Councilmen Richard Veit, Ward 1, and Bob Kneemiller, Ward 4, have been selected to participate in a pilot seminar focused on crisis management training for local leaders.  This program, hosted by the National League of Cities (NLC) in cooperation with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

This grant program is intended to educate local leaders regarding their role in emergency management, and also support the National Preparedness Goal of meeting specific national priorities of expanded regional collaboration, strengthening information sharing and collaboration, and interoperability communications.  The session will be held March 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C.

“Our nation continues to experience a growing number of natural and man-made disasters, and it is important that cities like St. Charles are prepared to respond,” said Veit.  “Likewise, this type of crisis situation can be challenging, especially given the fact that local, state and federal laws are constantly changing.”

Kneemiller echoed Veit’s sentiment and also gave readiness credit to Fire Chief Ernie Rhodes.  “Chief Rhodes had the foresight to encourage all St. Charles elected officials to complete IS 100 and IS 700 training,” Kneemiller said.  “In fact, completion of this training was a requirement in order to be eligible for admittance to the pilot program.”

The NLC pilot seminar will address the four missions of emergency management:  prevention, protection, response and recovery.  The course will help improve intra and intergovernmental coordination, communication and mutual/automatic aid during and after a disaster.  Key outcomes of the training include:

1. Identifying hazards that impact your community and region.
2. Identifying your community and region’s emergency management structure.
3. Identifying the critical roles and responsibilities of local elected and appointed officials before, during and after emergencies.
4. Identifying the types of resources in the community and region.
5. Recognizing your community and region’s limitations and how to access additional resources.

In 2003, former President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5.  HSPD-5 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System.  NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

IS 100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training.  This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System.  It also explains the relationship between ICS and NIMS.

The IS 700 course introduces and overviews the NIMS, which provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

The day-and-a-half seminar is being offered to NLC members as an educational tool for the four phases of emergency and disaster management.  NLC will cover the costs associated with travel and accommodations for this seminar.  In order to be eligible for the program, a prerequisite was that the City of St. Charles had to be a member of the National League of Cities, and both Kneemiller and Veit had to have completed the IS 100 and IS 700 training classes.

The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States.  Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.

Working in partnership with the 49 state municipal leagues, the National League of Cities serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages, and towns it represents.  More than 1,600 municipalities of all sizes pay dues to NLC and actively participate as leaders and voting members in the organization.