HR0935 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0935 LRB095 18739 KXB 44852 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Thomas O. Mefferd on his retirement as Director of the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; and

WHEREAS, Tom Mefferd began his career in emergency management in 1971 as the Civil Defense Director for the Village of Plainfield, a position he held for 10 years; during that time he was responsible for the development and management of the community's emergency preparedness program as well as managing the community's first city-wide communications system and first municipally operated ambulance service; and

WHEREAS, In 1981, Mr. Mefferd left municipal government and became an instructor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he was responsible for conducting training courses and disaster exercises in the six state area that composed FEMA Region 5, as well as at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland; and

WHEREAS, During his time with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he also served as an instructor for the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management Division; in 1988, he returned to local government service and became the Deputy Coordinator of the DuPage County Office of Emergency Management, where he was responsible for disaster planning and training activities, as well as managing the department's volunteer program; in 1991, he began coordinating the efforts of the Multi-County Severe Weather Warning System, which includes the National Weather Service and 15 counties in northern Illinois; and

WHEREAS, He was appointed Coordinator of the DuPage County Office of Emergency Management in 1995; he supervised the renovation of the County's Emergency Operating Center and designed and supervised the construction of the County's Mobile Operating Center; in 1998, he supervised the installation of the County's Emergency Alert System (EAS), the first operational EAS system in the State; he also served as the chairman of the DuPage County Terrorism Task Force and as a member of the County's Y2K emergency planning group; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Mefferd presently represents DuPage County serving as a member of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, co-chair of the Task Force's Communications Committee, and chair of the Illinois Homeland Security Advisory System working group; in his Task Force roles, he chaired the development and distribution of the States' guidelines for implementation of the Homeland Security Advisory System, facilitated the purchase and installation of a statewide satellite based communications and warning system, and assisted in the development of a statewide transportable interoperable communications system; and

WHEREAS, Following the September 11th terrorist attack, DuPage County enhanced its emergency management role to include trend analysis, medical surveillance, and specialized communications and became the first county in Illinois to staff its Emergency Operating Center on a 24/7 basis; the Center also became responsible for the operation and management of the County's Citizen Corps program; in October 2003, Mr. Mefferd became the Director of the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management as DuPage became the first county in the State to merge the roles of emergency management and homeland security; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Thomas Mefferd for his dedication to his position and for his hard work on behalf of the people of DuPage County; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Thomas Mefferd as an expression of our respect and esteem.