Greetings OEMA Members,
Executive Board Members
It has been a while since our conference this last August and I wanted to bring you up to speed on what the OEMA Executive Board is currently working on.
There has been a change in the executive board that I want to inform you about. Sandy Settle was the southwest area alternate vice president and was voted to hold this position at our conference last August. Sandy contacted me within the last few weeks to inform me that his position has changed and that he would need to resign his position as the alternate vice president.
I accepted Sandy’s resignation and was informed that the southwest would be electing a replacement soon. I received an email from Skip Wilkerson, the southwest area vice president, that Kevin Rhoads would be filling this vacated position.
Sandy, you will be missed, you were a very active member of the board. Kevin, welcome back to the board, we look forward to working with you again.
Conference
The OEMA board and OEM continue to work out the details of hosting a one day meeting/training day this coming August 2020, while at the same time, moving the Oklahoma Emergency Management conference to February 2021.
Some issues we are working through:
• We are currently working with OEM to determine if a conference center can be identified and a contract accepted outside of the fiscal year the conference will actually be held.
• We are working to determine what OEMA by-laws will have to change for elections and business meeting.
• We are working to determine what type of training will be hosted in late winter/early spring. Do we change directions, do we include more weather in the absence of the Tornado Summit.
• We are working to ensure that all EMPG sub-recipients will be able to meet their requirements for this fiscal/contract year and for the following fiscal/contract year.
• The rest is related to the logistics associated with the one day conference and new conference date.
Legislative Day
OEMA and OEM are also working on the plans for Legislative Day. There is new information that would suggest that our time in the Capitol will be limited or could be cancelled at any time for the reasons of construction. We are looking at hosting this event primarily in the State EOC with visitation to legislators to limit the impact to construction. We do encourage each of you to attend legislative day. This is a great time to invite those that serve you at the state level to attend the EOC and introduce them to our constituents. It is also a great time to show them what we are working on locally.
Mass Notification
We have starting using our mass notification system to keep members informed of upcoming events and any other information that needs to be shared. If you are a member and have not been receiving notices, and wish to, please get with your Area Vice-President and notify them so your information can be added to the system.
Website
Our website is gaining traction and is coming along. It is our intent to begin posting meeting minutes, agendas, calendar events and blogs from members. Please be patient as we continue to work to get all aspects of the page updated.
I want to thank all of you for your dedication and hard work to our profession. You truly are the strength of our profession.
OEMA President,
Rob Hill