April 20, 2020
Former paramedic, Division 1 councillor Roz Frohloff, has been elected the new chair of the South Burnett Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG).
Her deputy will be Division 3 councillor Danita Potter.
The Local Disaster Management Group’s main role is to co-ordinate disaster responses in the region, working with emergency services and bodies such as Queensland Health.
It has been meeting regularly recently since the COVID-19 health crisis began.
The former chair of the LDMG was Mayor Keith Campbell, who was defeated at the local government elections.
Cr Frohloff, who was nominated for the role at Monday’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting, has been a member of the LDMG since she was elected four years ago.
Before that she worked as a paramedic for more than 20 years.
“She has a connection through all the emergency services already so I believe she is a sensational choice as Local Disaster Management chair,” Cr Gavin Jones said.
Mayor Brett Otto praised Cr Frohloff for the work she had done already in leading the LDMG in Mayor Campbell’s absence.
He also acknowledged the work done by Local Disaster Co-ordinator Aaron Meehan.
“I was proud to sit in this Chamber last week when there was a teleconference conducted across the region and the District Co-ordinator from Gympie for the Wide Bay region … acknowledged that the South Burnett is leading the way in disaster management across the broader region,” Mayor Otto said.
“A lot of that credit goes to, of course, the members of the LDMG but certainly much to the work undertaken by Cr Frohloff and General Manager Meehan.”
Mayor Otto said the mayor, by default, often served as chair of the LDMG “however, in this case, I believe we have someone who is much better qualified to do that role”.
Cr Frohloff said she would also like to acknowledge the hard work being done by the council team behind General Manager Meehan, noting the long hours they were currently putting in due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The meeting resolved to have a formal letters of appreciation drafted for General Managers Aaron Meehan and Peter O’May in recognition of the work that they have done with the LDMG.
Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Otto said he was looking to step into the “recovery” part of the LDMG.
“The LDMG has sub-committees … I am keen to work in the recovery team looking at issues around how we can help small business recover, how we can help community organisations recover and, indeed, how we can help individuals get through the isolation and recover from a significant change in lifestyle,” he said.
“That’s a secondary role to the leadership of the LDMG, much more of a hands-on, on-the-ground role for me.”
