Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA - An outside audit of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Department of Emergency Services gave a damning view of operations there and said a lack of direction has left the borough open to risk. "The borough is at great risk, not only operationally but from a liability perspective, in that the Department of Emergency Services appears to be poorly organized and managed, and there is a general lack of monitoring of department administration and corporate oversight," the audit states.

Dhillon Management Services, a California firm, delivered the audit to Assembly members over the weekend.

Public health and safety are not at risk because of training and practices at the Emergency Services Department, said Borough Manager John Duffy on Thursday.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I think this is a very overblown statement, and it does not recognize the effort that responders put into their jobs."

Matt Dhillon, owner of the auditing firm, on Thursday by phone declined comment on the audit or its claim of risk to the borough.

Duffy said few firefighters or ambulance personnel are injured because of failure to follow correct practices. He said ambulance response rates are down, meaning faster hospital treatment for patients.

And although auditors knocked as outdated and complex the Emergency Operations Plan, Duffy said borough employees have proven they know what to do in a widespread emergency.

"We basically have one major incident a year - a flood, a fire. ... In each of those cases we've minimized the damage to properties and people and received commendations for our response," Duffy said.

WORKING ON IT

Mayor Curt Menard got his copy of the audit Tuesday, he said, but hadn't yet reviewed it Wednesday. Some of the issues it raises, such as a lack of planning, are not new, Menard said.

Whenever he takes up the subject with Department of Emergency Services manager Dennis Brodigan, the response is often, "We're working on it," Menard said.

"A lot of times, you can rattle the cage, but to get it to trickle down can be more difficult," he said.

According to the audit, job descriptions are six years and more out of date. Updates are in the works, but auditors found no evidence of work being done. In one instance, auditors reported that an emergency medical services training plan was cobbled together just to meet their request.

"This tells us that there never has been a 'plan' in the formal sense and, in fact, the document in which the above statement is contained was created in early February of 2008, likely as a result of our request for information," the audit states.

The audit is one part of a comprehensive borough-wide management review requested by the Assembly. It examines operations at the Emergency Services Department and the Solid Waste Division.

In addition to poor management, the audit claims the borough is overspending for dispatch services by more than $400,000 and that the Emergency Operations Plan, which is implemented in case of widespread emergencies, is out of date and unread by borough employees.

Duffy said Wednesday he agrees the department needs more strategic planning and long-range goals.

"That's something that's been lacking. Unfortunately, it goes back to some of this other stuff. We have the lowest employee-to-citizen ratio in the state but yet we're accomplishing more than most other places," Duffy said. "I think part of it is, there's been so much to do that we haven't gotten to do that project."

The department is neither poorly organized nor suffering from a lack of administrative oversight, he said.

"I meet with Dennis every two weeks, one on one. We have numerous phone calls and e-mail exchanges during the week where we talk about these kinds of things - management and oversight," Duffy said.

PREPARING A RESPONSE

Ken Slauson, former Local Emergency Planning Commission chairman, said an update to the Emergency Operations Plan is due later this year.

But Slauson agrees that Emergency Services managers are too busy to address broader, strategic issues. He's been arguing for years that the department is too broad and unwieldy. It should be broken into smaller pieces to address community needs, he said.

"Part of the problem with Emergency Services is that it is poorly matched to the size and diversity of the borough," Slauson said.

Duffy said he and borough employees are preparing a response to the audit. "We're not afraid to do these things. The only way you can get better is to identify where you have some shortcomings," he said.

The Mat-Su Assembly will discuss the audit at a work session at noon Tuesday in borough Assembly chambers.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.

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