The Western Washington State Fair started last Friday here in Puyallup. It got me to thinking about how the fair and the town has changed over the last 20 years that we have lived here. Anyone who left when we arrived and who might come back for a visit would be amazed at the changes in traffic, buildings, the economy, and people's attitudes.
Puyallup was a farming community. Rich valley soils with nutrients from repeated river flooding and lahars which have occurred over the centuries. What is now a valley was once a gorge. Today it really functions much more as a suburb of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound Metroplex.
All of the above got me to thinking about how emergency management has also changed significantly over the last 20 years. To begin with there are many more emergency management programs than there were before. Here in Washington State generally you had county level programs. Cities have grown as have the number of disasters and their impacts. Elected officials rightly decided to put public funding towards better protecting their communities.
I finally read the "Protecting Organizational Crisis Readiness" document that is listed below in an earlier blog posting. In it one of the best ways to improve a program is to have at least one person dedicated to the task. This is something I've preached for years to elected officials.
Just as some would not recognize Puyallup with all the changes, bringing an emergency manager back after being gone from the profession to see the scope of what is required in today's world would surprise and amaze a person.
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Puyallup was a farming community. Rich valley soils with nutrients from repeated river flooding and lahars which have occurred over the centuries. What is now a valley was once a gorge. Today it really functions much more as a suburb of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound Metroplex.
All of the above got me to thinking about how emergency management has also changed significantly over the last 20 years. To begin with there are many more emergency management programs than there were before. Here in Washington State generally you had county level programs. Cities have grown as have the number of disasters and their impacts. Elected officials rightly decided to put public funding towards better protecting their communities.
I finally read the "Protecting Organizational Crisis Readiness" document that is listed below in an earlier blog posting. In it one of the best ways to improve a program is to have at least one person dedicated to the task. This is something I've preached for years to elected officials.
Just as some would not recognize Puyallup with all the changes, bringing an emergency manager back after being gone from the profession to see the scope of what is required in today's world would surprise and amaze a person.
