Editorial: Make opinions known about EM office

• Nobles County

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Talk about it

The Nobles County Board of Commissioners had been scheduled Tuesday to discuss whether the county’s emergency management (EM) department should be restructured. The item had been placed on the board’s agenda following a request from Sheriff Kent Wilkening.

Instead of this discussion, though, commissioners opted to wait until after a work session that board chairman David Benson said would take place at 12:30 p.m. March 27 (next Tuesday). That session has the potential to be intriguing, at least given the opinions of many whose voices should certainly be heard in EM matters.

In the wake of the dismissal of Emily Cenzano, who was the county’s EM director for a little less than a year, fire chiefs from across the county have advocated for changes that would include relocating the EM office to Prairie Justice Center and having its director report to the sheriff. Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh also sent a letter — “as mayor of the most populous city in Nobles County and out of concern for our citizens” — to his county commissioner and others supporting these changes.

We urge the public to either attend next Tuesday’s work session or write letters to their county commissioners regarding the EM office.

Tags: nobles county, nobles county commissioners, opinion, editorials, worthington, oberloh