Sammamish’s first emergency manager begins work today, marking a major milestone for the City in emergency planning.

Andrew Stevens comes from a similar position in California.

Sammamish has been late in complying with State law about updates and Jessi Bon, deputy city manager, wrote Sammamish Comment that “we submitted our revised Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) to the State at the end of February. We’ve been working really hard with our consultant, Gail Harris, to bring this plan into compliance and this was one of our highest priorities. I’m anticipating one round of review/editing and then the plan will likely be adopted.”

The City, despite a major earthquake zone called the Seattle Fault that enters around the 7-11 on East Lake Sammamish Parkway and continues under Pine Lake, hasn’t kept up with earthquake or disaster preparedness. There are two other fault lines in the south end of the City as well.

“This fall/winter, Gail also took our entire staff through the basic ICS training,” Bon wrote The Comment. “Although many of us had the training before, it was a good refresher. Our new Emergency Manager is a certified trainer, so one of his duties will be to ensure the staff maintain basic certifications, while also selecting individuals to pursue advanced training.

“It’s also worth mentioning that we had a prolonged inclement weather event last month. We activated the Emergency Operations Center to coordinate our response. This was a really good opportunity for our staff teams (we had over 50% of our employees engage in the response) to practice what they have been learning. We also took time to debrief the incident and are using the feedback to guide our planning and preparation as we move forward.”

The job responsibilities of Stevens are:

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and lead the City’s emergency management and emergency preparedness programs.
• Ensure that the City is in compliance with all Washington State emergency management, FEMA, and Homeland Security laws and directives; completing any reporting mandates by these agencies.
• Plan, oversee and provide training in all aspects and phases of emergency management and emergency preparedness; develop, coordinate and support emergency management exercises and drills; manage volunteers, including annual retraining requirements.
• Develop and write plans and updates for the City’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, Hazard Mitigation Plan, COOP/COG Plan, Recovery Plan, NIMS compliance, and all other emergency management plans; draft policies, procedures and various emergency management checklists; develop and maintain forms, logs and resource lists for the emergency operations center; develop and update plans and standard operating guidelines for the center; ensure plans are current and comply with applicable federal, state and local laws.
• Staff and support the City’s Emergency Management Advisory Committee as outlined in City Ordinance; ensuring it has a diverse representation of the City’s community partners
• Respond to emergency events within the City that involve emergency operations; perform duties within the emergency operations center as assigned; coordinate documentation of activities, expense and reimbursement activities during the recovery phase of any emergency.
• Serve as professional resource to various organizations and committees, including inter-jurisdictional groups; attend and participate in group meetings and activities as assigned; participate in public relations activities in support of program; make public presentations as assigned.
• Develop and implement a public outreach campaign to promote family and individual emergency preparedness, the emergency organization of neighborhoods and businesses, and school safety.
• Oversee the credentialing of all Registered Volunteer Disaster Works in the city, i.e. Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Amateur Radio members, and any spontaneous volunteers.
• Represent the City to other local, county, state and federal governments and agencies in matters relating to emergency preparedness and emergency management.
• Participate in the development of policy guidelines, decisions, program work plans, goals, and objectives.
• Coordinate studies and implementation efforts with appropriate City officials, Council, staff and other governmental entities.
• Gather, assemble and analyze data; participate in budget development; research and recommend grant opportunities; prepare grant applications and manage and monitor grants received; compile information for statistical, financial and budget reports; draft documents including motions, contracts, ordinances and grants; administer contracts with other agencies.
• Oversee contractual services as assigned; negotiate scope of services for contracts; monitor contracts for compliance; review invoices and evaluate contractor performance; terminate or close contracts as necessary or appropriate.
• Develop and implement various safety drills for City facilities, including evacuations, lock downs and earthquakes.
• Ensure primary and alternate emergency operation centers are ready and operational; acquire and train on use of technology and equipment.
• Ensure communications and warning systems are tested and up-to-date with current information of staff, volunteers and community partners who will be needed during an emergency.
• May be assigned to provide assistance or direction to lower level professional and clerical personnel, extra help staff or to volunteers.
• Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.