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Local elected officials and FEMA officers meet with residents impacted by flooding in Waterloo, Iowa, after the Cedar River overflowed its banks in 2008. Photo courtesy of FEMA.

If properly managed and engaged, local elected officials can be a great asset to disaster response and recovery operations. Below, Ken Parker, retired city manager of Port Orange, Florida, provides advice for city managers on how best to engage elected officials and use their strengths to boost morale across the community.

“Don’t be afraid to use elected officials, know how to use them and know their strengths,” Parker says. “Get them out in the streets so they can reassure and demonstrate to residents that the city will take care of them.”

Assign local elected officials specific tasks and responsibilities.

“An elected official will find something to do. In my case, I engaged elected officials,” Parker says. Be sure to make deliberate decisions about which elected official is right for each assignment. Make sure elected officials have a clear understanding of what their role or assignment is. Examples of assignments include:

• Mandatory Evacuations – Pair an elected official with a police officer going into areas where people are reluctant to leave. “The elected official can talk to residents differently than a police officer, and citizens often respond differently,” Parker notes.
• Citizen Call Centers – “People want to talk to an elected official. We used an elected official that was a great communicator and would never overstep boundaries. Citizens also really appreciated the opportunity to talk to an elected official.”
• Supply Distribution – Send an elected official out with crews distributing supplies, like food, water and ice, to impacted residents. “Elected officials get a firsthand view of what’s happening and are able to provide us with great feedback,” Parker says.

Keep elected officials informed and in the communications loop.

• Include local elected officials in all briefings so they are up-to-date on emergency operations, tasks assigned and tasks completed each day.
• “You need to communicate with them because sometimes they can get the resources you need or know someone who can provide assistance,” Parker says.
• Include elected officials on your media distribution lists as an easy tactic to ensure they are kept in the loop. New information should be provided to local elected officials from incident command; they shouldn’t get first-word from the media.

Ensure local elected officials are informed on all aspects of the disaster recovery plan.

After response settles, residents will begin calling their local elected officials with questions and complaints on the status of recovery efforts. Local elected officials must be trained on the recovery process and plans and be able to communicate details on specific components, such as debris removal plans and how the process will work.

Remind elected officials that they don’t have to answer every question. 

• The media typically wants to hear from local elected officials, but they’re not SMEs on every subject. Remind them it’s okay to pass of questions to SMEs, saying something such as: “Let me have the EMS supervisor or police chief address that issue.”