MANSFIELD — Rebecca Owens handled a lot of crisis situations in her role as regional director for Catholic Charities, including work as the disaster response coordinator for the Toledo Diocese.
It provided experiences she can lean on as the new Richland County Emergency Management Agency Director.
“Every disaster is different. There is no guidebook to any disaster,” said Owens, whose hiring was approved Thursday by county commissioners. “You could have 5,000 books on tornadoes in Ohio, but the next one is going to be different than the other 5,000.”
Owens, a graduate of The Ohio State University, said “being at the table” and understanding how the response process works is essential.
“I have a lot to learn,” she said. “I won’t deny that at all. (But) there are a lot of basic principles.
“It really boils down to cooperation, communication and collaboration with your community partners and those at the state and federal levels, if needed,” Owens said.
Owens breaks the mold of local EMA directors, who traditionally have worked in fire departments or law enforcement agencies, including her predecessor, Joe Petrycki, who resigned in September.
“I think this is a break of tradition, but I think Rebecca is the right candidate at the right time,” Commissioner Cliff Mears said. “We are going to make a change in the pattern of hiring than we have and I’m pretty excited about it.”
“(Owens) is the right person at the right time,” he said.
The new EMA chief will be paid $66,000 annually, according to commissioners.
Commissioner Darrell Banks said the board was looking for someone who had managed crisis situations in the past.
Owens served as chair of Richland County Organizations for Disaster Assistance for more than 10 years, leading disaster recovery efforts during 2011 and 2104 flooding events and a tornado in Shelby in 2019. She also traveled to Florida to help with hurricane relief in 2018.
“I think she has shown that she can handle crisis on several different layers,” Banks said. “We’re very please she’s here and we are going to move forward and we are confident she is doing to do very well.”
When he resigned, Petrycki talked about the need to step back from being on-call 24/7, coming to the EMA position after more than two decades with the Mansfield Police Department.
Owens recognized the position sometimes calls for those hours.
“My responsibility is to the county and to the commissioners and to act and be available when needed,” she said. “A lot of what I hope to bring to table is a matter of being able to look at the operations of the EMA office and determine how we can do things more efficiently.
“Working smarter, not harder, is always the most important thing to do,” Owens said.
One possibility is expanding the role of Sarah Potes, the agency’s administrative assistant who served as the local EMA interim director for the past few months.
“I think Sarah is anxious for additional responsibilities,” Mears said. “She has shown she can handle that as an interim director. I think we’re going to have some conversations about how we can share some of the responsibilities that Joe took on himself individually and singularly that probably didn’t need to be.”
