County hires new emergency management department director

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Justin Ross hit the ground running as the new director of the Island County Emergency Management Department this month.

Leveraging his experience serving on federal, state and local levels as an emergency manager, Ross already has improvements in mind for the department, though he hopes to continue the work Island County has already done with former director Eric Brooks.

In addition to hiring a new director, the county commissioners also restructured the department so that it’s no longer within Public Works. Emergency Management is now its own department, with Ross reporting directly to the commissioners.

His team is in the midst of evaluating which avenues Island County Emergency Management has room to grow, Ross told the News-Times.

“My approach is to assess readiness internally and to create collaborative relationships with our stakeholders and community members in order to build the most responsive and resilient program that I can,” he said.

The Island County’s Emergency Management Program is historic, dating back to the early 1950s when Washington’s Civil Defense Act required it, Ross explained. Though it started as a “civil defense,” it evolved into an all-hazards emergency management approach, he noted.

“We focus our attention on creating systems to respond and recover from any kind of event,” Ross explained.

The department today is essential to Island County, responsible for “planning and coordinating actions for the preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery from natural and man-made emergencies and disasters,” Ross said. It alerts people about hazards and offers training for county residents and first responders. It is also in charge of operating the county Emergency Operations Center when it is in use.

Ross affirmed his belief that everyone in Island County is an emergency manager. Therefore, he hopes to empower community members to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

“Through the forward leaning practices and vision of our Board of Commissioners, the Sheriff’s Office, our local first responder partners, the dedicated staff of all of the Island County staff and most importantly — the community members across the two islands,” he said, “we are working everyday towards a more prepared and disaster ready community. I’m proud to play a small part in such a large effort.”

Visit www.islandcountywa.gov/170/Department-of-Emergency-Management for a look at the different hazards that exist throughout Island County and to learn more about personal preparedness.