did not necessarily follow. When people are held to a higher standard of personal responsibility and they accept that, then they will do the right thing when the time comes.

It seems that the mayor of New Orleans is leading the effort in not taking responsibility for his actions. The emergency managers for the state of Louisiana do not have much to say either. The failure in the first 48 hours to provide direction for survivors is theirs to live with. When FEMA was able to take over, it started out behind and had to develop its plan on the fly. Now the federal government has established priorities -- rescue the stranded, evacuate the city, flow in resources and fix the levee. It appears that now there is a plan and it is being systematically executed.

Hurricane Katrina was a national tragedy -- not just in the number of lives lost or the amount of physical damage, but also in the failure of people to do what is right when no one is looking.

Refugee Planning

There has been a lot of talk concerning hurricane refugees coming to Concordia. Much of what I have heard is they are coming, then they are not.

What continues to be important is the people of Concordia have a "heart" for these people. Everyone is grateful for that.

During the weekend, I was asked to have water turned on for the Beverly Health Center. Since it has not operated during the period I have been City Manager, it is not a place I have thought about. Well, some one did. It needed cleaning. I have heard there were large groups of church people donating time to get the facility ready to accept people.

I received an email today from one of my City Manager friends in New Mexico that put the past week's effort in perspective and it makes good sense with what these folks are doing here in Concordia.

The point of the email is that FEMA is not a first responder. It is not the responsibility of the Federal government to be first on the scene fixing things for communities that have endured the effects of a devastating storm like Hurricane Katrina. It is the responsibility of the local community to first assess the problem and, if necessary, call for state and Federal assistance.

There is a specific protocol for asking for aid. Locals assess the situation and ask the County Commissioners to declare an emergency. State aid can then be called in and if the damage can be valued high enough - something like a fixed percent of the statewide assessed value (I am fuzzy on this part) the Governor can ask for a Presidential declaration of emergency. All this is part of the community's emergency management plan.

I heard Larry Blochlinger say today at Chamber Coffee that when a tornado hit is ranch, there wasn't enough damage to declare an emergency where he could get government aid. What did happen is that neighbors came by the droves to help. In New Orleans, there are no neighbors to help - everyone was affected. Well, yes there are neighbors - they are called Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia....

So the response here is much like the Pharisee in the bible who asked "who is my neighbor?" In Concordia, these folks have names who are trying to express compassion for the losses our fellow Americans in Louisiana are suffering. They are trying to help by providing a little relief.

Now the hard part of really organizing local efforts is kicking in. Thursday evening, leaders of the various service providers will gather to develop a plan to assist our neighbors.

So, what if these refugees do not show up? The effort is not wasted, No not by a long shot. If we had a disaster here, we have just identified all the social service providers that will be important in responding to a local disaster. From the City side, we can clean up street of debris. I now have another element to our community disaster plan that wasn't available before.

This is a great opportunity we have to place Concordia on the "caring" map and demonstrate what it is like to live in a small rural community. The best part is we see the exercise of community in its best form.

Comment Made About Travel

This past week, I received a comment from a reader about "official travel" and the experience of Ann Morris. I thought a response to the comment would be appropriate.

Part of my employment agreement with the City is that I get the "privilege" of attending the International City/County Management Association. To me, privilege means that it is not a "right" and therefore should not be abused.

When I travel to events like this, I try to share the room costs with another manager. That really means I have to find someone who will put up with me and I can put up with them. It is one way to split the cost of $199 per night rates down to tolerable.

In some of the other travel opportunities, I take advantage of Priceline or similar programs. One trip I recently made had room rates at the conference hotel at $105 (in Wichita). I found a room for $40 in El Dorado.

So, C. Morrison, there is my response. I am glad you chose to offer a comment. LP