DECEMBER - 20218GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKBIN MYOPINIONDon't Forget EM, Ya'll!Jeff Johnston, CEM, Asst. City Manager / Deputy EM Coordinator, City of McAllen, TexasBye sure you read that title correctly. It's not "Don't forget `em, ya'll!" It's "Don't forget EM, ya'll!" The lack of that small punctuation mark signifies something very different, and much needed in today's world ­ Emergency Management (EM). Our world today certainly seems more out of sorts than most of us have seen in our lifetimes: worldwide pandemic, fierce storms and wildfires, civil unrest, an active hurricane season... In times like these, the importance of Emergency Management is clear. Many organizations and municipalities have spent a great deal of time and effort over the past years, perhaps decades, ensuring that their contingency plans were current and well-exercised. In 2020, those organizations were stressed, but not as much as those who simply didn't put much thought into preparedness. "It'll never happen to us," or "It could never get THAT bad," are phrases they might have uttered in days past. Those organizations are likely still reeling from this year's reality - they just weren't as ready as they could have been.One challenge that many top managers face is how to justify spending on Emergency Management when other expenditures are more pressing, more visible, and may provide more short-term benefit. Since most organizations are not facing a major disaster at any given time, perhaps the better approach is not to focus on the current state of affairs, but rather to consider where they would like their organization to be WHEN (not if) disaster strikes. Benjamin Franklin famously stated, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Shortly after a disaster strikes, your stockholders, your customers, or your citizens will all begin to realize just how prepared you were. You will either be a winner or a loser.Often, management's concern is bringing additional employees into the workforce solely to work on EM while other divisions are demanding staff as well. While the philosophy of EM (do we, or don't we need to prepare) is arguably an either-or decision, the details of how an organization gets there doesn't have to be. Years ago I found myself the lone EM employee in a large city. For a variety of reasons, my annual requests for additional personnel were routinely denied. One year I modified my approach Jeff Johnston
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