RACINE – David Maack never intended to make emergency management a career. In fact, he had never heard of emergency management until Governor Tommy Thompson appointed him to a position at the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Government (DEG), now known as Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM).
In August 1988, Maack was hired to help implement the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), a fledgling federal mandate, and to be a liaison between DEG, the counties and businesses in the southeast and northeast regions of the state. Before he left state service, he was working with all the counties across the state, wrote the first comprehensive EPCRA planning guidance and helped open some of the first EPCRA compliance cases.
In April 1990, Maack filled Racine County’s vacant Emergency Management Coordinator position. At the time, Maack was the youngest county department head and probably the youngest director in the state. While Maack hit the ground running, there was still a learning curve.
“Most emergency management directors at the time had either a military or law enforcement background, and it was a job that many did as a second career,” commented Maack, “I was fresh out of college and quickly adapted but there was still a learning curve. I was fortunate to be able to call upon Paul Hess, the Kenosha County Director at the time, and seek advice and counsel. Paul was pragmatic and had a lot of practical experience.”
Maack quickly adapted to the challenges of being a one-person, public safety agency that was on call, 24/7. With the help of five deputy coordinators, he was able to provide coverage and support. One of the first large incidents that Maack responded to, occurred the week he was getting married. A farmer struck a fuel pipeline running through his field and 5000-6000 gallons of unleaded gasoline were released.
Over the years, Maack responded to chemical spills, plane crashes, fires, a Cryptosporidium scare, snowstorms, windstorms, floods and other severe weather events, including three separate tornados which hit Racine County in 2010, the last right before Thanksgiving. “The Burlington flooding in 2017 was the most devasting,” commented Maack, “And who would have guessed that my last full year in emergency management would involve lakeshore flooding, a global pandemic and civil unrest?”
Since 1990, Maack oversaw eight Presidential Disaster Declarations, two Small Business Administration Declarations and three Snowstorm Declarations. Through these declarations, local municipalities, as well as homeowners, were able to recover some of the costs incurred in some cases.
The day after the tornado hit Union Grove in 2010, Maack and County Executive Bill McReynolds were invited to view the storm damage from the Adjutant General’s Blackhawk helicopter.
“I have had the best job in county government,” remarked Maack, “No day was ever the same. One moment I was working on plans, another I’m meeting with the public and the next I am responding to some type of emergency.”
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), emergency management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management seeks to promote safer, less vulnerable communities with the capacity to cope with hazards and disasters through planning, training outreach, mock exercises, and response to actual emergencies.
Over the past 30 years, Maack built a program that has received national recognition from both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).
He is a recipient of the 2011 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Award in the ”Engagement with Faith-Based Communities” category and was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change. Maack has written numerous articles on Emergency Management, including chapters on emergency management for the Wisconsin Counties Association’s County Officials Handbook and he has spoken extensively on emergency management at the state, regional and national conferences.
In 1999, Racine County became one of three communities in Wisconsin to be selected as a Project Impact community. FEMA established the Project Impact initiative to help communities reduce their disaster tolls by building partnerships among businesses, agencies, churches, neighborhoods and others who worked together on local hazard-mitigation activities. The project came with a $300,000 matching grant and technical support from FEMA.
In addition, during Maack’s tenure, several emergency management programs he undertook were included and recognized as trailblazers in national publications, including FEMA’s Compendium of Exemplary Practices. Maack worked closely with his colleagues in the southeast region on regional projects and several Racine County initiatives have been used as models.
“There is no reason to reinvent the wheel,” commented Maack, “I have been fortunate to have others share their best practices and I always felt it was important to reciprocate.”
Over the years, Maack has given back to the emergency management community by serving on state and national boards, committees and commissions. He is a past board member of the Wisconsin Emergency Management Association, an active member of WEM’s Governor’s Conference on Emergency Management Planning Committee for many years and he served two terms as a commissioner for the International Association of Emergency Manager’s Certified Emergency Management (CEM) Commission.
For Maack, emergency management has been a family affair. “It wasn’t unusual, in the early days, for the family to tag along to an evening presentation. At the age of five, my son could give my tornado awareness talk,” commented Maack, “And both of my children took the Community Emergency Response Team training several times.” David’s wife, Amy, also participated as the distraught mistress of a plane crash victim during a full-scale disaster exercise. While she didn’t win an Emmy for her performance, it added to the realism of the exercise.
According to Maack, the emergency management field has changed over the years by becoming more professional. There are undergrad and graduate degrees in emergency management now, young people are choosing it as a profession and there are more opportunities, including in the private sector.
“I remember when I went before the County Board and declared the Cold War over, a County Board supervisor asked if that meant we could eliminate the office. I quickly explained that natural and technological disasters kept us busy and by statute, the County is required to have an emergency management program,” explained Maack.
The highlight of Maack’s career was not going to the White House but instead, taking 77 local officials to the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1998. “Under County Executive Jean Jacobson’s leadership, we had full buy in, and we were able to use the experience as a team building exercise,” recalled Maack, “We learned a lot and when we got back, Jean asked me to serve on a committee she put together to celebrate the state’s sesquicentennial.” That training helped the County prepare for the Y2K crisis and while nothing happened, Racine County led the way in preparedness efforts and overall, was better prepared for all types of hazards.
“Emergency management has been a rewarding career,” commented Maack, “I have been blessed to work with six different County Executives, I have met some interesting people along the way, built solid relationships with people in the community and even got to go to the White House. But most importantly, I hope that I have left the community a little better prepared than when I started.”
