Kenmore council presses for clearer city emergency-management roles while praising NEMCO volunteers

Kenmore — After a consultant review and a heavy turn-out from North Shore Emergency Management Coalition (NEMCO) volunteers on July 28, the Kenmore City Council directed staff to pursue options to “repurpose” the coalition’s organizational arrangements while preserving its volunteer capacity and to return with plans to strengthen city staff emergency-management readiness.

The consultant, Jody Ferguson of Ferguson Consulting, told council she had evaluated the city’s emergency-management program against industry standards and focused on whether paid city staff had the administrative documentation and capacity to work alongside volunteers in a major incident. “This analysis was not focused on the NEMCO volunteers,” she said. “Frankly, this group is a model for how this work is done.”

Why it matters: Council members said they value NEMCO’s training, equipment and community reach, but several said the city also needs documented continuity-of-operations plans, clearer lines of authority and at least part-time paid staff time to reduce risk if an individual staffer is…