5924292 Resolution 21-428, Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Salary Approval Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016  

  • A RESOLUTION

                                                            

    21-428

     

    IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

     

    March 1, 2016        

     

     

    To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to authorize the salary of the director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

     

    RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

    resolution may be cited as the “Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Salary Approval Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016”.

     

    Sec. 2. (a)  Christopher Geldart was appointed acting director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (“HSEMA”) on May 31, 2012. On June 14, 2012, the Mayor transmitted to the Council a resolution to approve the nomination of Mr. Geldart as permanent director of HSEMA.  On October 16, 2012, the Council unanimously approved his nomination, and Mr. Geldart has served as the director of HSEMA continuously since that time.

    (b)  Since his appointment as HSEMA director, Mr. Geldart has been critical to the success of many high-priority District-wide initiatives and has successfully managed a number of important events, including:

                (1)  Serving as incident commander in response to the District's January 2016 blizzard, leading response efforts and coordinating District agencies through all operational response and recovery phases, overseeing the operation of the District’s emergency operations center, and ensuring successful procurement of resources and assets from other states and the federal government to assist the District’s response efforts;

                (2)  Serving as interim director of the Office of Unified Communications (“OUC”) from April 2015 to January 2016, and during that time increasing minimum staffing, hiring new call takers, implementing schedule changes, and increasing the number of EMS channels to ensure staffing flexibility to support OUC’s call volume and improving OUC’s continuity of operations plan to ensure continued agency operations during a crisis;

                (3)  Creating and overseeing the implementation of the District Preparedness System, the District's comprehensive approach to homeland security and emergency management; and

                (4)  Leading the development of the proposal to bring the Department of Homeland Security’s Securing the Cities grant program to the national capital region, resulting in a grant of up to $30 million to build the regional nuclear detection capability for law enforcement and first responder organizations within the region.

    (c)  Mr. Geldart’s current salary does not reflect his skills, experience, accomplishments, and level of service.

    (d)  The current salary schedule for Executive Service employees, however, does not authorize the Mayor to provide a higher salary to Mr. Geldart.

    (e)  There is an immediate need to approve an increased salary for Mr. Geldart that reflects his skills, experience, accomplishments, and level of service in order to retain his services for the District government.

     

    Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Salary Approval Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 be approved after a single reading.

     

    Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.