(A) (1) The Director of Emergency Management shall be appointed by the County Emergency Management Advisory Council with the approval of the County Executive. The Director may hold no other local, state, or federal office.
(2) (a) The Director shall be appointed for a term of four years. During said term, the Director shall be subject to removal by the Advisory Council if they determine and find the Director to be incapable of, or unwilling to, fulfill his or her duties, as provided in division (A)(3) below. The Director’s performance shall be subject to review at least annually by the County Emergency Management Council.
(b) The Director may be removed also for the following:
1. Incapable of fulfilling his or her duties due to physical or mental disability; and
2. Unwilling to perform his or her duties as mandated below.
(3) The Advisory Council 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 Advisory Council’s termination of the Director under division (A)(2) above. The SEMA Executive Director’s opinion hereunder shall be advisory only.
(4) Additional qualifications for the Director may be determined by the Advisory Council, with input from the County Commissioners.
(B) The Director, subject to the direction and control of the Advisory Council, 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 Commissioners a yearly report on the county’s comprehensive emergency management, including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery taken in the previous year, and planned and recommended for the year to come;
(2) Keeping the County Commissioners fully informed on emergency management activities;
(3) Writing and implementing the plan, which shall conform to the guidelines contained in the most current state and federal guidance 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. 10-14-3-17(h)(2);
(8) Identifying and analyzing the effects of hazards that threaten the jurisdiction;
(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 emergency;
(11) Identifying resource deficiencies and working with appropriate officials on measures to correct them;
(12) Developing an emergency operating center (EOC) as a site from which key officials can direct and control operations during a disaster or emergency;
(13) Developing and maintaining emergency communications systems;
(14) Establishing a system to alert key officials in event of a disaster or emergency;
(15) Developing continuity of government 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 a tests and exercise program;
(19) Coordinating with the industry to develop and maintain industrial emergency plans and capabilities in support of the plan;
(20) Making rapid and accurate assessment of (as soon as an emergency or disaster declaration has been made):
(a) Property damage;
(b) Personal injuries;
(c) Fatalities;
(d) Basic needs; and
(e) Special needs.
(21) Submitting to SEMA the assessment specified in division (B)(7) above in SEMA’s required format and time frame for submission;
(22) Providing to the SEMA Director annual reports and documentation as mandated by SEMA;
(23) Competently managing the Department’s various functions, including, among others, financial, personnel, and logistic;
(24) Timely responsiveness to the Chairperson of the Advisory Council, as mandated by I.C. 10-14-3-17(d)(2)(B);
(25) Timely obedience to the directives of superior state authorities;
(26) Assuring that the activities of the Department at all times comport with I.C. 10-14-3, and other applicable statutes 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 further emergency management courses presented by the Public Safety Training Institute to assure continued knowledge of the latest information on 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 affected agencies, public and private;
(35) Coordination of the recruitment of, and training for, 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 or ratification of the Commissioners and to the extent consistent with the state emergency operations plan and program) mutual aid arrangements with other public and private agencies for emergency management purposes, and taking all steps in accordance with such arrangements to comply with, or take advantage thereof, in the event of an actual emergency affecting the parties;
(37) Accepting any offer of the federal government to provide for the use of the county any services, equipment, supplies, materials, or funds for emergency management purposes by way of gift, grant, or loan, when such offer has been approved by the Governor;
(38) Seeking and accepting from any person, firm, or corporation, any gratuitous offers to provide services, equipment, supplies, materials, funds, or 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 people directly concerned with emergency management;
(40) Assuring that all volunteers meet the criteria set forth below at § 34.22(A) prior to accepting them as members of the Department; and
(41) In addition to the powers and duties expressly provided in this division (B), the Director shall be construed to have all powers and duties of a local emergency management director as provided under I.C. 10-14-3. In particular, but not by limitation, the Director, through the Department, 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 under I.C. 10-14-3.
(Ord. 1996-15, passed 11-19-1996)