Lakeport parks foreman achieves emergency management specialist certification
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday honored the city of Lakeport’s parks foreman who has earned a state certification for emergency management.
At the Tuesday evening meeting, the Emergency Management Specialist Training Certificate was officially presented to Ron Ladd.
Ladd’s boss, Public Works Director Doug Grider, said Ladd was hired in December of 2014 as a park lead worker, a position he held until this past November, when he was promoted to his current job as parks foreman.
Grider said the city got a wake up call about disasters not long after Ladd was hired, when the Valley fire burned through the south county in September of 2015.
He said the county called the city of Lakeport in to assist in the emergency operations center. Both Grider and Ladd worked in logistics.
Ladd also would assist during the Clayton fire, dealt with the 2017 flood that impacted the city, worked in logistics on last year’s Mendocino Complex and earlier this year had still more flooding to respond to in the city, Grider said.
“In pretty short order, we had trial by fire here, literally,” Grider said.
During each disaster, Grider said Ladd stepped up and served with great skill.
Grider said Ladd’s interest in emergency management was peaked with the Valley fire, and he started training.
Since then, Grider said Ladd has been diligent in attending trainings to work in an emergency operations center.
Achieving the Emergency Management Specialist Training Certificate is a “very arduous task,” said Grider, noting the coursework he had to take, with the credentials then going to the state for review.
Ladd’s certificate, a copy of which was included in the agenda packet, was signed on March 22 by Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and Alex Cabassa, assistant Cal OES director and superintendent of the California Specialized Training Institute.
Grider pointed out that there aren’t many certifications granted. Ladd’s certificate number is 587.
The congratulatory letter from Ghilarducci to Ladd that accompanied the certificate explained that by completing the program, Ladd has “demonstrated a high level of accomplishment within the emergency management and homeland security profession.”
The letter added, “We depend on public safety and emergency management professionals such as you to ensure that the people of California are prepared for and can respond effectively to major emergencies and disasters. Your successful completion of this rigorous and comprehensive training program exemplifies your dedication to our state’s public safety mission.”
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