Following the devastation from Hurricanes Debby and Helene, Bobby Weaver, city manager of D’Iberville, Mississippi, and president of the Mississippi City/County Managers Association, contacted ICMA Southeast regional director Randy Reid. Weaver expressed his community’s desire to help those impacted in the Big Bend portion of Florida—a rural area of small towns. It was especially important to Weaver and many others to reciprocate the support they received from their peers in Florida and elsewhere after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Reid then reached out to Mark Ryan, a former city manager now serving as an ICMA senior advisor based out of Tallahassee, Florida. Ryan connected with Jerome Wyche, city manager of Madison, Florida, 60 miles east of Tallahassee. Ryan’s knowledge of the region and real-time status updates from multiple local government contacts made the critical connection that Madison was in need and would be a reasonable five-hour trip from D'lberville. 

In October, Weaver and his team delivered badly needed supplies to the city of Madison. In early November, the D'lberville team made a second trip along with members of the city council. The caravan delivered relief supplies and 1,600 meals to Madison and nearby Greenville, Florida, where they were greeted by Ryan and other volunteers. 

Trusted Network

Ryan and Reid made connections and confirmed what kind of help was needed in what location. Confirming supplies, water, food or any emergency relief will be properly received, stored, and distributed is critical. Well-intended help without planning often can create more issues than it solves. With Ryan and Reid sorting those logistics, it set up Weaver to coordinate the front end of the relief effort in D'Iberville while maintaining his regular responsibilities, and allowed Wyche to remain focused on emergency response. 

The chain of city/county manager in one state, to ICMA regional director, to ICMA senior advisor, to city/county manager in another state is supplemental to formal assistance through state emergency management channels, but is invaluable.

"This network is based on channels of trust and professional networking and assures accountability and distribution of the relief supplies", Reid said. "It demonstrates several roles of ICMA colleagues in official positions as local managers, senior advisor, and regional director performing functions in disaster response."

What It Means for You

Hurricanes are obviously not the only catalyst for emergency response. And emergency response is not the only subject where local government networking across town, county, state, or even international lines is a key to problem solving and delivering the highest quality of service to residents despite the most strenuous circumstances. 

The D’lberville to Madison story was a success because of efforts from individuals like Weaver, Ryan, Wyche, Reid, and their teams. It was facilitated by and is replicable through that trusted network. 

ICMA wants to ensure more local government leaders can connect in their time of need or offer their help. Meeting your regional director and advisors is a great first step. And join the peer-to-peer conversation on ICMA Connect.

REGIONAL DIRECTORS

International

Regional Director, Peter Agh (pagh@icma.org)

Midwest

Regional Director, Matthew Fulton (mfulton@icma.org)

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin

Mountain Plains

Regional Director, Wayne Parker (wparker@icma.org)

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming

Northeast

Regional Director, Gerald (Jerry) Giaimis  (jgiaimis@icma.org)

Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Southeast

Regional Director, Randy Reid (rreid@icma.org)

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

West Coast

Regional Director, Pat Martel (pmartel@icma.org)

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington