This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Listen to this story by clicking the LISTEN play button above.
David Nicholas: Montmorency and Alpena counties were hit hard by major ice storms in March. As those counties continue to recover, they're talking about sharing an emergency manager.
WCMU News director Rick Brewer spoke with reporter AJ Jones about the plan, and its uncertain future.
Rick Brewer: So AJ, to start out, what exactly does an emergency manager do, and why does it matter so much?
AJ Jones: The emergency manager is responsible for leading disaster responses and in staging responses in a natural disaster. Now they're the ones tasked with pre planning for emergencies, putting together things like emergency plans, drills, etc.
RB: So why exactly were Alpena and Montmorency counties discussing sharing an emergency manager in the first place?
AJ: So, both of these counties are population wise, on the smaller side. The two counties had part-time emergency managers. Montmorency’s had resigned back in October, and the counties got together and this idea was pitched as a cost cutting logistics measure, right?
So, you have one emergency manager full time position as opposed to two part-time interim positions, which is how they've been operating, and that one person can set up two plans, do all these things for both of these counties, and the Alpena board had voted unanimously to finalize a job posting for that position back in February. So the plan was to have all of this, you know, in the works by, you know, around early April, and then March’s major ice storm hit.
RB: So then what happens next, how are people in the area feeling about this proposal after the ice storm?
AJ: So, officials in Montmorency told me the ice storm put a lot of things in flux with regard to this plan and the disaster response was really big in that particular county. They needed a lot of outside help. They got a lot of help from other counties, including Alpena, and help from statewide officials.
I've spoken to a couple of officials in Montmorency who are now a bit more skeptical about the plan because the big question is, Can one person, one emergency manager, manage two different counties without one county sort of getting the short end of the stick, as it were?
I spoke to Michelle Hamlin, a Montmorency County Commissioner who, you know, echoed those concerns, right. There are concerns that this emergency manager plan might raise logistical questions.
Michelle Hamlin: You have to decide if your two neighboring counties, you're worried, who's going to get shafted, you know, who's going to get more help than the other because, yeah, you're going to have to pull yourself one way or the other.
AJ: Hamlin did tell me that the plan is still under consideration and there's more discussion that needs to be had.
RB: We have some perspective from Montmorency County, AJ, but you also talked to some folks in Alpena. What did they say?
AJ: I spoke with John Kozlowski. He is the chairman of the Alpena Board of Commissioners. He said he was looking to reach out to Montmorency leadership, and he's still in favor of the agreement.
As for the logistical concerns, he said he would be OK with the emergency manager focusing on Montmorency County if that needed to be the case. If there was another emergency of this scale.
John Kozlowski: Whoever needed the most dedicated focus is what we would do, and if that meant to have that person dedicate their time to Montmorency, we could, Alpena could, manage during the interim.
RB: And AJ, it's also worth noting that Montmorency County had a commission meeting just a couple of days ago to discuss this matter at hand, and the sources that I also spoke with on this story, they said that there has been no conclusion about whether or not they're going to move forward with their proposal.
AJ, as we continue our ice storm coverage here at WCMU, what else do you have your eye on?
AJ: So, I've spoken to multiple officials in Northern Michigan and one concern that I hear popping up again and again is, you know, fear of wildfires. So as you're aware, a lot of trees have been snapped, there's a lot of limbs and brush on the ground and a lot of officials are worried that this could make wildfire season this summer particularly bad.
We're still following developments with regard to potential federal aid. Governor Whitmer has requested a declaration from the federal government, FEMA have been to multiple counties across northern Michigan surveying damage, the officials in Alpena I spoke to told me that FEMA is up there doing their reviews. This ice storm is going to, the after effects of that are going to linger around for a while.
RB: They most certainly will, and the WCMU newsroom will be following all of this reporting and AJ, thank you for your contributions today. We appreciate it.
AJ: You're welcome.
