Zito is one of the 100 liaison officers the TDEM is planning to add to its team across the state to better manage disasters on the ground in Texas. Since 2010, Texas has been granted 19 federally declared major disasters, six federally declared emergencies and more than 70 federal fire management assistance declarations, a press release from the TDEM said.
In all of the times of emergency management, Williamson County has worked with Robbie Barrera, the district coordinator for TDEM overseeing multiple counties, Judge Bill Gravell said.
“This is a new step from the Department of Emergency Management where they're placing a representative in each county, and in fact [Zito] will be in office in our emergency management, and we appreciate the step from the state," Gravell said.
Zito has previously worked with the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Congress. He will join the new emergency management team to support local, regional and statewide emergency efforts.
The TDEM program will place state emergency management personnel in 137 of the 254 counties, increasing coverage from 12% of the Texas Counties to over 53%.
