Click here for updates on this story
Albany, GA (Albany Herald ) — A Monday update on the chain of command for emergency response indicates that there is some work to be done between the city of Albany and Dougherty County.
Despite the differences of opinion expressed in recent weeks, residents can “sleep well” knowing that officials will respond appropriately in the event of a crisis, Albany Fire Department Chief Cedric Scott said during a Monday meeting of the Dougherty County Commission.
Scott also serves as emergency management director, and in the event of an emergency, he temporarily focuses on responding to that event.
During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, he turned over his duties with Albany to an acting fire chief while he worked full-time in his role running the emergency management response. At those times, the county pays his salary for performing the emergency management director’s role.
Recently, the city of Albany formed a task force to address emergency management after learning that there is an argument to be made that it is the lead agency in emergency response, Scott said.
The city’s case is backed by a 1992 agreement, revised in 2017, that identifies the city as having that role, and also a city resolution and county ordinance, Scott said.
“The City Commission has no desire to have a separate emergency management entity,” he said of the task force’s work.
The 1992 agreement to which Scott referred was a service delivery strategy developed by the two governments as required by a state law that called for cities and counties to identify, and where possible, eliminate duplication of services.
Those documents, however, seem to be called into question by other factors.
Under Georgia statutes, Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said, county governments act as the lead agency in responding to and recovering from disasters.
That is recognized both by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and federal agencies also recognize that arrangement, he said. That makes sense because all of the population of a city also resides in the county in which the city is located.
Three days after a Jan. 2, 2017, tornado, Cohilas said, city employees who were not authorized to communicate with GEMA indicated to state officials that the area needed no resources, and it took a lot of wrangling to counteract that misinformation and get state officials to visit.
“Within 10 minutes of their arrival, GEMA said not only is this a state of disaster, but they were asking for a federal declaration,” he said.
The governments have learned since that time and now have unfortunately gained experience by way of responding to Hurricane Michael, which caused devastation throughout the county in 2018.
During the pandemic, Cohilas said, Albany Mayor Bo Dorough has been a great partner and provided valuable input, and the pair has worked together to battle the crisis.
Whichever entity is in charge, Scott said, the important factor is having a working emergency operations plan in the event of an emergency.
That plan, which covers incident command, an emergency operations center, multi-agency coordination and a joint information system to provide updates to the media and public is in place and worked well through the pandemic, he said.
“If there was an event that happens today — and I want to be absolutely clear that I am in charge — nobody needs to be worried tonight,” Scott said. “I want everybody to sleep well tonight. All of these pieces are in place. It is just the name tied to who is responsible.”
Several commissioners suggested that Cohilas and Dorough meet to iron out any issues.
“Here again, we’ve got one bicycle and no one wants to share it,” Commissioner Anthony Jones said. “You’ve got two different options from two different government bodies. I think we need to get an independent administrator (to) make recommendations at a joint city and county meeting.”
Commissioner Victor Edwards said that would call for unnecessary spending on an outside consultant when the issue can be handled by Cohilas and Dorough
“I think we need to learn to get along,” Edwards said. “It’s just getting along. I think at the end of the day, the chairman, the county administrator, the mayor and the city manager can sit down and work this out.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.