What emergency managers might fear the most is when an emergency or disaster response becomes political. We are then caught in the middle, just trying to do our job to first protect the community and then help it recover. When political parties want to use the incident to cause division, they will inevitably try to “loop you into their talking points.”
There is great danger in that, because you can become aligned with one perspective — even if you are only providing the facts as you know them. If the city or county elected officials are the ones looking to manipulate you and your agency to their thinking, it can be doubly dangerous; personally, for your job if you are a “serve at the pleasure of” position or to your own personal reputation and credibility in the community.
