WASHINGTON–The Department of Homeland Security announced in May that 34 small-sized cities will be losing federal grants for emergency management programs. But is it money that makes a city well-equipped to deal with emergency situations?
Some city leaders fear having to cut certain programs they have developed to improve their emergency management, but others say there are more effective tools than money in dealing with emergency planning.
The dependency on federal funding for emergency management is controversial, and Dennis Mileti, retired professor of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Natural Hazards Center, said it’s not Washington’s job.
“To shuck that responsibility and think that the Department of Homeland Security or FEMA will take care of your city is absurd and not at all how America is structured,” Mileti said. “When local government resources are exceeded, they should go to state resources and then finally to federal.”
Mark Tompkins, associate professor of public administration at the University of South Carolina, said the federal government could provide services other than grants that could be more beneficial.
A state, regional or federal program that could provide smaller cities with simulation training exercises could be more beneficial than expensive equipment because local government employees would know their role or where to look for help in time of an emergency, Tompkins said.
“What I’m impressed by are periodic exercises,” he said. “You get everyone in one place and walk through an emergency and get to know who to talk to and what to do.”
The emergency preparedness and readiness levels of cities depend on the type of threat and the size of the city, Mileti said. But those cities that have received the most federal funding have some advantages.
There’s no metric for making the judgment for what cities are best or worst prepared to deal with a terrorist attack or emergency situation, said Monica Schoch-Spana, senior associate with the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC based in Baltimore, Md. But some cities fare better than others due to funding providing the means for professional emergency management staff, special training and tools to communicate with other agencies.
“Certainly the high terrorism risk cities have received significant resources,” Schoch-Spana said. “New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago have had more investments than other cities.”
Gene Shepherd, emergency management leader for Kansas City, Mo. said that city will lose $7.4 million annually due to the cuts. The city will have to fill the gap, he said.
“A lot of it went toward equipment,” Shepherd said. “It’ll continue to be there, but how can we maintain it? The city will need to stand up and provide or we’ll lose capabilities.”
And while Mileti doesn’t think cities should look to federal government first for funding, he sees constraints in dedicating large portions of city budgets to deal with emergency management.
“They face having to spend money on something that might never happen, and taking away money from things that are happening now like schools, teachers’ salaries, new textbooks and potholes,” he said.
Mileti agrees that a strong plan is what makes cities successful in emergency management situations. And it needs to clearly lay out the responsibilities of all departments, not just the first responders.
“The department of public works needs to know what they have to do to remove rubble,” Mileti said. “The department of health needs to know how to deal with bio threats that might arise.”
Schoch-Spana and Tompkins emphasize that successful plans need to include those outside the government as well.
Cities that have developed strong networks with businesses, non-profit groups and community organizations are those that will be best-equipped to deal with an attack or emergency, Schoch-Spana said.
“You saw this working in the Katrina situation,” Tompkins said. “Wal-Mart brought their distribution center in and they had resources and networks ready to go. Plans should look at these issues. If we need to get bottled water or shelter a lot of people, where would we go? Going through the practice gives you the opportunity to learn.”
