Greene County has a new emergency management coordinator.

Scranton resident Doug Hawn was hired to be the part time Greene County Emergency Management Coordinator this past August. Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams served as the interim emergency management coordinator for almost one year following the retirement of Dennis Morlan, who had been in the position for close to 35 years. 

Williams tells Raccoon Valley Radio the Emergency Management Commission, which consisted of all the mayors of the cities in the county, along with County Supervisor Dawn Rudolph and himself, interviewed three local individuals and talks about the challenges of finding a replacement for this kind of position.

“The hardest part is one, it’s part time. It doesn’t pay a whole lot, so you almost need somebody that’s retired or has a job that lets them just leave at a moment’s notice, which is hard to find. The three applicants that we had were all very good applicants, but in the end Doug (Hawn) was picked. For the bigger part was Doug’s retired and has more free time to help do some of the stuff, that does take a lot of time.” 

Williams says it was a unanimous vote by the commission for Hawn and Rudolph explains her reason for choosing Hawn.

“He knows the county well. He helped with the 911 service when that was implemented. He just knows all of the in’s and out’s. He’s been working with the LEC (law enforcement center), so he’s just very knowledgeable. Also with his knowledge on the (Greene County Medical Center) hospital board (of Trustees), I think he just has good connections. It’ll be a very smooth transition.”    

Williams adds the main responsibilities of an emergency management coordinator is whenever there are disasters that happen in the county, such as the December 2021 derecho that involved six tornadoes the caused county-wide damage, and he would request state assistance if needed, as well as scheduling required training for certain aspects and make various reports to the state.  

Hawn is retired and currently serves on the Greene County Medical Center Board of Trustees as vice chair and is the secretary/treasurer with the Greene County Fair Association.