Emergency Management in Milam County
This last week there has been a lot of rumors and comments made about what is going on with Emergency Management in Milam County. I have heard this and that about what the Commissioners’ Court is doing or what I am doing. Quite honestly, for the most part, what I have heard is news to the Commissioners and myself. So, I thought I would spend some time today discussing what is actually going on and how we are handling things.
First, let’s talk for a second about the ESD Board of Directors. Members on the ESD Board of Directors are appointed by the Milam County Commissioners’ Court just like the members of other boards appointed by the Commissioners’ Court. This year, the terms of two of the board seats expire and those positions are up for selection of either returning board members or new board members. During the second Commissioners’ Court meeting in September, the Court members agreed to open the positions up for applications and hold two days of interviews so that anyone who wanted to apply for the positions could.
The dates selected for the interviews were the 12th and 13th of November and at present we have received five applications for the positions. This information was put out in the paper, on the radio, on the county website, and on county social media. There is nothing secretive about the process and the board members will be chosen by the entirety of the Commissioners’ Court in open court for all the world to see.
Second, is the newly created position of Milam County Fire Marshal. This is a position that is needed as the county grows and as new businesses come to the county and with the growth in industry in the unincorporated parts of the county and the SLR development. We approved the creation of this position in the 2025 budget and during the budget hearings I made it clear that we would take this up in Commissioners’ Court and that we would be as open to the process as possible.
There is a lot of talk about the good old boy network putting someone into that position. Honestly, this is not a position that has to go before the Commissioners’ Court, and in most counties, the hiring of someone in a position like this does not go before the Court, but in an effort to make things as transparent as possible, we brought this to the Court in a public forum to keep it as above board as possible. We will make the hire at the Dec. 23 Commissioners’ Court meeting in order to work out the details in setting this office up.
Lastly, there has been some talk about what we are or aren’t doing on the subject of the Volunteer Fire Departments. To date, since last January we have increased the amounts of the County’s stipend to the various departments, and we have been able to pay for all or a portion of their fuel. We pay roughly 66 percent of the fuel costs for Cameron and Rockdale and we pay nearly all the Fuel Costs of the other seven fire departments up to a maximum of $3,000 per year. There has been discussion about how to better assign the areas of responsibility for each department, but nothing about eliminating a department.
In the past, one of the shortcomings of Emergency Management in Milam County that has hindered fire department responses has been radio and dispatch communications. Due to this, we commenced a county-wide radio communications task force last year and are now working on how to finance this endeavor and how to break down the responsibility for said costs. We have had discussions in Court about this. As I prepare for Commissioners’ Court this morning, the emergency communications issue is once again on the agenda for discussion for action.
In closing, the commissioners and I have worked hard and will continue to work hard to meet the needs of Milam County. The Safety and Security of the people of Milam County are the top priority of this Commissioners’ Court and of myself. As always, we work under the premise of Open Stewardship. That means that we will strive to be as open and available as we possibly can be. Whether on the radio, in the newspaper, in Commissioners’ Court, on our frequent town hall meetings (already held nine this year alone), or even in my office with our Monday afternoon and Friday Morning Office Hours; we will work to make ourselves as open and accessible as possible.