He continued, "For me, typically it's bring-
ing together city departments. That's where
I come in, to provide the training for all the
individuals for the command system, teaching
them the paperwork for the reimbursements.
It's much better when you do an audit that
all the paperwork is similar so down the line
when the auditors come in, they are looking
at the same types of documentation."
Kerkering used the example of a city patrol-
man assigned to direct traffic at an intersection
with no power for the traffic signals. If the
officer simply does the job and does not
take any notes, the likelihood is slim of any
reimbursement from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to the city for
his time or the use of the car.
"You record your mileage to get there, and
while your car sits for maybe six hours with
the lights on while you direct the traffic, you
note the time. Now we can seek reimburse-
ment for the time you and the vehicle were
there," Kerkering pointed out.
"If our public works guys use a chain saw to
cut some limbs that block a road, you need to
record the time you use that particular chain
saw because that's a reimbursable item," he
said.
"It adds up. Typically FEMA reimburses you
for about 75 percent, and the state, 12.5 per-
cent. The local jurisdiction is responsible for
the other 12.5 percent. Everything we can
document will help the individual taxpayers
of the city," he noted. "If we can seek reim-
bursement for it, that's where we need to
go. Florida is a donor state to the rest of the
country, so my thought is, if we can seek reim-
bursement on it, I want those dollars." (By
donor state, he means Florida provides more
money in various forms of payments to the
federal government than it annually receives
in return.)
With at least 200 or more city workers respond-
ing to help in any post-emergency situation, if
simple accounting is ignored, the cost to the
city for non-reimbursable expenses could run
into the millions of dollars. Thus, Kerkering's
job is not only to deal with the impact of a
disaster, but also to manage the response
in a way that minimizes the ultimate cost to
the city.
Meanwhile, he is putting together the city's
Emergency Management Center with confi-
dence it will survive the worst nature can hurl
at it. The new Sarasota Police Station — despite
the appearance of its glass facade — is designed
to withstand a Category 5 storm. %
T h e n e w S a r a s o t a P o l i c e D e p a r t m e n t
headquarters was built on Adams Lane, across
from Payne Park in downtown Sarasota. Photo
by Norman Schimmel
SHARE
Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2014 Page 67
