- May 4, 2024
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The following is a news release from the Flagler County communications office:
Flagler County’s helicopter pilot, Todd Whaley, has wanted to be airborne his whole life. But it wasn’t until the first time he fought fire from a helicopter that he knew what he was destined to be.
“My first job out of flight school was with a small company out of Logan, West Virginia fighting fire and I fell in love with it,” Whaley said. “Firefighting from a helicopter is one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done. You’re low and in the smoke, and you get to see the progress when you hit it directly with a bucket of water.”
Whaley, whose first name is actually Steven though he goes by Todd, entered the Navy and later used the G.I. Bill to become an A&P (airframe and power plant) certified maintenance technician through the Federal Aviation Administration. He began flying airplanes in 1999 and helicopters in 2001. He has since accumulated more than 4,000 flight hours.
“I’ve been around aviation my entire life. My grandfather worked on Navy and Marine Corps F4U Corsairs during World War II, and went on to work for McDonnell Douglas,” Whaley said. “My father went to work as an apprentice mechanic and worked his way up to a quality assurance aircraft inspector at the Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina before I was born and retired 38 years later. It’s definitely been bred into me.”
When Whaley left West Virginia, he took a job working for Volusia County Sheriff’s Office where he worked for nearly eight years as a law enforcement line pilot of its helicopter, Air One.
As an aside, Whaley was recently awarded with a Medal of Merit from Sheriff Ben Johnson for his assistance with an October 2015 plane crash in Seville. He had been flying relief for the Sheriff’s Office when it was short staffed and had to guide responders to the crash site off of County Road 305, and then fly the most critical of patients to Halifax with just enough fuel to make it back to DeLand.
“It (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office) was a good job, and I still fly relief for them, but it just wasn’t the same,” Whaley said in the same breath while retelling his harrowing ordeal. “I took a pay cut to take a job with the Florida Forest Service in Ocala. I wanted to fight fire.”
Whaley worked for the Florida Forest Service for about 14 months when he was approached by Dana Morris, Flagler County Flight Operations Chief, about coming to work for Flagler County.
“I was impressed by his record of duty with Volusia County and the (Florida) Forest Service,” Morris said. “We strive to get a high level of professionalism, and it is very unusual to get a pilot with all the other credentials he has.”
Whaley is an FAA-certified commercial helicopter pilot with a helicopter instrument rating, as well as a certified flight and instrument instructor. In addition to his A&P certification, he has inspection authorization. He is a Florida certified Wild-Land Firefighter, Structural Firefighter 1, First Responder and a member of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association.
Whaley calls the job with Flagler County his “dream job” – fighting fire, air ambulance, marine rescue, as well as search and rescue. He has worked for the county just over two years.
“Fighting fire from a helicopter is concentration intensive because you are doing both: flying and aircraft and fighting a fire,” Whaley said. “I absolutely love coming to work. I love being here every day. We work together as a team to get things accomplished.”
When he isn’t flying a helicopter, Whaley enjoys flying airplanes, skydiving and scuba diving.
The following is a news release from the Flagler County communications office:
The Flagler County Veterans Services Office has arranged for a series of veterans’ employment seminars to be held at the Emergency Operations Center the last three days of the month.
The Veteran Infused Employment Workshop, also known as VIEW, is provided through the Orlando VA Medical Center. The seminars are aimed specifically at the needs of veterans looking for jobs in the Central Florida area.
“We get a lot of requests for help finding employment,” said Sal Rutigliano, Flagler County Veterans Services Officer. “These seminars were being held regularly in South Daytona, so I asked about having them come here. We have 12,537 veterans here who could benefit from this.”
The first seminar, “Creating Your Job Search Tactics and Network,” will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 29. “Goals, Resumes and Interviewing” will be covered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 30. The longest seminar, “Performance Excellence, Mock Interviews and Graduation,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 31.
The seminars will be limited to about 30 people.
“We want these to be a typical class size so participants get individual attention,” Rutigliano said. “We expect this to be successful, and then we will schedule additional seminars.”
To sign up for the seminars, contact Annie Artis with Orlando VA Medical Center at 407-629-1599, ext. 28846, [email protected]. For information about Flagler County Veterans Services, contact Sal Rutigliano at 386-313-4014, [email protected].
The following is a news release from the Flagler County communications office:
Flagler County welcomes Stephen Garten as Public Safety Emergency Manager. He replaces Kevin Guthrie, who resigned in February to take a position in Pasco County.
“I am eager to bring to Flagler County and its citizens my federal emergency management experience, which includes 12 presidential-level declared disasters and the subsequent reimbursement processes,” Garten said.
Garten and Guthrie know one another professionally. Guthrie recommended his successor for the position.
Garten, who goes by Steve, was sent to 25 of Florida’s 67 counties between the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons as part of the recovery efforts of Frances, Jeanne, Katrina and Wilma. In 2008, he conducted preliminary work in and around Flagler County after Tropical Storm Faye.
Some $240 million in emergency management grants were validated as a direct result of Garten’s emergency management project responsibilities within the communities he worked and include Florida, Vermont, New Jersey, North Dakota and Louisiana. More than $45 million of those grant funds were awarded during his most recent position with Emergency Management for Broward County where he worked since 2013 before coming to Flagler County.
“We looked at resumes from across the country, and we were most impressed by Mr. Garten’s ability to operate in both national and local arenas, as well as the range of his experience,” County Administrator Craig Coffey said. “We are also excited we could hire someone with his expertise within Flagler County.”
Garten, a native Floridian, has lived in Palm Coast since 2006 with his wife and daughter. He has a bachelor’s degree in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida. He is a member of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association, and his resume includes 47 FEMA certifications and an additional 15 from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The following is a news release from the Flagler County communications office:
Flagler County Commission Chair Barbara Revels is in Washington D.C. attending a conference and training conducted by End Violence Against Women International.
Revels, along with Deputy County Administrator Sally Sherman, Trish Giaccone Executive Director of the Family Life Center, Eric Losciale of Children’s Home Society and Michele “Micky” Beauregard of the Domestic Abuse Council attended the conference as part of the grant requirement for Sally’s Safe Haven. Alexis Smith, Family Life Program Director, and Cheyanne Marshall, Family Life Center Domestic Violence and Child Welfare Advocate, also attended under a separate grant for the Family Life Center.
“This has been an eye-opening conference,” Revels said by phone Wednesday. “We are receiving a lot of information about best practices and emerging issues in sexual assault and domestic violence.”
Vice President Joe Biden spent more than an hour addressing upwards of 2,000 people about domestic abuse and sexual assault – a top issue of his for decades. He said he is often asked how success is measured.
“We will know we won when not a single solitary woman or man who’s been abused ever asks themselves, ‘What did I do?’” Biden said.
The attendees included representatives from government, law enforcement, courts, victims advocacy, health care and academia.
Additional speakers included: Jeffrey Bucholtz, Director, We End Violence; Rebecca Campbell, PhD, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University; Elizabeth Donegan, Sergeant Austin Police Department, Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit Supervisor; Retired Chief Tom Tremblay, Burlington Police Department; Retired Lt. Mark Wynn, Nashville Police Department; Wendy Patrick, Deputy District Attorney San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Sex Crimes and Stalking Division; and, David Lisak, PhD, Forensic Consultant.
Sally’s Safe Haven opened in December 2014 to provide a facility for supervised visitation and the safe exchange of children. It provides families in crisis with a nurturing, safe and secure setting to foster healthy relationships.
The Sally’s Safe Haven project is supported by a grant awarded by the Office of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.
