Education

City, Tulsa County no longer emergency management partners

City, Tulsa County no longer emergency management partners

Kevin Canfield
Tulsa World Reporter
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After formally partnering for more than 60 years to fund and operate the Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency, the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County are ending the agreement and will hire their own emergency management directors.
The county announced Thursday that it has hired Bill Smiley to be its emergency management director, according to a county press release. He began work Wednesday and will earn between $85,000 and $95,000, according to the county’s job description.
Smiley has worked as a certified emergency manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Tulsa District and for the Oklahoma VA Health Care System. In 2022, he was named Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association Public Official of the Year.
“With Bill’s expertise and leadership, we are better positioned to meet challenges head-on and safeguard our community for the future,” said Board of County Commission Chairman Lonnie Sims.
City of Tulsa Public Safety Commissioner Laurel Roberts will serve as interim emergency management director for the city until a permanent hire is made.
“The director will oversee disaster preparedness, hazard mitigation, training, and coordination with city departments and other local, state and federal partners,” the Mayor’s Office said in a statement. “While transitional arrangements may be used in the short term, the long-term goal is to have a permanent director dedicated exclusively to serving the residents of Tulsa.”
TAEMA was established in 1961, and for years its headquarters and emergency operations center has been located in the city’s Police-Courts Building downtown. That won’t change with the end of TAEMA. The agency is expected to cease operations by the end of the year and be replaced with a new emergency management arrangement between the city and county.
The city’s new approach is based on best practices and will clear lines of responsibility, ensuring transparency in planning and response, according to the Mayor’s Office.
“The city will also have an expert embedded into city operations providing specialized emergency preparedness and response tailored to Tulsa’s specific needs across departments,” the Mayor’s Office said.
The city and county will work on continuity plans as they transition to the new approach, the Mayor’s Office said, and the shared resources the city has in place with the county will continue and the city’s incident command structure will remain the same.
City and county officials said the new arrangement — yet to be finalized — will align with the emergency operations model used in other major cities across the country, including Oklahoma City.
“This will provide an efficient way to deliver emergency management services to Tulsa County residents by combining the experience and passion of two seasoned emergency managers,” said Tulsa County Public Information Officer Ethan Hutchins. “While the previous joint TAEMA director position was effective, this new structure ensures dedicated expertise is embedded within both the city and the county, strengthening our overall emergency response.”
Sims and Mayor Monroe Nichols said that partnership is not going away but will instead take a different and better form.
“While we believe it’s beneficial to have an expert embedded within city operations on matters of emergency management, the city and county will continue to collaborate and share resources to create better outcomes for the residents we serve,” Nichols said.
Sims described the move as a “critical step to modernize the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County emergency management operations.”
The news comes approximately two months after former TAEMA Director Joe Kralicek was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. He resigned Aug. 12 and has yet to enter a plea.
TAEMA’s deputy director, Tony Roda, had been serving as interim director since Kralicek’s resignation.
kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com
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Kevin Canfield
Tulsa World Reporter
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