There are a number of interesting things about this position. One is that Whatcom County borders Canada and the province of British Columbia. That means there will likely be some good cross-border coordination that needs to be done.
The other item is that the city of Bellingham recently (last spring) hired Paul Gazdik as its emergency manager (that position is in the fire department). I have profiled him previously here in this blog.
Over the years there has been some yin and yang between the city and the county when it came to emergency management. The two departments have been combined and separated -- I think, several times.
Now with two new directors coming to their respective positions, it would be great for the two jurisdictions to learn how to coordinate with each other and perhaps even collaborate in the future.
