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Council approves emergency management coordinator position and $52,300 amendment after county briefing
Summary
Poulsbo council approved a part‑time emergency management coordinator job description and a $52,300 budget amendment after a detailed presentation from Kitsap County emergency management about mutual‑aid, evacuation planning and local resilience tools.
Poulsbo’s City Council voted 5–2 on Aug. 14 to approve a new emergency management coordinator position — funded by a $52,300 budget amendment — after a presentation and question‑and‑answer session with Kitsap County emergency management director Jan Glarem.
Glarem told the council Kitsap County’s emergency management role is to “be prepared for and respond to and recover from disasters and emergencies,” and described the county as a conduit to state and federal resources. “We want to use your plans, which is why we want to help jurisdictions develop their plans,” Glarem said, adding that county volunteers and credentialed EOC staff can support a city’s Emergency Operations Center when needed. Councilmembers pressed for specifics on the county’s level‑of‑service to Poulsbo, evacuation planning, public‑information support and whether the county would run day‑to‑day preparedness if the city did not hire a local coordinator.
Councilmember Stern said he supports the position in concept but opposed approving it as a late budget amendment outside the regular budget cycle: “I’m gonna vote against this at this time… not because I’m not for this position, but because it’s being handled as a budget amendment,” Stern said. Councilmember McVeigh moved to approve the job description and the amendment; Tabor, Crow, Liddell, Eggert and McVeigh voted yes, and Stern and Newell voted no. The council directed staff to proceed with recruitment and to coordinate closely with county DEM to align local plans and expectations.
Why it matters: Council members and staff said the city has been operating without a dedicated emergency coordinator for years, and several members argued having a local employee would improve preparedness, staff training and interagency coordination ahead of future emergencies. The county representative said local capacity-building is the department’s priority and that county resources are intended to supplement — not replace — jurisdictional responsibilities.
