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Nevada emergency management announces staff reorganizations as FEMA grant rules shift
Summary
The Division of Emergency Management/Homeland Security outlined staff reassignments, a planned move to an Office of Emergency Management and anticipated changes to FEMA grant thresholds and cost shares at the June 3 Nevada Tribal Emergency Coordinating Council meeting.
Brett Compson, chief of the Division of Emergency Management/Homeland Security, told the Nevada Tribal Emergency Coordinating Council on June 3 that the division has reassigned several staff roles and is preparing for federal changes to disaster grant requirements.
Compson said mitigation has been moved from the preparedness portfolio into the resilience portfolio and named new assignments: Heather Lafferty is serving as the state hazard mitigation officer and chief resilience officer; Bill Elliott is special projects manager; Lindy Downey is preparedness portfolio manager; Eric Wilson is state exercise officer; Blaney Pero is leading the mitigation and recovery grants team; Janae Johnson is leading nonprofit security grants; Janelle Woodward moved to financial reviews on the grants team; and Caitlin Demond joined as a purchasing clerk. Compson also noted departures and retirements, including Jill Picker, Samantha O'Brien and Brent Harper.
"The threshold to qualify for fire management assistance grants is increasing," Compson said, and he warned that "cost shares are gonna go up," adding that many post‑disaster assistance rules were likely to change and impose new requirements on state, local and tribal partners. He said the FEMA regional and national reviews could reconfigure FEMA roles and that a final report from a national review committee is due in October.
Compson reported that the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program has been terminated for new support; existing awards already made and in construction are being worked through by FEMA and the division. He also summarized recent legislative changes the division will implement: the Interstate Mutual Aid Committee (IMAC) will be co‑chaired by the Division of Emergency Management and the Division of Forestry, a loan account to support mitigation match costs was authorized by the storm act, and Senate Bill 38 will allow sharing of school plans with local responders. "All these will be effective on July," Compson said.
Heather Lafferty, identifying herself as the state chief resilience officer, said she is taking on the additional duties of state hazard mitigation officer and that the division is working with the grants team and FEMA Region 9 to clarify the status of BRIC grants in Nevada. Lafferty also said the division maintains a tribal emergency managers coordination call (third Thursday of each month) and runs the Nevada Access and Functional Needs Disaster Coalition jointly with tribal public health staff.
Compson listed other operational items: a completed physical remodel of the emergency operations center in Carson City, an incident support model EOC exercise scheduled for Aug. 14 in Carson City, and dissemination of common evacuation language tied to the Ready, Set, Go program via a one‑page info sheet for local adoption.
Council members asked no follow‑up questions during the session.
Ending: Compson closed by noting an upcoming tabletop exercise with FEMA officials and that staff will continue to share updates as federal guidance is finalized.
