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After tornadoes, emergency manager seeks laptops, AEDs and a public information officer
Summary
Jason Lane asked for laptops and small contingencies to run the emergency operations center, plus a public information officer to improve post-disaster communication and coordination after recent tornadoes in western Parker County.
Jason Lane, Parker County’s emergency management coordinator, told commissioners that tornado responses revealed gaps in equipment, staffing and public messaging. He requested three laptops for the emergency operations center ($8,760), AEDs ($3,000), a small overtime contingency (about $5,000; $6,076 with taxes) and a public information officer to handle post-disaster community messaging and coordination with nonprofits and churches.
"So what I've got in the request in the budget is for, public information officer to help with, sharing information to the public, post disaster," Jason said, describing the volume of tasks after recent tornadoes—including damage assessments, coordinating outside partners and responding to rumor activity on social media. Commissioners acknowledged his heavy workload during responses and suggested exploring containment of costs through consolidated contingency funds or partial solutions short of a new full-time hire.
Jason said the PIO position would also support ongoing outreach about county services and help maintain public trust by pushing concise, timely information following disasters. The court asked emergency management and budget staff to continue offline discussions about less-costly alternatives and return with options for the budget committee.
