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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
Efficiency vs. Effectiveness – July 2016
Efficiency vs. Effectiveness By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Director Linda Crerar of the Homeland Security Emergency Management (HSEM) program has been after me to discuss what policy issues should be part of the Bachelor’s in Arts and Sciences (BAS) degree that will soon be offered. I’ve resisted to date, but in this [...]
On Seismic Neglect – May 2016
On Seismic Neglect By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Sunday May 15 the Seattle Times (“Seismic Neglect” seattletimes.com) began a series that critiques the lack of leadership with respect to addressing the seismic risk of Washington State, and in particular that Seattle faces. The report provides examples of buildings that are at risk, [...]
Preparing For Transition – April, 2016
Preparing For Transition By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Each year, National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) holds a midyear Issues forum, typically in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s a good opportunity to check on the major issues and challenges confronting emergency management, and since this is a presidential election year, it affords an opportunity for [...]
Contemplating the Day After – March 2016
Contemplating the Day After By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed As a major earthquake exercise for the Northwest (CASCADIA RISING) approaches we might ask ourselves why we are doing this and for whom are we doing it? March 11, 2016 is the 5th year anniversary of the Sendai Earthquake in Japan. That quake [...]
A Special Note on the 15th Anniversary of the Nisqually Earthquake – February 2016
A Special Note on the 15th Anniversary of the Nisqually Earthquake By Jim Mullenz Emergency Management, Once Removed February 28, 2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the Nisqually Earthquake. I have some vivid memories of that day, but the primary value in looking backward is to assess how far we have come, and how [...]
What’s In a Name? Educating Emergency Managers – February 2016
What’s In a Name? Educating Emergency Managers (and Everyone Else) By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Before launching onto this month’s blog, has anyone else been angered by the expropriation of the title “emergency manager” by the state of Michigan, to describe state-appointed fiscal overseers of local government in the city of Flint [...]
Let’s Count Our Assets – December 2015
Let's Count Our Assets By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed One of the advantages of being in semi-retirement ( as an independent consultant) is that between contracts there is often time to reflect on issues that have an impact on our profession. But you also have time to watch old movies. It was [...]
Dealing with Climate Change: It’s One Us – November 2015
Dealing with Climate Change - It's On Us By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed I recently attended the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) annual forum in Miami. The search for an acceptable way to address climate change among the nation’s state directors of emergency management (climate adaptation, ‘natural” climatic events are among the [...]
The Big One: Our Big Gap – September 2015
The Big One: Our Big Gap - By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The recent New York Times article about the potentially devastating impact of a major earthquake sparked the predictable reactions: some bemoaned the repeated warnings would continue to go unheeded and forecast grave consequences, while others argued that there were programs [...]