Ideally, it would be great to have people with state level experience working in local government emergency management agencies. Likewise, it would be wonderful to have staff who once worked at the local level to work in state government emergency management agencies. They bring a reality check to what states are "thinking" would be good for local programs.
But, this isn't happening as a two way street. Instead you have a one-way highway with people with state level experience leaving for the greener (higher paying) pastures of local government. This is not something that has been confined to just this economic downturn. Instead I've seen this happen for many years, including my own transition from state emergency management to a local director position 15 years ago. This is not a long term healthy situation for a balanced emergency management program within a state.
While my direct experience is limited to Washington State, I'm making an assumption that it is not unlike that which may exist in other states. Please share the situation in your state and if this is true where you live and work. Having state level organizations be farm teams weakens the system overall. Perhaps the situation may change a little bit when the economy does improve, but I'm thinking this is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed in the long term and it does not have a quick fix solution that will happen anytime soon.
