County exec picks Prater as EMA director: Decision still needs OK from full county commission
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Though the appointment was at the discretion of the county executive, Rogers chose to seek the input of several county officials in making his decision.
“I felt like I wanted somebody from the rural fire departments, somebody from the city, the rescue squad, the ambulance service,” Rogers said. “Anybody that had anything to do with emergency management, I wanted them to have some input on who the director was.”
A committee was formed consisting of Centertown Fire Chief Perry Mathis, North Warren Fire Chief Dennis Mayfield, McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport, city Alderman Donald Hillis, sheriff’s investigator Herb Rowland, Safety Committee members Teddy Boyd and Les Trotman, rescue squad director Fred Hillis, and 911 director Chuck Haston.
This committee met and interviewed several candidates, according to Rogers.
“They selected two names,” Rogers said, “to give to me to make a recommendation. One of them was from out of the county, and the one I selected was from in the county. Phillip Prater is the one I have selected to present to the county court for their approval.”
Rogers said both candidates were qualified, but he felt it was more advantageous in the long run to choose a county resident, and that he feels Prater has the experience to handle the job.
“I think Phillip is qualified to do it,” he said. “He’s been a fireman ever since I can remember. He’s worked with the ambulance service. He’s a paramedic. He has been on the county court and served on the Safety Committee.”
For his part, Prater said he is pleased to have been chosen, noting he applied for the position due to its importance to the county, as well as his longtime involvement with emergency services.
“I’ve been involved with emergency services ever since I was 15 or 16 years old,” he said. “I’ve just kind of got a soft spot for the emergency services here in Warren County.”
Prater said he has several goals he would like to achieve, but one stands out.
“I’d like to see better coordination between emergency services,” he said. “They all do an excellent job, law enforcement, EMS, fire, but I’d like to see a better coordination between them in case anything major ever did happen.”
Though Prater said he thinks a terrorist attack in Warren County is not very likely, he feels being prepared for natural disasters, such as tornadoes, flooding or accidents involving hazardous materials, will also give the county the tools needed in the unlikely event of some sort of terrorist activity.
“We’ve been very fortunate in this county that we’ve not had any major disasters,” Prater said. “But there’s a time coming when it’s going to happen to us. We don’t want to think about it, but we see it happen other places and we need to be prepared here when it does happen.”
Prater resides in Centertown with his wife, Bridgett, and 9-month-old son William Huston. He is employed with Ricky Elkins Realty and also runs a family farm. Prater also says he plans to remain a volunteer with Centertown Fire Department.
The directorship is a part-time position, but will require Prater to resign his current part-time job with the ambulance service as an EMT due to regulations that prevent holding two county jobs at the same time.
The EMA operates on a total yearly budget of $44,137, of which the director receives $7,101 per year, the assistant director $6,574, and clerical personnel $5,261. In addition to salaries, $18,600 is allocated to other government contract services, $4,448 to equipment, $703 to retirement and $1,450 to Social Security.