At its Oct. 22 regular meeting, the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution creating an ad hoc committee whose members will recommend actions that Doña Ana County government can do better prepare for, prevent, mitigate, or assist in the recovery of highly likely disasters — especially flooding in rural areas.
Several local organizations have been invited to participate on the committee, and each County Commissioner will select an applicant to serve from each of their respective districts.
The Commission also is seeking applicants from in the following categories:
o A representative of non-profit organizations that provide support for affordable housing, health services, or similar functions in rural communities
o One representative from local water utilities, and
o One representative of farming and ranching interests.
The committee is charged to conduct its first meeting not later than Dec. 1, 2013, at which time a chair will be selected. All meetings of the committee will be conducted in open session, with public participation encouraged. Primary responsibilities of the committee are to use lessons learned from floods and other disasters of the recent past to:
o Assess weaknesses in preparation for and pre-emptive mitigation of the potential effects of floods and other disasters
o Assess weaknesses in the public response to emergencies from the perspective of affected residents—with an emphasis on communications, maintenance of life/safety services, and protection of property
o Assess weaknesses in post-disaster response and recovery activities—especially coordination of assistance, and
o Identify ways to improve pre-emptive mitigation and post-disaster response and recovery activities through greater public-private collaboration, actions by individual public or private entities, and actions by private citizens, organizations, or communities directly affected by potential disasters.
All work of the committee is to be summarized in a written report and presented to the Board of County Commissioners no later than May 30, 2014.
Applicants from the five Commission districts and for the at-large and agency-specific membership slots are being accepted through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, for consideration at the Commission’s regular meeting on Nov. 26.
All applicants must include a letter of interest that specifies which type of seat on the committee the applicant aspires to fill, as well as a current resume and two letters of reference.
Applications must be directed to the Doña Ana County Special Projects Office to the attention of Jess Williams, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, N.M. 88007. Application packets may be mailed, delivered in person or emailed to input@donaanacounty.org.