Drew Dixon
After five years as Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (DEM) and three decades of experience in public safety, Kevin Guthrie’s contributions to the Sunshine State are adding up.
Heading into his sixth year as Director, under Guthrie’s management DEM has been responsible for $11.5 billion in disaster funding distribution that his management has overseen, according to figures provided by the Governor’s Office.
The dollars distributed for disaster funding are the most under any single DEM Director in Florida history. In that time, more than $8 billion of that funding was from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance funding that has helped communities rebuild after disasters.
It’s the FEMA connection that spurred speculation earlier this year over the possibility that Guthrie could be tapped by President Donald Trump to head up the national agency. With FEMA in turmoil and top officials being fired in recent weeks, it’s still not clear whether Trump will seek Guthrie for FEMA’s top slot.
It seemed a real possibility in January as multiple media outlets, including Florida Politics, reported that Guthrie could be moved into the national post. The mere thought of losing Guthrie caused Gov. Ron DeSantis to gush over Guthrie in January.
It should be no surprise that Guthrie is in the mix of national conversations about disaster preparedness and relief. While he is famed for his Florida work, Guthrie has provided mutual assistance and disaster response to states such as Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. He oversaw the deployment of more than 200 personnel in those multistate recovery efforts.
Guthrie also offered help to Texas again as recently as December to assist with border protection.
Will Guthrie’s name come up again for a possible transition into the federal post? It’s not clear. At this stage, Trump has publicly pondered the possibility of doing away with the agency entirely. Should he reconsider, we may see another Florida man moving to Washington.
