Oahu Civil Defense The Oahu Civil Defense Agency has lost two top officials and will soon lose a third, but the office, facing predictions of a busy hurricane season and national warnings of terrorist attacks, says it is ready for any emergency.
loses top officials
The agency says the retirements
will not hurt preparednessBy Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.comIf a disaster happened today, "we will be able to function quite well, even short-staffed," said John M. Cummings, the agency's public information officer. "I guarantee it."
"We were down one person after Sept. 11" and did fine, he noted.
In August, agency Administrator Joe Reed retired and was replaced by Paul Takamiya, the plans and operations manager, a position that remains vacant. Communications Officer Wayne Jones became acting administrator in January when Takamiya went on medical leave and subsequently decided to retire. Jones is scheduled to retire in August.
"Hopefully we will have the administrator's position filled by July," Cummings said. If not, "we're all multitalented and taskable. Any one of us can pinch-hit for the other person. Almost everyone in our office has some military background, either retired or an Army reservist."
If no one is hired, the next in line to replace Jones as acting administrator is Gary Susag, radiological and logistics officer, Cummings said.
The agency, which now has a staff of eight, releases emergency information to the public during a disaster, coordinates safety and rescue efforts with other agencies and opens shelters if evacuation is necessary. It would play a key role in responding to hurricanes or terrorist attacks on Oahu.
Earlier this week, National Weather Service officials said they expect a busier-than-usual Central Pacific hurricane season, which runs from June through Nov. 30. Federal authorities, meanwhile, have been warning that suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks within the United States are inevitable.
Cummings acknowledged that it was "tough not having a full staff, especially during 24-hour operations. The first couple of months after Sept. 11 were a little taxing ... but we got through it well."
Despite the loss of top officials, Ed Cruickshank, chairman of the Citizens' Advisory Commission on Civil Defense, said his group is confident the agency will do fine.
"They have enough procedures in place and have gone through enough drills that they are pretty well on top of it," he said.
Cruickshank, a retired Hawaii Army National Guard colonel, said he had intelligence training in chemical and biological warfare. His board members include Donna Maiava, chief of the state Department of Health's emergency medical services branch, and Toby Clairemont, an assistant hospital administrator at Kaiser Permanente, who he said are also well versed in disaster procedures.
Since Sept. 11 all emergency response agencies have updated their procedures, he added.
Cummings said his agency will open a newly renovated Emergency Operations Center June 5 at their office in the Honolulu Municipal Building at South King and Alapai streets.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the personnel department is "moving as quickly as possible to fill the position" of administrator and reviewing a list of applicants. Filling the position was put on hold when Takamiya, a possible candidate, had a heart attack in January. He recently decided to retire this year instead of returning, Costa said.
The salary for the administrator's position is $5,689 to $7,782 a month, effective July 1, when the city fiscal year begins, she said. An administrator for the agency must have at least five years of administrative experience with a government or large organization, with two years spent supervising large-scale emergency activities, Costa said.
In addition to looking for an administrator, the agency hopes to fill the plans and operations manager position, which is responsible for preparing agency procedures during a disaster.