Emergency Management

Public Employees Leadership Institute
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Modules

1. Departmental emergency policies
2. Planning for emergencies
3. Practice exercises: police and fire
4. Coordination and assistance
5. Disasters: flooding in Des Moines
6. Disasters: flooding in Ames
7. Disasters: tornadoes/wind
8. Disasters: blizzards/ice in counties
9. Disasters: blizzards/ice in cities


Dealing with some of nature’s worst disasters is never any fun, no matter whether you are a new rookie or a seasoned veteran of public works. The chaos and extent of the overall devastation involved can be very overwhelming and it could be very easy to fall into the “Gone with the Wind” trap of “What will I do? I will worry about that tomorrow!” However, we know that public works employees often must take the lead in solving problems and restoring normalcy (normality?) to our constituents. We do this by clearing obstructions to transportation, cleaning up public and some private areas after storms. Often these paths are urgently needed by other emergency personnel, including fire, police, red cross, and others. It is by all working in unison that these tasks are accomplished most efficiently.

Today’s program will lead you through many of the steps required to make your portion of that work as simple as possible. After reviewing steps needed in your own department, the same will be reviewed for the entire municipality. Area-wide planning, training exercises, and assistance available to all from the state and federal homeland security and emergency management agencies will complete the planning agenda and the remainder of the session will review some of Iowa’s recent disasters, how officials coped and lessons they learned and can share with us.

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to:

  • Identify key points in the department’s emergency plan
  • Understand the importance of municipal and area wide plans
  • Exercise good judgment through training exercises
  • Understand the planning, training and financial assistance that is available from Homeland Security & FEMA
  • Gain insight from other agencies experiences with floods, windstorms & snow and ice disasters
Instructors

Position
Johnson County Engineer


Education
BS in Civil Engineering; Colorado State University
MS in Civil Engineering; Iowa State University


Experience
Greg Parker has served as the Johnson County Engineer for twelve years. He has over 25 years of experience from previous employment with Cities, other counties, and as a private consultant.

He received a BS in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and a MS in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University.

He is a member of the Iowa County Engineers Association (ICEA), the National Association of County Engineers (NACE), the American Public Works Association (APWA), the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

He is the current Chair of the APWA Road Safety Sub-committee, Member of AASHTO/Winter Maintenance Technical Service Program, NACE Safety Committee, NACO Transportation Committee and past president of the Iowa Chapter – APWA.


Professional affiliations
Iowa County Engineers Association (ICEA)
National Association of County Engineers (NACE)
American Public Works Association (APWA), Iowa (past president)
National Society of Profession Engineers (NSPE
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)


Other Institute course(s)
Resource Management Skills
Winter Maintenance Management

Position
Emergency Management Coordinator; Butler County, Iowa
Incident Command Specialist/Instructor; Iowa Central College Department of Homeland Security Training Bureau
Field Instructor; Iowa Fire Service Training Bureau


Education
Taken numerous classes with Incident Management at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland
Certified Emergency Manager in the State of Iowa


Experience
Mitch Nordmeyer is currently Emergency Management Coordinator for Butler County Iowa. Mitch is an Incident Command Specialist/Instructor for Iowa Central College Department of Homeland Security Training Center specializing in Incident Command courses and is certified to teach NIMS, ICS-100-200-300-400, ICS-402 for Senior/Elected Officials, G-775 EOC Mgmt, G-191 ICS/EOC Interface, IS-701 (Multi-Agency Coordination), IS-702 (Public Information Systems), IS-703 (Resource Management), and IS-704 (Communications & Information Management). He is also Field Instructor for the Iowa Fire Service Training Bureau.

Mitch has been a member of The Greene Fire Dept. for more than 30 years and is currently Captain in charge of training. In his 30+ years of emergency responder experience, he has battled the usual areas of command such as fires, vehicle extrications, missing persons, etc. He has also had the chance to experience more serious disasters like the floods of ’93, ’99, & 2004 (Butler County Iowa), ice storm of 2007 (Butler County Iowa), and more recently was the initial Operations Section Chief for the first 37 hours of the devastating EF5 tornado that destroyed much of Parkersburg, Iowa. He has taken numerous classes dealing with Incident Management at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and is a Certified Emergency Manager in the State of Iowa. Mitch continues to explore the need for more training in order to provide better information to the emergency responders in Butler County.

Mitch is passionate about his profession and the need for better communications and interoperability for all of those entities that may be involved with incident response.

Position
Fire Chief; City of West Des Moines (retired)


Education
MS in Science — Organizational Development; Iowa State University


Experience
Don Cox has an MS degree in Science- Organizational Development from Iowa State University.

His career began as a volunteer Fire Fighter in Iowa in 1972. He served as the Training Officer with the City of Seminole, Florida from 1978-1988. Formerly a Fire Service Instructor with Iowa State University (1988-1992). Don was the Fire Chief the Town of Menasha, Wisconsin (1992-2000) and after that he served as the Fire Chief in the City of West Des Moines, Iowa.

Don is now retired.

Position
Formerly with Office of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management


Experience
Susan Green has over 30 years experience in the field.

Susan’s background includes serving as a local Emergency Coordinator for two different counties in Missouri, serving as Executive Director of an American Red Cross Chapter in Missouri and working with the State Of Missouri Emergency Management in the Training and Exercise Bureau, and working with the office of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Position
Was Director of Public Works, City of Des Moines at the time of this presentation


Education
BA; Grinnell College
MS in Engineering; University of Wisconsin
MS in Industrial Relations; University of Illinois
Juris Doctor; Loyola University Law School


Experience
Bill Stowe was the director of Des Moines Public Works at the time of this presentation and prior to that served the City of Des Moines as Senior Operations Leader, Senior Management Team Leader, and Human Resources Director. Bill has also worked for MidAmerican Energy in various capacities, leading up to the position of Operations Manager. His previous work with Shell Oil and Inland Steel in the area of Labor and Industrial Relations had given him a strong background in administration, bargaining, and labor.

Bill has a BA from Grinnell College, an MS in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, an MS in Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University Law School.


Professional affiliations
Past President of APWA Iowa Chapter
American, State, and County Bar Associations
American Arbitration Association National Panelist for Construction or Commercial Dispute
American Society of Civil Engineers


Other Institute course(s)
Community Service / Customer Orientation Skills

Position
Ames Water and Pollution Control Department Director


Education
BS in Chemical Engineering; Iowa State University
MS in Business Administration; Iowa State University
Licensed as a registered Professional Engineer in Iowa
Holds an Iowa grade III wastewater operator’s license


Experience
John Dunn is an Iowa native and a two-time graduate of Iowa State University, having received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

John is licensed as a registered Professional Engineer in Iowa, and also holds an Iowa grade III wastewater operators license. He has worked in the water and wastewater fields since 1989, and has held positions ranging from analytical chemist to staff environmental engineer to senior management roles.

He currently serves the Ames community as Director of the Ames Water and Pollution Control Department.

Position
City of Iowa City Retired Director of Public Works


Education
BS in Civil Engineering; Iowa State University


Experience
Rick Fosse received his BS in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University in 1982. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Iowa.

Rick has served the City of Iowa City in various capacities including Director of Public Works, City Engineer and Civil Engineer. Prior to joining Iowa City, Rick served two years as an Environmental Engineer for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.


Professional affiliations
Past President; Iowa Chapter of APWA
American Society of Civil Engineers
Past member; University of Iowa Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professional Advisory Board
Past member; University of Iowa College of Engineering Professional Advisory Board

Position
Tama County Engineer


Education
BS in Civil Engineering; Iowa State University


Experience
Lyle Brehm was raised on a dairy farm in Dubuque County and graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in Civil Engineering. He served as the assistant to the Benton County Engineer for four years, before being appointed the Tama County Engineer in 2000.

In 2003, Lyle joined a few other dual county engineers that work in that shared capacity for two adjacent counties, thereby doubling his experiences!

Lyle is a member of the National Association of County Engineers and has been active in the Iowa County Engineers Association, serving on several committees through the years. He is currently the chair of the Legislative Committee and serves as the legislative liaison for the association at the state level. He is married with three young sons to claim as much of his spare time as he can make available.


Professional affiliations
National Association of County Engineers
Iowa County Engineers Association in several committees, currently chair of the Legislative Committee

Position
City of Dubuque Public Works Director


Experience
John Klosterman joined the City of Dubuque in 1975. He has held a series of positions with progressively more responsibility. He served as the City’s street and sewer maintenance supervisor from 1994 to 2016. In that position, his responsibilities included the planning and operations of riverfront maintenance, street and traffic lighting, flood control, street, and sewer maintenance, including snow and ice control operations. In May of 2016, he was appointed to the position of Public Works Director where he is responsible for the oversite and development of the operating and capital improvement budgets for the activities listed above, along with refuse collection and recycling, landfill operations and the municipal garage activities.

John is a current member of the American Public Works Association and was a member of the APWA Iowa Chapter Board from 1999-2004, serving as president in 2003.


Professional affiliations
Member since 1994; APWA
Former President; APWA Iowa Chapter
Member; American Public Works Subcommittee on Winter Maintenance


Other Institute course(s)
Supervisory Techniques and Skills

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