(A) Director of Emergency Management appointment; qualifications and tenure.
(1) The Director of Emergency Management shall be appointed by the County Board of Commissioners. Qualifications for the Director shall be recommended by the Advisory Council, and the County Board of Commissioners shall establish the final qualifications. The Director may hold no other local, state, or federal office.
(2) The appointment of the Director shall be permanent unless the County Board of Commissioners determines the Director to be:
(a) Incapable of fulfilling his or her duties due to physical or mental disability; or
(b) Unwilling to perform his or her duties as mandated below.
(3) The County Board of Commissioners shall consult with the Executive Director of SEMA to obtain his or her opinion on the abilities and competence of the Director prior to the Board of Commissioner’s termination of the Director. The SEMA Executive Director’s opinion shall be advisory only.
(B) Director of Emergency Management: General powers and duties. The Director, subject to the direction and control of the Advisory Council and/or the County Board of Commissioners, shall be the executive head of the Department, and shall have responsibility for the organization, administration, and operation of the Emergency Management organization, including the following specific powers and duties:
(1) Submitting to the Advisory Council and the County Board of Commissioners a yearly report on the county’s Comprehensive Emergency Management, including mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery data taken in the previous year, and planned, and recommended, for the year to come;
(2) Keeping the County Board of Commissioners fully informed of emergency management activities;
(3) Writing and implementing the Plan, which shall conform to the guidelines contained in the most current state and federal guidance manuals and documents, if the county wishes to receive state and/or federal matching funds;
(4) Assuring that all county employees and rostered volunteers with responsibilities, as part of the Plan, receive training in the functions which they are to perform under the Plan;
(5) Designing and conducting exercises of the Plan, as required by SEMA;
(6) Assuring that the Plan addresses all hazards and includes all cities, towns, and other population centers within the county;
(7) Updating the Plan as needed to keep it current, as required by I.C. 10-14 et seq.;
(8) Identifying and analyzing the effects of hazards that may threaten the jurisdiction included in the Plan;
(9) Working closely with officers and employees of incorporated, and unincorporated, areas of the county to develop a hazard mitigation program to eliminate, or reduce, potential hazards;
(10) Inventorying manpower and material resources from governmental and private sector sources that would be available in a disaster or an emergency;
(11) Identifying resource deficiencies and working with appropriate officials on measures to correct them;
(12) Developing an emergency operation center (E.O.C.) as a site from which key officials can direct and control operations during a disaster or an emergency, and designating a “back up” E.O.C. site in the event the primary site is unusable or destroyed;
(13) Developing and maintaining an emergency communications system;
(14) Establishing a system to alert key officials in the event of a disaster or an emergency;
(15) Developing continuity of governmental procedures and systems;
(16) Establishing and maintaining a shelter and reception, and care, system;
(17) Developing a training program for emergency response personnel;
(18) Developing emergency simulation tests and exercises;
(19) Coordinating with industry to develop and maintain industrial emergency plans and capabilities in support of the Plan;
(20) Making rapid and accurate assessment of the following as soon as an emergency, or disaster, declaration has been made:
(a) Property damage;
(b) Personal injuries;
(c) Fatalities; and/or
(d) Basic and special needs;
(21) Submitting to SEMA the assessment specified in division (B)(20) above. This assessment shall be submitted in SEMA’s required format and timeframe;
(22) Providing to the SEMA Director annual reports and documentation as mandated by SEMA;
(23) Competently managing the Agency’s various functions, including financial, personnel, and logistical matters;
(24) Timely responsiveness to the Chairman of the Advisory Council and/or the County Board of Commissioners;
(25) Timely obedience to the directives of superior authorities;
(26) Assuring that the activities of the Agency at all times comply with I.C. 10-14 et seq., and other applicable statues and county ordinances;
(27) Attendance at, and passing grades in, the Emergency Management Professional Development Series for Emergency Management presented by the Public Safety Training Institute within one year of first assuming the position of Director;
(28) Attendance at, and passing grades in, such emergency management training as may be required by SEMA in subsequent years;
(29) Assuring the Deputy Director’s attendance at, and passing grades in, the Emergency Management Professional Development Series for Emergency Management presented by the Public Safety Training Institute within one year of first assuming the position of Deputy Director;
(30) Assuring the Deputy Director’s, and all paid emergency management staff’s, attendance at, and passing grades in, such emergency management training as may be required by SEMA in subsequent years;
(31) Assuring ongoing attendance by the Director, the Deputy Director, and all paid emergency management staff at future emergency management courses presented by the Public Safety Training Institute to assure continued knowledge of the latest information of emergency management;
(32) Responsibility for public relations, information, and education regarding all phases of emergency management;
(33) Assuring coordination within the county of all activities for emergency management;
(34) Maintaining liaison and coordination with all other effected agencies, public and private;
(35) Coordination of the recruitment and training of volunteer personnel and agencies to augment the personnel and facilities of the county for emergency management purposes;
(36) Seeking, negotiating, and entering into (with the approval and ratification of the County Board of Commissioners and consistent with the State Emergency Operations Plan and Program) mutual aid arrangements with other public and private agencies. Also, to take steps in accordance with such mutual aid arrangements to comply with, or take advantage of, the same in the event of an actual emergency;
(37) Accepting any offer from the federal government to provide, for the use of the county services, equipment and supplies, materials, and funds in the form of gifts, grants, or loans. The offers may be used for emergency management purposes with the approval of the Governor of the state;
(38) Seeking, and accepting, from any person, firm, or corporation, any gratuitous offers to provide services, equipment, supplies, funds, materials, licenses, or privileges to use real estate or other premises to the county for emergency management purposes;
(39) Issuing proper insignia and papers to emergency management workers, and other persons directly connected with emergency management;
(40) Assuring that all volunteers meet the criteria set forth in § 33.10(A) prior to accepting them as volunteers of the Agency; and
(41) In addition to the powers and duties expressly provided above, the Director shall be construed to have all powers and duties of a local Emergency Management Director. In particular, but not by limitation, the Director, through the Agency, may perform, or cause to be performed, with respect to the county, any function parallel or analogous to those performed on a state-wide basis by SEMA.
(C) Special emergency powers and duties of the Director of Emergency Management.
(1) The Director shall make recommendations and advise the County Board of Commissioners or the Chief Executive Officer, on any actions which would be necessary, or desirable, to take under § 33.09(E)(2) in the event of an emergency.
(2) In the event that an emergency clearly exist or is imminent in the county, and a state of emergency has not been declared by the Governor, nor is any person having the power of the Chief Executive Officer of the county present to declare such an emergency pursuant to § 33.09(B), the Director may temporarily presume the existence of a state of emergency.
(3) When the Director temporarily presumes the existence of a state of emergency, the Director shall:
(a) Put into effect those portions of the Plan as necessary to cope with the emergency, and to protect the public’s safety and welfare;
(b) Be construed to have all powers necessary and dispensable, except those limited by statue or this chapter, until such time as a Chief Executive Officer becomes available; and
(c) Have his or her functions performed by the Deputy Director to the extent that the Deputy Director is required to assume the duties of the Director, as provided by § 33.08, in the latter’s absence or incapacitation during the emergency.
(4) Assistance from the State Emergency Management Agency may be rendered without a declaration of an emergency in order to assist local emergency services in time of need.
(Ord. 2002-1, passed 1-7-2002)