Cayuga County鈥檚 administrator announced Friday night that several unexpected resignations have left the county emergency management office understaffed.
Members of the Cayuga County Legislature, county fire chiefs and ambulance providers were notified Friday night by Cayuga County Administrator J. Justin Woods that county Planning Director Steve Lynch has been given management oversight of the emergency management office "following the unexpected resignations of several staff."
A memo from Woods issued Friday said the office currently has only one full-time staff person and 15 part-time employees.
"Ensuring adequate emergency services and preserving our ability to respond to large and small emergencies while rebuilding EMO capacities is our top priority," Woods wrote.
"We are going to immediately set up a meeting with the Deputy Coordinators to discuss developing an on call system for the different regions of the County to ensure adequate support for emergency operations. ... All of the Deputy Coordinators and Fire Investigators are intending to continue in their current capacities. In the meantime, Fire Departments have been instructed to contact their assigned coordinators or the office to meet their operational needs.鈥
People are also reading…
The situation comes about a little more than a month after the county Legislature appointed retired Syracuse firefighter W. Douglas Whittaker as the part-time director of the office to develop a reorganization for emergency management and E-911.
Niel Rivenburgh, who was still listed on the county website Friday night as "acting director" of the office, had been put in charge in 2017 when former longtime office director Brian Dahl became ill.
It was unclear from the county's late Friday night announcement how many people had resigned from their jobs and what positions they had held.
鈥淪teve and the Planning Department will support EMO during this transition by facilitating a process that seeks input from our first responders about how the department should be structured and staffed, as well as ensuring experienced representation on an eventual search committee for new leadership,鈥 Woods wrote. 鈥淚n the meantime, we have developed a short-term plan to ensure we can best meet the planning, training, and operational needs of our first responders.鈥
Woods said that through the Statewide Emergency Management Assistance Compact, "should circumstances exceed our present capacity, we are confident that we can access any resources needed to meet emergency situations.鈥
Woods said that Cayuga County would be reaching out to abutting counties on Monday to put them on notice of the change in staffing levels.
Woods said that Lynch was selected to provide interim management oversight of the EMO office "primarily for his experience in facilitating stakeholder engagement, as well as his staff鈥檚 expertise in planning, and grant writing and administration.鈥
Woods said that several planning staff are already involved in hazard mitigation, emergency planning and grant administration and that this redundancy will also assist in ensuring continuity of operations.
