By Ed Somers
June 23, 2003

In its first meeting, the Homeland Security Task Force mapped its agenda and discussed funding and emergency management issues. The meeting was led by task force Chair Mayor Martin O'Malley of Baltimore.

As outlined by O'Malley and Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran, the Conference is going to launch a monitoring campaign to track the more than $2.5 billion in homeland security funding that is flowing through the states. The Conference continues to pursue direct, formula first responder assistance — but the Administration and Congress continue to insist upon state coordination and decision making. Therefore, the mayors feel that it is critically important to monitor the states to see that needed resources reach cities.

This issue was raised with David Hagy, the new Director for Local Coordination at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Gary Mayor Scott King outlined a "who's on first" scenario developing in Indiana in which state questions as to deadlines, obligation authority and draw-down procedures are raising serious doubt as to if and when Indiana cities will actually receive their share of federal resources.

In a lively discussion, the mayors asked Hagy to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security closely monitors the states, and clearly establishes the time-lines for suballocation. Hagy said that DHS is committed to this, and in fact must do so to prepare for Congressional oversight hearings. He also stressed tht DHS continues to seek input from local governments and first responders through various working groups.

The task force was also joined by Brent Wingstrand, Assistant Chief of the Emergency Preparedness Bureau for the City of Seattle who helped lead Seattle's efforts in the recent "TOPOFF 2" exercise. The Chief spoke of positive cooperative efforts with DHS in the effort, and valuable lessons learned. He encouraged every city to conduct extensive training efforts which involve more than just first responders, including the medical community and media.

During mayoral interaction, the importance of regional cooperation was stressed, with many mayors discussing their mutual aid efforts. It was also agreed that the task force will work with federal agencies such as DHS to collect and disseminate best practices.