County Announces New Director of Office of Emergency Management

The Santa Barbara County Executive Office announced today that Kelly Hubbard is the next Director of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for Santa Barbara County. Hubbard was selected following a competitive recruitment of candidates from across the country. Hubbard brings extensive experience in emergency planning, assessing facility vulnerabilities, disaster finance, coordination with nonprofits, public-private partnerships and crisis management. Most recently, Hubbard served as Emergency Manager at the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), a Metropolitan Water District member agency, for the past 15 years. 

 

“Ms. Hubbard is a proven emergency management professional with an ability to bring together and lead community partners and government agencies in successful preparedness, response and recovery efforts,” said County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato. “We look forward to her tenure with us and providing similar leadership for our county.”

 

 

Through her role at MWDOC, Hubbard served as Emergency Services Manager for the Water Emergency Response Organization of Orange County (WEROC) to support and manage emergency preparedness, planning, response, and recovery efforts among 37 Orange County water and wastewater utilities. Hubbard was also responsible for recruiting, training and engaging with Emergency Operations Center staff and volunteers, and managing an annual budget of $650,000.

 

In her capacity at WEROC, Hubbard collaborated and prepared for many types of disasters including earthquakes, droughts, pandemics, infrastructure failures, wildfires and most recently on preparedness for planned utility shutdowns, otherwise known as Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS). As part of mutual aid assistance to other agencies across the country, Hubbard also served disaster response for more than 15 presidentially-declared disasters as an EOC Manager, Public Information Officer, Local Assistance Center Manager, and Evacuation Center Manager. She has been successful on community collaborations using the whole community approach to emergency management and building relationships with emergency partners and strong teams focused on resiliency and recovery.

 

“Kelly will bring a highly collaborative approach and perspective to our committed and talented Office of Emergency Management team,” said Matt Pontes, Assistant County Executive Officer and Interim Director of Emergency Management. “She will lead efforts to ensure our communities are prepared for future emergencies and challenges.”

Hubbard has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a master’s in Emergency Services Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) by the International Association of Emergency Managers, and trained in Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS), National Incident Management System (NIMS), Crisis Information Management, American Red Cross Shelter Operations and as an Incident Management Team (IMT) liaison. Hubbard has an in-depth knowledge of the 2004 Homeland Security Act, the California Emergency Services Act, the Stafford Act, and America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.

Hubbard succeeds Rob Lewin, who left the County in May after three years leading the County Office of Emergency Management following a long career in the fire service with California State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire).

 

Hubbard will begin her role in Santa Barbara County on August 19, 2019.

For information about Santa Barbara County government, go to www.CountyofSB.org.