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Jim has spent 3 decades in emergency management, including 12 years at the local level as director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management and 8 and a half years as Washington State’s Emergency Management Division Director. Jim retired from state service in March 2013. Jim also served as President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) from January 2011 to October 2012. He is currently sole proprietor of “EM Northwest Consulting” based in Seattle.
Disclaimer
Information on this Blog is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not engaged in rendering professional advice or services. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with an professional adviser. Opinions expressed here represent the viewpoints of individuals authoring the blog and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Center of Excellence.
WTO riots and Y2K (1999) Podcast
The Problem with Disaster Exercises – December 2019
The Problem with Disaster Exercises By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Emergency managers don’t conduct disaster exercises to show off, but to learn, then apply what we learned. That’s often made more difficult than it has to be. Factors that impede an exercise The senior elected official bails out” – sending a surrogate [...]
Something I Learned in Grad School – November 2019
Something I Learned in Grad School By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Attention emergency managers: aside from the noteworthy announcement that I learned anything in school, there may be something in the following upon which you might reflect. As I completed my bachelor’s degree in English at what was at that time Western [...]
Part 5 (Final): A Look Back – September 2019
WTO and Y2K - The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – Part 5 (Final): A Look Back By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Events that go well often result in less to describe or recall. WTO Recriminations: Despite, perhaps due, to the constraints we struggled against, the WTO riots enhanced Emergency [...]
Part 4: Havoc in the Streets – September 2019
WTO and Y2K - The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – Part 4: Havoc in the Streets By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed As WTO approached, The Mayor’s Office became concerned about the contrast between the cheery outlook presented by SPD and the Mayor’s own staff and the "negativity" some of [...]
Part 3: WTO “Planning” vs “Seminars” – September 2019
WTO and Y2K: The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – Part 3: WTO “Planning” vs “Seminars in Crisis and Consequence Management” By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Whether in internal SPD meetings leading up to the WTO conference, or when the Mayor’s Office met with the SPD planning team, it was [...]
Part 2: Pre WTO & Y2K Environment – September 2019
WTO and Y2K - The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – Part 2: Pre WTO & Y2K Environment By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) organizational location in the City hierarchy is important in understanding the events that unfolded. From the beginning of my tenure [...]
Part 1: WTO Planning – August 2019
WTO and Y2K: The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – Part 1: WTO Planning By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed WTO 1999 Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) had only learned of the pending (November/December 1999) World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in March 1999. When "planning" did begin, it was clear [...]
Background Information on WTO and Y2K – August 2019
WTO and Y2K: The Story I Was Never Asked to Tell – Background Information on WTO and Y2K By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Y2K In early 1999, concerns surfaced across the public and private sector that the turn of the century would require a rewrite of coding for a number of computer [...]
The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell – August 2019
Now for Something Completely Different: The Story I Was Never Asked To Tell By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Since September 2015, "Emergency Management Once Removed" has served as a monthly commentary on current local, regional and national emergency management and/or homeland security issues, drawing on my experiences during 12 years as Director [...]
Give “Electeds” Their Due – July 2019
Give “Electeds” Their Due By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Emergency managers often scorn the intrusion of "politics" or "politicians" into their work. Untimely "special" requests during regular business and even during a crisis feed the instinct of most emergency managers to "lay low" in a political environment. The inappropriate intrusion of Executive [...]
Dividing the Burden – June 2019
Dividing the Burden By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Whose responsibility is it to restore the social equilibrium in a post-disaster environment? It is not solely the government’s role to provide the “answer” in difficult times. Each of us has a role. Some of the burdens of a participatory democracy fall on individuals [...]
Climate Change and Emergency Management – May 2019
Climate Change and Emergency Management By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed At the 2007 National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Annual Forum, I persuaded the Chair of the Preparedness Committee to allow a presentation on climate change at the Committee’s meeting. The expert speaker, Bob Freitag, a former FEMA official turned academician, proved uniquely [...]
A Problem Or An Opportunity? – April 2019
A Problem or an Opportunity? By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The Disaster Reform and Recovery Act (DRRA) addresses longstanding issues in the disaster management system. Pre - Disaster Mitigation (PDM) is touted as a high priority for attention – so far, so good. Here is the problem: FEMA appears to be proceeding [...]
“If Seven Maids With Seven Mops Swept It For Half A Year…”* – March 2019
Homeland Security: “If seven maids with seven mops swept it for half a year…”* By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), formed post 9/11, consolidated 20 plus federal agencies under a single Cabinet-level Secretary. There were naysayers among the ranks of emergency managers. I was one of them. [...]
Just One More Thing – February 2019
Just One More Thing By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed As the Washington State Legislative Session kicked off, the Seattle Times listed several topics that were the highest priorities for consideration. They were, in no apparent order: K-12 funding; Special Education; Climate Change; Opioids and Behavioral Health; and Public Records (a Seattle Times’ [...]