Meet Florida's New Director Of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie

By Jim DeFede, CBS Miami

June 7, 2021

(Over the past two years, people across Florida relied on a familiar face to guide the Florida Division of Emergency Management, but with the departure of Jared Moskowitz, a new director is leading the agency heading into hurricane season. His name is Kevin Guthrie and he recently spoke to CBS4’s Jim DeFede.)

Kevin Guthrie: I have been here at the division for about three years. I have been in the public safety arena for about 32 years. I started off as a police officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida, went on to do emergency management for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and then on to a small rural county, Flagler County in northeast Florida. Then I went across the peninsula over to Pasco County, where I spent a couple about three years, and Pasco County got promoted up to the Assistant County Administrator of Public Safety for Pasco County before Governor Scott asked me to come up here and help out for the remaining three months of his administration. And then Governor DeSantis asked me to stay on in the transition team and then into permanent employment here with the division.

Jim DeFede: What do you like about this work?

Kevin Guthrie: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s public safety, as I said, I’ve been doing this for 32 years. And, you know, a lot of people, you know, when they get into public safety, they say they want to do it because they want to help people. And, you know, I used to be a police academy instructor and I said, no, why do you really want to do it? But I will tell you it. The reason that I got into public safety was because I genuinely love to help people. My heart is service. I love to help individuals. I love to help, especially in this area. When a hurricane or disaster strikes, everybody’s on equal footing. You know, somebody that was not homeless is now homeless. And how can I help that individual? What can I do as a part of public service to help that individual get back on their feet, get back into their home, get back to the way that their life was before that disaster, before that disaster happened? I will tell you from a personal perspective, there is nothing better in the world than to be able to help a person who is really in need. And that’s why I got into the public safety work, because I want to help people that were need.

(For the complete interview, read it at https://miami.cbslocal.com/202...)

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