Boose: 'Two excellent candidates' for new director

The search for the new director of the Huron County Emergency Management Agency seems to be coming to a close.An interview committee narrowed the choices down to two finalists who were interviewed Tuesday. The committee includes local police and fire chiefs.Huron County Commissioner Terry Boose said the committee hopes to make an offer and hire someone, possibly as soon as this week.It could be a tough choice."I can tell you we have two excellent choices," Boose said. "We are excited we have two excellent candidates."The late William "Bill" L. Ommert was the interim director until his Aug. 31 death at his Norwalk home. Ommert, 77, a 1957 Norwalk High School graduate, had battled lung cancer.Prior to that, Ommert, was the full-time EMA director for 18 1/2 years. He started in January 1991 and served the county until his Aug. 31, 2009 retirement.Jason Roblin resigned effective July 28. His resignation letter to the commissioners didn't say why he was leaving and in a brief phone interview, he declined to elaborate. Roblin was the assistant EMA director under Ommert starting in July 2006.Shortly after Roblin resigned, Boose said Ommert did the county "a real favor by filling in" and benefited from his years of experience.Based on Roblin's feedback in his exit interview, the commissioners created and authorized the new position of 9-1-1 coordinator. The commissioners have said the position would be a great assistance to the EMA director and Roblin had been spending a great deal of time with various 9-1-1 issues.The 9-1-1 coordinator will be a full-time, exempt, unclassified position and will be supervised by the EMA director. According to the job description, the coordinator, among other responsibilities, "ensures that the PSAP equipment works properly and efficiently and has authority to correct deficiencies" and will provide "oversight and some training for (the) PSAP operators." PSAP, which stands for public-safety answering point, refers to the four, local law-enforcement agencies that receive 9-1-1 calls — the Huron County Sheriff's Office and the Norwalk, Willard and Bellevue police departments."We have several applications in," said Boose, who hopes the interview committee soon will start "step one interviews."Also, Boose said if the EMA director has been hired in time, he wants that person to have a say in the interview and hiring process, but the commissioners may need to hire the 9-1-1 coordinator first.RoblinOmmert