Meet the Team.
Our first team member is Wilburn L. (Butch) Baker, Jr., but everybody just calls him Butch. Butch first became the county emergency management director in September 1997 and served in that position until September 1999. He then accepted a job with the State of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, as the area 5 coordinator. That job took him to Orlando, Florida, for over five years, where he oversaw the emergency management programs for eight counties. Butch had always wanted to return to Franklin County, so, in 2004, when he was contacted by the county, and was told the director’s job was coming open again, he jumped at the opportunity, got hired and started his second tour of duty as director on January 3, 2005. Butch has completed the required training and received his certificates for the Professional Development Series (PDS) and Advanced Professional Series (APS) from the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). Plus, he has been certified by EMI to teach the higher-level Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Incident Command System (ICS) courses.
Next let’s meet the rest of the team, Mike Rundel and Pam Register. They both came on board in October of 2005. (Thanks to Hurricane Dennis)
Mike is the coordinator, and the heir apparent for the director’s job, when Butch retires. He is also a volunteer fire fighter for the Lanark Village Volunteer Fire Department. Mike attended the State of Florida Emergency Management Academy, in February of 2006. While there, he earned his Professional Development Series Certification. In 2007, he attended the prestigious hurricane training course at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), in Miami, Florida. Mike has also been certified by EMI to teach the higher-level FEMA ICS courses. Mike is responsible for managing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants that provide the money for our training and exercise programs. Plus, he handles all the pre-event contract development for our debris removal program.
Pam is the office administrator, and heir apparent for the director’s job, when Mike retires. Pam also attended the State of Florida Emergency Management Academy, in February 2006, where she earned her PDS certification. She has completed all the available ICS courses, and requires only the ICS Train-the-Trainer course to be certified by EMI to teach the higher-level FEMA ICS courses. She is responsible for maintaining the National Incident Management System (NIMS) certification list for the entire county, and she provides one-on-one training for the introductory level ICS training for county employees and anyone else who is required to have it. She is scheduled to attend the NHC hurricane course, in Miami, Florida, in January 2008. Pam heads up the People with Special Needs (PSN) Program, and has been instrumental in hammering out all the agreements and contracts to provide evacuation transportation for the PSN and the transportation disadvantaged people for whom we are responsible. She also oversees our Faith-Based Liaison Program, which actively supports our evacuation plans. Probably, her most difficult job is keeping Butch and Mike out of trouble.
Butch has lots of interesting stories of events he has seen and been a part of though the years in emergency management. Come out and take a look around and let him share some of those stories with you. I am sure when you leave; you will understand why we say run from the water and hide from the wind. It is not if, but when.
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