HOLLISTER
San Benito County is without an emergency services manager after Brian Tempero stepped down from the position Oct. 24.
According to Assistant County Administrative Officer Rich Inman, the county is actively recruiting for candidates to fill the position.
Tempero had been appointed as a correctional officer in the county back in 2002 and was promoted to correctional sergeant and then appointed as the emergency services manager in August of 2006.
“I enjoyed working with him,” said Inman. “He was dedicated, worked hard and was instrumental in putting together tabletop operational systems for disasters.
Emergency disaster procedures bring together all relevant agencies at a “tabletop” to address the how best to handle occurrences such as floods and earthquakes, Inman said.
In October 2007, Tempero coordinated 150 local officials in a training session for emergency preparedness and simulated such an event. “The county’s emergency center will also have a running start in case of a quake or other disaster,” Tempero told the Free Lance at that time.
Hollister Fire Chief Fred Cheshire remembers the training exercise as being run well and valuable.
“It was the type of thing that puts real pressure on you without an actual emergency,” said Cheshire. “We found glitches to fix in our system and we honed our emergency skills.”
Tempero could not be reached for comment before publication.
