AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » About NACo – The Voice of America’s Counties
National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the U.S. NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 coun- ties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innova- tive solutions through education and research and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.
www.naco.org
Faulkner County braced for tornado after years of disaster By Charlie Ban When a tornado tore 42 miles through north-central Arkansas in late
April, Faulkner County was ready to respond, thanks to a series of disas- ters, including another tornado, over the last three years. Te tornado was one of an outbreak of seven over four days in the central and southern states that lead to at least 35 deaths. “We’d been having weekly disaster preparedness meetings for the last
year for just this kind of event,” said David Hogue, the county attorney and public information officer. “As much as we complained having those meetings once a week, we were prepared because of that. We’d been ready for months.” Te April 27 tornado’s northwestern path took it through the two sites
of recent disasters — Mayflower, where crude oil spilled out of a ruptured pipeline in 2013; and Vilonia, site of another tornado three years and two days before. Tat twister claimed four lives. Te Mayflower oil spill, shortly into then-recently appointed County
Judge Allen Dodson’s tenure, prompted him to prioritize disaster planning. “We were in that frame of mind,” he said. “We were dealing with the oil spill in our own county and then the Moore, Oklahoma tornadoes happened (killing 24 people in May 2013). Tat naturally led to thoughts that something like that could happen anywhere” — and it had already in Faulkner County.” As of May 1, 328 homes in the county were destroyed and President
Obama had approved a disaster declaration for the county. Te National Weather Service rated the tornado EF4, with winds between 166 and 200 miles per hour, and noted it was the first EF4 tornado of 2014. Te 2011 storm was EF2, with winds between 111 and 135 miles per hour. Te response to the 2014 twister has been quick and organized, Hogue
said. “It’s been machine-like.” “(OEM Director) Sheila McGee is wonderful at her job because she’s had these experiences and can put them to use,” Hogue said. “People learn from her quickly. We had our crews clearing the roads that allowed linesmen to come in and restore power, and our search and rescue opera- tions were complete within a day. Tose personnel moved onto damage assessment and debris removal.” After the storm, the county registered more than 12,000 households without electricity, which was down to 4,000 the next day and roughly 1,500 four days after the twister. “Road crews knew what to do. Te county administrator knew what to do; law enforcement knew; the IT department knew what to do,” Hogue said. “IT has been especially important because they’ve helped with pub- lic information throughout this. “At this point, we had enough experience in our county administration that instead of catching us off guard, this tornado just felt like ‘challenge number three.’” Dodson said the county’s expanded exercises handling several poten-
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2014
tial disasters, including tornadoes and train derailments, has helped the county of 113,237 north of Little Rock prepare more comprehensively. “Te people whose job it is to prepare for disasters, you don’t have to
motivate them, they know it’s important,” he said. “It’s the other depart- ments and stakeholders whose lives don’t revolve around these things, that’s who you have to convince.” Dodson said that was accomplished by letting representatives from other departments and jurisdictions see the approach the office of emer- gency management brings to the exercises. “Pull in the other big stakeholders so your attendees see the value of the other disciplines,” he added. “Content drives success, so bring in your city and county representatives, law enforcement, state and federal envi- ronmental protection representatives and get everyone on the same page. Go big. Get real, and do it.”
NACo annual conference to be held in July Registration is open for the National Association of Counties’ 79th An- nual Conference and Exposition, to be held July 11-14 in Orleans Parish, (New Orleans) Louisiana.
Te opening session speaker will be Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Russel L. Honore, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina and Global Preparedness Au- thority. Education workshop topics include “Plan for Procurement: Les- sons Learned from Disasters,” “Creating Lasting Wealth and Prosperity through Economic Diversification” and “Being Your Own Public Infor- mation Officer,” among others. Te annual conference provides county officials with an opportunity
to vote on NACo’s policies related to federal legislation and regulation; elect officers; network with colleagues; learn about innovative county pro- grams; find out about issues impacting counties across the country; and view products and services from participating companies and exhibitors. Go to
www.naco.org for more information about the conference. Reg- ister online to receive a discount of $25 off the regular registration fee.
Behavioral health parity: What counties should know By Emmanuelle St. Jean Te Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Ad- diction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 requires health plans to provide coverage for mental and substance use disorder services on par with medi- cal/surgical benefits for individuals with employer-sponsored health plans with 50 or more employees. In November 2013, the federal government published its final regulations for the law. Why is this important to coun- ties and what does it mean for counties?
Almost 1 in 5 American adults had a mental, behavioral or emotional
disorder in 2012, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About 14.5 percent of American adults received mental health
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