May 16, 2023 |
Photo – Lenny Layman with Governor Gordon – by Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
Governor Gordon honored the Office of Emergency Management with a personal visit on Friday.
After attending ceremonies for the grand reopening for of the Carbon County Courthouse, Governor Mark Gordon, and other representatives from the Wyoming government, visited Emergency Manager Lenny Layman in his Rawlins command center.
Layman calls his operations post, on the south side of the city, the Carbon County Coordination Center, or C4.
Along with Governor Gordon, Wyoming Department of Homeland Security Director Lynn Budd was present for the event. Director Budd said every county has an emergency manager, but none are as capable as Layman.
Director Budd said the other offices of emergency management around the state should use Layman’s blueprint for success.
Layman said an oak tree can only grow tall in fertile soil. He thanked Homeland Security Director Budd for providing the opportunity to realize his vision of what an emergency management office should be.
Layman quoted Napoleon Hill, a self-help author and advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, saying, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
Layman said the Mullen Fire, which caused the evacuation of Hanna in September of 2020, was the push he needed to create a more effective Office of Emergency Management.
Layman said he asked the Board of Carbon County Commissioners to allow him to construct an Emergency Operations Center. Private donations and government grants, such as from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, were used to build and prepare the EOC.
After the EOC was completed, Layman said he approached the County Commissioners about staffing. The Emergency Manager said he worked with the board to create a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between each county department and his office. The MOU requires a representative from each department attend monthly emergency training. Layman said the MOU allows him to assemble his crew more quickly.
Layman said he has a similar agreement with the City of Rawlins and the Carbon County Council of Governments. The Emergency Manager said he staffs his operations center with people trained for specific tasks and leaves the county’s understaffed first responders to their jobs.
Layman said people enjoy being helpful during a critical situation. He said the Office of Emergency Management is set up to allow people to assist in a productive way.
Governor Gordon said Wyoming Homeland Security Director Budd has bragged about how Layman organized Carbon County’s Office of Emergency Management. The governor said he agrees with Director Budd’s opinion. The Governor said the county has effectively tackled several large-scale emergencies.
Governor Gordon asked Layman if he has accounted for a disaster involving the Union Pacific Railroad. The tracks run past Rawlins and Hanna and through the middle of the Sinclair refinery. A derailment could cause a catastrophic emergency. Layman said he has been in contact with UP officials and will continue to work on a plan to mitigate the damage from a railway incident.
With that, the Governor’s time was up. Before leaving, Governor Gordon said the county is in good hands under Layman’s watch.
Layman and the Governor then visited the Wyoming State Penitentiary to thank the prison staff for having inmates fill sandbags in anticipation of spring floods.
