Putnam Asst. 911 Director Could Move To Full Time EMA Under Proposed Budget

Putnam County EMA asking the county commission to approve current 911 Assistant Director Brandon Smith to go full-time with EMA.

EMA Director Tyler Smith said that Brandon Smith currently splits his time between the 911 and EMA Departments. He said this change would streamline the process, and be a huge asset to the EMA department.

“He’s developed relationships with the community, he’s our public information officer, and he would oversee day-to-day planning in the emergency operations center,” Smith said. “Of course, he does a lot of planning and in the GIS mapping, and that’s going to help us a lot with our planning.”

Smith said that the next steps would be to get county commission approval. He said that Brandon Smith would serve as the Planning and Operations Chief.

County Mayor Randy Porter said that this would also help get a good succession plan in place for both the 911 departments and EMA departments.

“We’ve got where they want a full-time 911 Director and they’re willing to pay for it so they’ll pick up all the expenses with that,” Porter said. “You’ve got Tyler Smith who has been there for several years. You’ve got Sharon that has been there longer than I’ve been in county government. So it will come to a point where Sharon will retire and we need someone who will be able to step up and do that position.”

Porter said that Brandon Smith has been training for the position and has done a great job when confronted with emergencies.