Sean C. Morgan
The City of Sweet Home’s Emergency Preparedness Committee has been somewhat stalled in the past year or so, but a new volunteer emergency management coordinator has been a catalyst for renewed activity.
Tommy Mull, 45, is moving an update of the city’s emergency management plan forward and will soon lead a public outreach to help prepare Sweet Home residents to fend for themselves immediately following a disaster.
City Manager Ray Towry introduced Mull to the City Council during a meeting in February.
Towry noted that an emergency preparedness effort was in place when he came to Sweet Home in late 2016.
“Quite frankly, staff is so busy trying to do other things, this is something that just wasn’t moving forward at a rate that it needed to move forward,” Towry said. “We’re lucky to have somebody in our community who’s extremely experienced in this, so we asked Tommy if he’d be interested in spearheading this effort for us.
“He’s been heading this up now for a couple of months. We’re already moving forward. We’ve probably done more in the last two and a half, three months, with Tommy than we have the previous year.”
Mull retired in 2016 after 23 years active duty in the U.S. Air Force.
“I spent most of my time as a first responder.” Mull said. “I found my niche in anti-terrorism and force protection, so I see things from a different perspective that some don’t, found my way to emergency management, which is really interesting.”
From there, the Air Force moved him to the inspector general program, where he inspected various programs for compliance. That led him to emergency management.
Mull grew up in Flint, Mich., leaving at age 20 to join the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois when he retired.
He moved with his wife, Lasea Mull, who works at River of Life Fellowship, and children to Sweet Home about a year and a half ago. Living in Sweet Home are children Benjamin Mull, 16; Emily Cook, 20; and Tanner Coons, 22. They have two adult children living elsewhere, Audrey Longroy, 23, and Tyler Coons, 24.
“My wife’s family is from this area,” Mull said – the McClain family on her mother’s side. “She loves Oregon. She’s always loved Oregon.”
After growing up in the hustle and bustle of a place like Flint, he wasn’t so sure about it, but they decided to to Sweet Home, he said. “I think God just kind of moved us here.”
He quickly embraced his new home.
“What a great place,” Mull said. “I think it’s a beautiful town. I don’t think it gets the props (it should), and we’ve got great things going on here.”
With a need for someone like Mull, Councilor Susan Coleman introduced Mull to Towry for the emergency management committee.
“I was able to put my 2 cents in,” Mull said. “Two cents became 50 cents and a dollar. I’m able to help them in that area.”
The committee includes Mull, Edie Wilcox, Fire Chief Dave Barringer, Police Chief Jeff Lynn, Public Works Director Greg Springman and Towry.
Their first goal is to update the city’s emergency plan, Mull said. The city has one, but it’s five years old.
“We’re going to turbocharge it a little bit,” Mull said. “My vision is to get to a point where I’m shooting 5- and 10-meter targets, for those shooters. I’m aiming at the 100-meter targets. We’re looking into the future. We’re proactive. We’re prepared.”
He said he expects the updates this month, and then he and the committee will start talking to citizens.
After finishing an update of the city’s emergency management plan, Mull said, he would like take it to the council and then to the community to educate citizens, staff and business owners, many of whom have something to offer in emergency management.
“If you ask somebody today, ‘Hey, what happens if this happens right now?’ they probably couldn’t tell you, and they probably wouldn’t be able to fend for themselves,” Mull said. “That’s what we’re going to teach them. I want people to be proactive. I want you to be able to set yourself up for two weeks at a minimum and pray that the Cascadia thing (major subduction zone earthquake) doesn’t happen, but I want to be prepared. Something’s going to happen. It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.
“We all need to be prepared for that. We need to give them the tools and information to be able to take care of themselves.”
After two weeks, Mull said, “we’ll be in a position where we can ask for help.”
Mull said widespread disasters are not an imminent threat.
“I don’t think people should be paranoid,” he said, “but we’ve got to be prepared,” with “an awareness of things.”
The committee will reach out through social media, local media and in person.
“I love it,” Mull said of emergency management. “It’s my passion.”
He has the time, he said. “I’m here. I’m here for the long haul. Why wouldn’t I want to make the place I live the best it can be?”