EVERETT – The Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management is facing an uncertain future as two of its biggest backers pull out.
Everett left the agency earlier this year, and Snohomish County plans to form its own emergency management department in 2006.
The department, founded in 1951, coordinates the response to floods, earthquakes and other emergencies. It will lose $300,000, or 75 percent of its funding, when the county withdraws.
That leaves the 12 other cities in the organization to decide whether to join the county’s department in an advisory role or find another way to provide the services. The cities are expected to decide April 21 whether they’ll disband the department.
The county is urging the cities to join its department, but some leaders worry they would be ignored. The new department would be under the authority of the county executive and council, leaving cities in an advisory role.
“The perception is Big Brother is going to tell (the cities) the way it is and what they’re going to pay,” said Eric Andrews, chief of Snohomish County Fire District 22 in Gold Bar and deputy chief of Fire District 7 in Clearview.
Andrews also questioned how the county would fund the new department.
“They’re telling us they don’t have the money to fund all their services, and now they want to take on another one,” he said.
County Executive Aaron Reardon said the costs to cities wouldn’t change and emergency management would improve.
“DEM is a great organization for a pre-9-11 era. It was formed to address floods and other natural disasters. It’s ill-equipped to address the changing needs of Snohomish County,” Reardon said.
The county is also raising legal concerns about the department. Federal rules require that at least one homeland security grant go directly to the county.
The state and Snohomish County are still sorting out whether the department could accept grants, said Laura Vander Meer, a spokeswoman for the state emergency management division.
Money already received by Snohomish County isn’t in danger of being lost, she added.
Reardon said the county needs its own department for better preparation and protection during emergencies. He noted that the Department of Emergency Management failed to pass its budget for three months because too few members attended the meetings.
The county would continue to listen to and work with the cities, Reardon said. Some city leaders say they’re waiting to see the county’s plan in writing.
“Why would we go from paying to have a voice to paying to not have a voice?” said Brad Feilberg, Monroe’s engineering director. “The DEM is everyone working together.”
The department now includes Snohomish County and the cities of Arlington, Darrington, Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Index, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo, Snohomish, Stanwood and Sultan.
The changes “are something that I feel is unfortunate. It may be inevitable, but I’m hoping we can do the best thing for everyone. I don’t want it to become a territory war,” Gold Bar Mayor Colleen Hawkins said Tuesday.
Several cities that are now part of the agency are considering joining the Emergency Services Coordinating Agency, which serves south Snohomish County cities. South county cities formed the agency 22 years ago. The state requires cities to have emergency plans and services.
“Some of the cities we’ve heard from are not in favor of the idea of being underneath the county. Some of them are trying to determine what their options are,” said Lyn Gross, emergency services director for the Emergency Services Coordinating Agency.
The county and Everett’s desire to form their own emergency management departments makes sense, Department of Emergency Management manager Roger Serra said.
“It’s part of the growing process,” he said, citing other counties and large cities in the state that have their own departments of emergency management.
“Right now, Snohomish County is one of the leading counties in the state for emergency management,” Serra said. “My hope is we will continue to be on the leading edge, and I expect Snohomish County will be able to do that.”
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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