On April 12, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) hosted the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Officials Governance Guide Working Group in preparation for updating the Emergency Communications Governance Guide for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Officials (the Governance Guide). This document was last revised and published in 2015. During the meeting, working group members appointed a Chair and Vice Chair to help guide future efforts.
About the Chair and Vice Chair:
Chair, Daniel Martinez represents the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon. Mr. Martinez retired in 2014 after serving as Fire Chief since 1981. Upon his retirement, the Tribe appointed Mr. Martinez as their Emergency Manager. Mr. Martinez is working on important topics such as the Stafford Act declaration process for federally recognized Tribes and other impactful issues affecting emergency management in federally recognized tribes. He is an important figure in leveraging public safety communications equipment and networks. Mr. Martinez’ role is vital to supporting the inclusion of tribal information within the 2018 version of the Governance Guide.
Vice Chair, Karla Jurrens serves as the Deputy Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC) for Texas. Ms. Jurrens previously worked with the Sherriff’s Association for Texas. As the SWIC she was responsible for FirstNet stakeholder engagement within the 5,300 agencies, 254 counties, and three federally recognized Tribes within the state. She is a returning working group member who supported development of the2015 Emergency Communications Governance Guide for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Officials. Ms. Jurrens’ background and previous collaborative experience with OEC is a great leadership asset for the working group.
Under the leadership of Mr. Martinez and Ms. Jurrens, the working group is conducting a detailed review of the 2015 Emergency Communications Governance Guide for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Officials. The feedback to be collected in the coming weeks will be used to support development of the revised Governance Guide. We look forward to providing an update on our progress during the NCWSIC and SAFECOM in-person meetings in May.
We are currently seeking to expand our working group membership. If you, or a representative from your agency would like to participate in the working group, please email us at slttgovguide.hq.dhs.gov
To read about the working groups kick off meeting, see the post from April 4, 2018.