Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Maryland to boost communication

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:51:24 -0500

Maryland to boost communication

BY Diane Frank
Feb. 11, 2004

Maryland state homeland security officials plan to increase communication
between their offices and
local governments to fix gaps in information, funding and understanding, the
state's homeland
security director said today.

Each state has a different process for coordinating homeland security across all
levels of government
and within Maryland, the last three months have shown that "we, as a state, have
got to get
ourselves organized," said Dennis Schrader.

He was speaking today at the first meeting of the Homeland Security Leadership
Alliance in
Baltimore, Md. The alliance is a public/private sector organization aimed at
serving as a national
resource for sharing practices and expertise.

Schrader joined the governor's homeland security office last year, and a common
problem since then
has been the question of how to get funding to where it needs to be, since first
responders are
spread across state, county and city lines. For Maryland, the process is based
entirely on
reimbursement -- with a city spending the money and applying to the state for
reimbursement -- and
at the state level, officials have finally decided that "we've got to get into
the local jurisdictions and
teach them this process," Schrader said.

Many mayors expressed many concerns about the flow of homeland security funding,
and Baltimore
Mayor Martin O'Malley has been one of the most vocal, as chairman of the U.S.
Conference of
Mayors' Homeland Security Task Force.

Also speaking at the alliance meeting, O'Malley pointed out that the
reimbursement problem is not
always just between the cities and the states, but also between the cities and
the federal government.
Baltimore has spent more than $18 million on security enhancements when the
Homeland Security
Department raised the color-coded threat level. However, only a little more than
$1 million of that has
been reimbursed, he said.

Within Maryland, right now the plan is to drive much of that communication
through the 24
locally-based state emergency directors, although officials will also work
directly with the largest
jurisdictions, Schrader said.

The new director of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, John Droneburg,
should be a
big asset in this effort, especially when it comes to addressing language and
culture differences,
Schrader said. Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich named Droneburg to the position
in December,
and he comes to the state level after 11 years as public safety director for
Frederick County, Md.

http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2004/0209/web-maryland-02-11-04.asp
--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Send the freshest Valentine's flowers with a FREE vase from only $29.99!
Shipped direct from the grower with a 7 day freshness guarantee and prices so low you save 30-55% off retail!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/_iAw9B/xdlHAA/3jkFAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/