By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – Canadian County Commissioners are in the process of hiring a new emergency management director.
Andrew Skidmore recently resigned as Canadian County’s emergency manager and safety coordinator, a post he had held since September 2018.
“He went to work for the United Way,” Canadian County Commission Chairman Dave Anderson said. “He left on good terms.
“We’ve heard positive comments from some of the communities about his time here and his service. They appreciated the work he did for them.”
District 3 Commissioner Jack Stewart praised Skidmore for coordinating efforts with federal and state emergency agencies to respond to natural disasters, specifically a tornado, ice storm and floods.
“Andrew was a great asset to Canadian County and did a fantastic job of protecting our citizens in emergencies,” Stewart said. “We will miss him, his expertise, his great personality, and his willingness and ‘know-how’ to get things done.”
Skidmore served as vice president of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Association’s board of directors and was a member of Canadian County’s Long-Term Disaster Recovery Committee.
TWO CANDIDATES INTERVIEWED
Hoping to find Skidmore’s successor soon, Canadian County Commissioners met in executive session July 18 to discuss filling the vacancy.
The commissioners interviewed two candidates and are “working through that process”, Chairman Anderson noted.
After conducting the interviews, the three-member board directed county human resources director NaCole Majors to “reach out to the preferred candidate to make an offer.”
Emergency manager/safety coordinator is an important position for Canadian County, Anderson added.
“By statute, every county has to have one,” he said. “We are going to make more of an emphasis on the on-site responsibilities of that person when it comes to evacuation plans and safety training.”
The Canadian County emergency manager position pays $48,600 annually.
Two other applicants for the vacancy were scheduled to be interviewed July 18, but informed county officials that day they wouldn’t show up.
