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Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
REFERENCE: Efficiency Task Force Recommendations
The Honorable Governor Bill Richardson
I am writing to you in my capacity as Eddy County Emergency Manager and as President of the
New Mexico Emergency Management Association (NMEMA). I strongly urge you not to move
the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (NMDHSEM)
back into the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. Through your leadership and the
support of NMEMA the new Department was created just over two years ago to address
structural, management, and effectiveness concerns that existed for years when emergency
management was buried in NMDPS, first as a bureau and later as a division.
My colleagues that server as local emergency managers throughout our great state and our
partners in members on NMEMA all have negative recollections of emergency command,
control, and coordination challenges as well as day‐to‐day administrative issues that existed
under that arrangement. Consistent and continued grant funding was also hindered while the
department was a part of NMDPS. I urge you to review your notes and consult with your
advisors from early in your administration to thoroughly evaluate the reasons the change was
made in the first place and compare those to the 'benefits' that were expressed by the Efficiency
Task Force.
I am certain that efficiencies can be found and realized within NMDHSEM in these difficult
budgetary times and NMEMA welcomes the opportunity to help you find them but, again, we
believe the immediate and long lasting costs of moving the Department back into NMDPS far
outweigh the benefits of such a move.
Thank you for your consideration of this important change.
Sincerely,
Joel Arnwine
Eddy County Emergency Manager
NMEMA President