February 18, 1998 Panel Discussion

SUMMARY

EIIP Virtual Forum Online Panel Discussion
Wednesday - February 18, 1998 - 12:00 Noon (EST)

Project Impact: What's the Impact for State and Local Programs?

Featured Panelists:

Randall Duncan, CEM, President
National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM)
Coordinator for Cowley County, Kansas, Civil Defense

Diana McClure, Director
Showcase Communities
Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)

Stanley McKinney, President
National Emergency Management Association (NEMA)
Director of South Carolina Emergency Preparedness Division

Susan Schneider, Manager
New York State Emergency Management Office (EMO)
Joint Loss Reduction Partnership Project

EIIP Panel Moderator - Avagene Moore, CEM, EIIP Coordinator
EIIP Virtual Forum Moderator - Amy Sebring
EIIP Virtual Forum Gatekeeper - Kevin Farrell

The EIIP Virtual Forum conducted it's second panel discussion on mitigation, "Project Impact - Part II: What's the Impact for State and Local Programs?" The panelists (listed alphabetically) represented state and local peer associations and ongoing mitigation projects.

Randall Duncan, CEM, President of the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM) and Coordinator for Cowley County, Kansas Civil Defense

Diana McClure, Director of Showcase Communities, Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)

Stanley McKinney, President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and Director of South Carolina Emergency Preparedness Division

Susan Schneider, Manager of the New York State Emergency Management Office (EMO) Joint Loss Reduction Partnership Project

The panel discussion generated a number of questions related to the various projects and perspectives of the panelists. Questions covered specific inquiries about ongoing initiatives as well as the vision of each of the speakers for the future of mitigation as a national focus and benefit to communities and their respective peer groups. Concerns were expressed about the cost of mitigation projects as well as the current cost of major disasters. The panelists stressed the importance of communities seeing mitigation as a smart move and taking the initiative to develop and implement effective mitigation strategies.

Thirty five people joined the Virtual Forum dialogue that was a follow up discussion to an initial panel discussion on Project Impact on January 21, 1998. As the formal hour of discussion ended and the dialogue flowed into the informal Brown Bag session, participants agreed that there is much more about this topic that needs to be discussed. The group expressed a need for a mechanism that broadly promotes and disseminates success stories and lessons learned from ongoing mitigation initiatives such as FEMA's Project Impact, IBHS's Showcase Communities, and the New York State EMO Joint Loss Reduction Partnership Project. A suggestion was made that the discussion be continued via the EIIP Virtual Forum Mitigation Discussion Group and/or Mail List and in upcoming weekly Round Table Discussions that will start in March. If demand indicates a need for another panel discussion of mitigation initiatives, the Virtual Forum can certainly schedule additional dialogue(s) in the future.

Lessons Learned: Prior to this session, general types of questions were discussed with the speakers in preparation for Virtual Forum presentations but not shared as text before the session. This session was structured more formally with panel participants given draft questions to be asked by the Panel Moderator in advance of the Virtual Forum discussion. This worked extremely well, enabling the speakers to prepare their responses to the questions asked in the first 30 minutes of the online session thus making them feel more comfortable with the virtual medium for sharing and presenting information. Naturally, this increased the pace of dialogue on the screen also. Future sessions will be similarly structured to ensure a logical flow of discussion and more expedient utilization of time spent online.

SUSAN RICE SCHNEIDER

Manager, Joint Loss Reduction Project
New York State Emergency Management Office

Susan joined the New York State Emergency Management Office in 1996 and presently serves as Manager of the Joint Loss Reduction Project, a statewide initiative involving over 40 of New York State's business and government leaders, whose efforts are designed to identify and correct situations which adversely affect business continuity. Under her leadership, this project received an "Innovation in Mitigation" award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in December 1997 at the Eastern States Mitigation Summit. Additionally, the State Emergency Management Office recently received a special award from the Contingency Planning Exchange, the Wall Street-based disaster recovery group, which cited her program's 'unprecedented efforts to solidify statewide emergency response and recovery planning for the public and private sectors'.

Susan has also been responsible for the updating of the statewide "Disaster Mental Health Services" plan and coordinating Human Needs task forces during emergency response situations. She holds a bachelors degree from the University of Illinois and a masters degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

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STAN M. McKINNEY

Director, South Carolina Emergency Preparedness Division
Office of the Adjutant General
State of South Carolina

Mr. McKinney has been director of the Emergency Preparedness Division since February 1993, where he directs a staff of 40, and provides direction for emergency/disaster planning, response and recovery for the state of South Carolina. Mr. McKinney coordinates efforts with emergency management personnel at the local, state and national levels.

Prior to becoming director of the Emergency Preparedness Division, Mr. McKinney served for six years as the Director of the Division of Public Safety Programs in the Governor's Office, where he provided advice and support to the Governor and his executive staff on public safety issues and developed program and legislative initiatives to improve various areas of the justice system, as well as highway safety and statewide emergency/disaster response and recovery.

During his tenure as director of the Division of Public Safety Programs, Mr. McKinney served as State Coordinating Officer for the Hurricane Hugo disaster, the 1989 hurricane that wreaked nearly $6 billion damage in South Carolina. In that role, he coordinated state resources during the disaster, and worked with federal assistance agencies in the recovery effort.

In September 1996, Mr. McKinney directed the state's response and recovery efforts during Hurricane Fran. He took the lead in coordinating the damage survey estimates and, again served as the State Coordinating Officer during the ensuing disaster declaration.

A native of South Carolina, Mr. McKinney holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science/public administration and a master of criminal justice from the University of South Carolina. He is a member of a diverse group of professional organizations, and is currently serving as the president of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA).

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RANDALL C. DUNCAN

Coordinator for Cowley County, Kansas Civil Defense

Randall C. Duncan, CEM, is the President the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM). He is also the Coordinator for Cowley County, Kansas Civil Defense. He is a graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, with a B.A. in Political Science. Duncan was named as a Kansas Certified Emergency Manager in 1992, a NCCEM CEM® in1993 (in the first graduating class of CEMs) and an Oklahoma Certified Emergency Manager in 1994.

Duncan served as the first chair of the Kansas Emergency Management Association's (KEMA) Standards & Practices Committee, which designed and implemented the Kansas Certified Emergency Management credential. He served in a similar role for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Association (OEMA) Certification Committee. Duncan also served as a consultant to NCCEM in the development and field testing of re-certification questions for the CEM® credential maintenance.

Duncan is a Past President of KEMA and a past Chair of the Mid-American Emergency
Management Conference. He is also a graduate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Professional Development Series (PDS). He is currently a member of the Kansas Training Cadre, a group of local Coordinators who present PDS courses in the field to fellow emergency managers. Duncan is currently serving KEMA in the role of legislative chair. In addition, he has served as a training consultant to the states of Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma. Duncan has also served as adjunct faculty to the Emergency Management Institute in Maryland. Duncan was listed in Steven's Who's Who in Federal, State and Local Government Services for He is also a member of the International Association of Counter Terrorism and Security Professionals.

Duncan has been in local government since1986, serving six years as Coordinator for Cowley County. In 1992, he took a job with the City of Ponca Citv, Oklahoma as Director of Public Safety. In 1994, Duncan resumed his former position in Cowley County, Kansas. He has administered three Presidential Declarations of Disaster – two in Kansas and one in Oklahoma. Prior to that, he worked for one year as news director of a local radio station, and five years for the Arkansas City Daily Traveler newspaper. He has been a contributor to the NCCEM Bulletin, and the Bridges publication. He has also been published in the American Society of Professional Emergency Planners Journal, and the University of Colorado's Natural Hazards Observer.

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DIANA McCLURE

Director of Showcase Communities
Institute for Business and Home Safety

Diana McClure is Director of Showcase Communities for the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), formerly the Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction. The mission of IBHS is to reduce deaths, injuries, property damage, economic losses, and human suffering caused by natural disasters. The purpose of the showcase community initiative is to "showcase" the benefits of natural disaster protection for communities, homeowners and businesses. Prior to this position, she worked for RI Sea Grant on a statewide hazard mitigation project, preceded by seven years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a hazard mitigation specialist. From 1988-1990, she was a Regional representative with the Insurance Information Institute. B.A. Brown University, M.S.W. Boston College.

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MODERATOR
Avagene Moore, CEM

Avagene Moore is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who served as the Director of Emergency Management for 16 years in Lawrence County, Tennessee. Avagene worked four years (1991-1995) as an Emergency Management Project Manager for the Emergency Management Laboratory, Oak Ridge Associated Universities; her responsibilities included the coordination of the Occupational Safety Special Interest Group (OS SIG) for TRADE. She currently runs her own company, Avagene Moore/Professional Management (AM/PM), and serves as Vice President of TEAM Simulations, Inc., of Tallahassee, Florida. As part of her work, Avagene coordinates the Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) for the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM).

Avagene is a 22-year member of NCCEM. She is a Past President of both NCCEM and the American Society of Professional Emergency Planners (ASPEP) and established her name and credibility with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other Federal agencies and national organizations through speaking engagements, published articles and papers, and testimony before various congressional committees on behalf of NCCEM and the emergency management profession.

Summary of Background/Experience:

Avagene Moore / Professional Management (AM/PM), 10/95 - present
Current Responsibilities as Personal Services Contractor:

• Write Video Scripts, Training Manuals and Guidance Documents
• Manage Emergency Information Infrastructure Partners (EIIP) - NCCEM/FEMA
• Manage and Develop Projects for TEAM Simulations, Inc.
• Work projects with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 6/91-9/95
Emergency Management Project Manager for the Emergency Management Laboratory; Group Coordinator and Project Manager for Training Resources and Date Exchange (TRADE)

ERP&M, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 1/91-6/91
Personal Services Contractor:

City of Lawrenceburg, Lawrence County, Tennessee 1975-1990
City/County Emergency Management Director; Chaired Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and 911 Emergency District Board

Professional Affiliations:

National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM)
American Society of Professional Emergency Planners (ASPEP)
National Association of Female Executives (NAFE)
American Management Association (AMA)
Toastmasters International (TI)
Emergency Management Association of Tennessee (EMAT)

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