elected leaders need to demonstrate leadership before a disaster
Jim Mullen, former Seattle Emergency Management Director has written a recurring column on topics of interest to the emergency management community. This one rang true for me and I recommend it for your reading.
I’ll add sharing the truth with elected officials is part of your job. You cannot just share “happy talk” about all the things being done to prepare their community. At times you have to be real with them about the risks that exist and the ability of the government they lead to respond accordingly. I never said, “We are ready for any disaster that might occur.”
Then it is their turn to weigh what is affordable and what their priorities are. They can’t do that if you don’t keep them informed.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ONCE REMOVED
by Jim Mullen
One lesson, above all others, should be learned, and applied, by elected officials in nearly every jurisdiction in the nation in the wake of the devastating flash flood in Kerr County, Texas and surrounding counties. Midst the offering of heartfelt condolences, local elected officials in the nation are quietly relieved that such a crippling disaster happened elsewhere, this time. It’s only natural. But every elected official certainly should be aware that a disaster is lurking that could bring their community to its knees, inflicting long-term damage to the population.
When I became Seattle ‘s emergency management director in 1992 we focused on improving the coordination among executive agencies for a variety of disasters, but always with an eye on preparing for the BIG ONE- the mega earthquake. Similarly, both of my successors have targeted mitigation and preparedness and response efforts, fighting at times, as I did, limitations from the City’s budget office. Budget analysts as a rule (and I was one for a while) are simply trying to finance the next fiscal year- rarely unless pushed do they venture into the world of contingency planning. Yet, that is what is necessary now, because it’s not the sole responsibility of jurisdictional emergency managers to sound the alarm. Mayors, county executives, governors (we’ll leave the federal government out of this since it appears to be sprinting away from its obligations) must direct their respective management teams to cooperate with emergency management to determine what worst-case vulnerabilities exist that could have tragic consequences. What hazards haven’t been fully mitigated; what elements of preparedness could be strengthened, tested and enhanced? Is the response capability as strong as it could reasonably be expected to be? How should the recovery be organized to allow for rapid restoration of the social equilibrium and commerce?
Some might accuse me of a recommendation to go looking for trouble when things are quiet, no such disaster has occurred– they’d be right. Some might argue that the public would never support the costs of mitigating a catastrophe that has not yet occurred - so why undertake a politically unpalatable and alarming initiative - they’d be wrong. Leaders should understand that their oath of office demands that no stone be unturned in the protection of one’s constituents.
It’s emergency management’s mission to identify and address the next potential crisis, before it happens. Much can be done, in advance, to alleviate the suffering and disruption from a future, predictable disaster, but emergency managers need the support of their senior elected officials to ask - no demand - that a thorough review of gaps and vulnerabilities begin, If nothing else, this would illustrate that government is doing proactively what it can.
Being honest with the public can be politically painful, but it’s preferable to answering the question “what did you know, and when did you know it? ” Because the next question inevitably will be what did you do about it? And “nothing” is the wrong answer.
