What are some of the projects and activities of APWAs Emergency Management Committee?
It’s a really great group of people. We’ve been monitoring the development of the Department of Homeland Security, and trying to make sure that public works is included in whatever is being created. Often fire, police, and EMS are included in programs and policies, but not public works. Public works is such an essential piece of the emergency response picture. Many times fire and police respond and leave after the emergency is resolved, but the incident may not be over—that is where public works comes in, such as in removing debris and reconstructing damaged facilities. If it had not been for public works agencies, the city wouldn’t have been able to fully recover from September 11. The committee does advocacy work on behalf of APWA, and has also done a couple of publications. Last year we published an Emergency Management Field Manual for Public Works, and I was involved in that effort. We had a publications task force, and six or seven people wrote different sections. This year we’re
