Having Pam Beasley on board as full-time emergency management services director is important in many ways to Allen County, Sheriff Tom Williams told county commissioners Tuesday morning.
His comments came following recent discussions of county budget concerns and a question of whether the position might be cut.
Beasley was appointed EMS director in August 2008 after having been the sheriff’s office manager since 2001. She took on some emergency management responsibilities after Williams was elected in November 2004 .
“When I took office there was nothing in place for emergency management,” required through state mandate, Williams said. “Today we have it all structured very well.”
Much of what is done has to do with weather, but any disaster immediately would draw Beasley’s attention.
Beasley discussed the radio network that permits her to talk with emergency responders in the county or anywhere else in Kansas.
“I can talk to the EMS director in Ulysses,” in far western Kansas, “or in adjacent counties,” Beasley told the Register Tuesday afternoon. Radio towers erected by the Kansas Department of Transportation is at the heart of the radio network.
That capacity of communication is also available at the new Allen County Critical Response Center on north State Street where county dispatchers work.
Williams had a list of other things, including development of community emergency response teams (CERT) and a hazardous response exercise involving Monarch Cement in Humboldt and Allen County Hospital Sept. 29, that occupy Beasley’s time. She also maintains and manages the county CodeRED automated telephone alert system, which gives early warning of severe weather and also can be used in law enforcement applications.
He noted that Kansas Emergency Management Services funds much of the cost of the Allen County position, about $22,000 this year, and “in my opinion losing it as a full-time position would hurt the county. We’ve come a long way. Overall, Allen County is safer because of us having a full-time director.”
Commission Chairman Gary McIntosh said commissioners recognized the value of emergency management, but allowed that better economic times didn’t appear likely soon.
“We have to study the budget closely and may have to make some hard decisions,” he said.
ALLEN COUNTY’S support this year for the Southeast Kansas Drug Task Force, which operates out of Pittsburg, is $7,181, Williams told commissioners.
His budget can support the payment, Williams said, noting that the task force, composed of Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents and area lawmen, has been helpful to communities in southeast Kansas.
“They’ve helped with homicides, robberies and other crimes,” he said.
A new jail in Anderson County has decreased the number of prisoners from outlying counties taken in here, Williams said. The lower census directly affects the Law Enforcement Center’s budget. Williams said he is working to get a higher occupancy rate in the county jail.
Williams said that contrary to some public opinion his officers had no citation quotas to fill while patrolling the county. An increase in tickets issued would not have any financial impact on his department.
“None of the money collected in fines comes to the sheriff’s department or the county general fund,” he observed.
Williams said his officers had targeted drunk drivers in recent weeks and he was pleased to report “they have been successful.”
