Teague resigns emergency management post

It has been observed that “poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

Well, the Sequoyah County Commissioners have done their part in the past year and a half to plan, yet they are again faced with an emergency.

Jonathan Teague, who has been with the county since January 2023, has submitted his resignation as director of Sequoyah County Emergency Management. His last day on the job will be July 15.

Teague was appointed as director in October 2023, after having served as deputy director the previous nine months. His appointment was due to the resignation of then-director Garrett Fargo, who was hired as director in January 2023.

Both Teague and Fargo were hired by the county to replace Steve Rutherford, who retired in November 2022 after 10 years as SCEM director.

As Teague noted when he accepted the role as director, emergency management is a “crucial position” which requires a commitment “to serving our community and ensuring its safety and resilience in times of need.”

Emergency management routinely collaborates with fire departments, law enforcement and other local authorities to “build a resilient and prepared community that can face any challenge that comes our way,” Teague said.

Teague’s last day as director occurs after Oklahoma’s annual tornado season, which is May through early June. Violent thunderstorms, another focus of the emergency management office, can occur throughout the summer and into fall.

The commissioners accepted Teague’s resignation at their weekly meeting on Monday.

In other business, the commissioners renewed their annual cooperative funding agreement with the USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services for damage control in the county. Since July 1, 2023, wildlife services has investigated a dozen feral hog projects which have resulted in verified losses of $14,000, as well as 11 beaver projects with more than $9,000 in verified losses and six black vulture projects which have caused $6,000 in verified losses.

USDA Wildlife Services specialist Dean Miller told the commissioners that feral hog incidents “seem to be getting better,” noting that “this is the second year in a row that I’ve had a decline in number of complaints to number of pigs removed, so that seems to be improving.” He said beavers are a constant issue, due to the Arkansas River navigational channel. However, Miller said black vulture populations are growing, “so that looks like that’s gonna be our next disaster to try to help handle is black vultures killing baby calves, and a lotta the times they’re actually killing the cow while they’re having the calf.”

Miller told the commissioners that the funds they provide “are crucial for us to be able to work in the county,” The commissioners also renewed a detention services agreement with ROCMND Area Youth Services. ROCMND is a community-based agency that provides therapeutic behavioral health services to children and their families, helping curb substance abuse and misuse. ROCMND has residential services for youth which receive their referrals from the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

The commissioners also approved a declaration of surplus for a 2015 Chevy Tahoe K9 vehicle, as well as an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois dog. Both the vehicle and the dog will be transferred to the Haskell County Sheriff’s Office, which is initiating a K9 unit.

The county commissioners meet at 10 a.m. Mondays at the courthouse.