Matthew Owen, president of the local firefighter’s union 4394 in Liberty Twp., told the commissioners the EMA has a stellar reputation in many emergency response circles here and nationally and “it’s really pretty shameful the treatment of our county EMA gets from within.”
“The current model has the EMA controlled by a board that I believe the commission has a seat on,” Owen said. “Now our elected officials in Butler County have decided if it ain’t broke let’s blow the whole thing up. Your misguided actions over the past few years have been shameful at the least, very disappointing and possibly at worst dangerous and I can only think you’re listening to the wrong people. This latest attempt to recreate something that is currently completely functional will I’m sure fall flat on its face and cost way more money.”
Presumably he was referring to efforts by Sheriff Richard K. Jones who has tried for decades to take over the agency, but the commissioners haven’t obliged. Commissioner T.C. Rogers told the Journal-News this recent takeover discussion isn’t about the sheriff, although the commissioners did receive a letter from Jones regarding the EMA in November.
“We got a letter a while back about his intent of sending a proposal to take over the EMA, he never sent the proposal,” Rogers said adding he brought up the subject because as the commissioners’ liaison to the EMA he knows the money situation. “They need more money which is why they raised the fees.”
Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News he’s not ruling out Jones’ future involvement with the agency because he said law enforcement isn’t well represented on the EMA board and they should be.
“He (Jones) raises some good points and probably brought the issue up sooner than it would have been, it probably would have been later,” Dixon said. “It was all fire people, there was no law enforcement there and law enforcement are the first responders, they get the call, why aren’t we collaborating with them. I don’t know why but I’m going to find out why.”
Jones’ letter was not immediately available because County Administrator Judi Boyko said it was subject to redaction and review by the prosecutor’s office before they could release it.
EMA Director Jim Bolen told the Journal-News the nine-member executive board “has had law enforcement representation for many, many years” and newly named West Chester Twp. Police Chief Brian Rebholz is on the board currently.
The Emergency Management Agency is not a first responder to emergencies, as the local police and fire agencies retain that role. The EMA becomes involved when incidents beyond a common emergency occur and other marshalling a host of resources is required.
The commissioners decided to begin proceedings to takeover the agency themselves after the EMA board agreed to raise the per capita fees they charge communities— which have been in place since 2010 — from 39 cents to 55 cents next year and 60 cents in 2027. The fee increase will cull an additional $61,742 for a total collection of $212,240 next year and $81,037 more in 2027 for a total of $231,535. The total budget for next year is $699,287 and includes a $67,500 grant from the county general fund.
Jones’ Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said when the sheriff got wind — he always maintained he could save taxpayer money by running the EMA — of the rate hike he reached out to commissioners.
“The sheriff did send a letter when they increased their rate asking them to reconsider the options,” Dwyer said.
Bolen told the Journal-News they raised the rates because the amount of some of their grants has decreased and “the grant environment is changing and we’re seeing less and less federal grants, so we needed to increase it to accommodate the new grant environment as well as the inflationary environment.”
Dixon told the Journal-News the county is in a position and willing to help financially and that includes looking into creating an emergency management system that ensures the smallest jurisdictions — some still rely on all volunteer first responders — are getting top-notch public safety.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Bolen said they would gladly take more funding from the commissioners, “it’s less about the funding and support, there’s nothing preventing the commissioners from providing more financial support than they do now.”
“They’ve always put in funding for our Hazmat Team and our technical rescue and incident support teams, I think that’s great,” Bolen said. “In terms of completely dissolving an agency that is functional and starting an entirely new program that has no guarantees of success and has no guarantees of what that program will look like when it’s executed, that’s my concern.”
Liberty Twp. Fire Chief Ethan Klussman asked the commissioners to “consider the stakeholders and what we would like to see happen with this.”
“I would ask that you entertain all the stakeholders involved before making this decision and maybe table this,” Klussman said. “Whether it’s the police chiefs, the fire chiefs, local hospitals, schools, we all play a stake in what the EMA does for us and how they support us and to not have our voice heard would be detrimental to the services they provide and we also supply the members to these technical teams that supply residents with these services.”
The commissioners said they understand the board is functioning well, but they passed the resolution giving the EMA board 90 days notice — as required by law — so they can study whether these is a better way of handling emergency management. Many other counties statewide have EMA under the commissioners’ control. Boyko said the agency will continue to operate normally during the process which will take months, “this action doesn’t do it.”
They said one of the options could be to keep the status quo.
“I think there is an opportunity to at least look at it and I think we need to do that and I think the stakeholders will be at the table,” Dixon said. “This is not going to happen in a vacuum, it’s not going to happen in a month, it may be months, it could be the end of the year. I think it’s good to look at it and I think there may be opportunities there that we can make things better, expand services.”
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