| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Frank B. Patterson III is retiring as emergency |
|
|
management coordinator for the City of Waco and McLennan County in |
|
|
March 2019, drawing to a close nearly two decades of outstanding |
|
|
service to the region; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Since joining the Waco-McLennan County Office of |
|
|
Emergency Management in July 1999, Mr. Patterson has led the city |
|
|
and county through six presidential-declared and three |
|
|
state-declared disasters, including wildfires, tornadoes, and |
|
|
floods; in the aftermath of the fertilizer plant explosion in West |
|
|
in 2013, he served more than six months as incident commander, |
|
|
helping guide the community through its long-term recovery, and he |
|
|
has been invited to speak at nearly 100 emergency management and |
|
|
first responder conferences about the lessons learned in West; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Patterson has also developed the initial |
|
|
standard operating procedures for the City of Waco's CBRNE |
|
|
(chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive) |
|
|
response team, modernized the emergency communications systems, |
|
|
helped design the new Emergency Operations Center, and overseen the |
|
|
launch of the Fire Corps program and the Community Emergency |
|
|
Response Team; he has served five terms as president of the McLennan |
|
|
County Fire Protection Association and 15 years as chair of the |
|
|
Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee for the Heart of Texas |
|
|
Council of Governments; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A graduate of Lamar University, Mr. Patterson began |
|
|
his career in 1985, and before taking over emergency management in |
|
|
Waco, he worked as a firefighter in Pharr and Edinburg, as a safety |
|
|
and health supervisor in Beaumont and Houston, and as fire training |
|
|
instructor at Lamar University; in 1997, he was the founding |
|
|
coordinator of the Fire Protection Technology Program at McLennan |
|
|
Community College, and he is leaving his current position to take up |
|
|
the newly created position of emergency manager at MCC; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Over the course of nearly three and a half decades, |
|
|
this veteran first responder has become a nationally recognized |
|
|
leader in emergency response and management, and he may indeed |
|
|
reflect with pride on his career so far as he takes on the |
|
|
challenges and opportunities of his new position; now, therefore, |
|
|
be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby congratulate Frank Patterson on his retirement |
|
|
from the Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management and |
|
|
extend to him sincere best wishes for continued success in his |
|
|
important work; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Mr. Patterson as an expression of high regard by the |
|
|
Texas House of Representatives. |