First Posted: 2/5/2015
LIMA — The Allen County commissioners have appointed Steve Harvey the interim director of the Allen County Emergency Management Agency, replacing outgoing director Russ Decker.
Harvey currently serves as the assistant EMA director and 911 coordinator for the county and will continue in that role during this transition, along with taking on additional duties as director.
“Taking care of the billing and getting the bills paid is probably the biggest [additional] thing, along with my other duties as 911 coordinator,” he said. “We’ll keep business as usual until we get the new director hired and in place and get him up to speed on what he needs to know.”
Harvey credits Decker with preparing him for this position, having worked with him through various incidents in the past, including the recent explosion at the Husky Lima refinery.
“We did a lot of chemicals and hazmat scenes,” Harvey said. “We spent a lot of time with the bomb squad and doing presidential elections, which I hadn’t done before. We’ve also done a lot of community education. I’ve learned a lot from Russ.”
Thanks to Decker’s preparations, Harvey anticipates no difficulties in this transition, which will take effect Monday, as well as when a permanent director is hired.
“He really does have everything set for the new guy when he comes in and for me taking over in the interim,” he said. “It will be smooth sailing.”
