Harris County (Texas) Judge Robert Eckels and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe have been appointed to serve as members of the State and Local Officials Senior Advisory Committee to the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge announced the appointments Oct. 16.
The State and Local Officials Senior Advisory Committee was established by Executive Order 13260 on March 19. The purpose of this committee is to provide the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council with advice on increasing America’s security from experts representing state and local government.
Gov. Michael Leavitt of Utah will serve as chair. Leavitt is also a past chairman of the National Governors’ Association. Mayor Anthony Williams of the District of Columbia will serve as vice chair.
Eckels currently serves as chairman of NACo’s Environment, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee. He also served as chair of the Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Steering Committee, and was appointed by NACo President Javier Gonzales to serve on NACo’s Homeland Security Task Force, established by Gonzales after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Joining Eckels and Knabe on the advisory committee are James Dunlap, minority floor leader in the Oklahoma State Senate; Donna Finn, township trustee in Jefferson Township (Franklin County, Ohio); Glenda Hood, mayor of the City of Orlando. (and a past president of the National League of Cities); and Bill Pryor, Alabama State Attorney General.
The State and Local Senior Advisory Committee will also include representatives from the National Governors’ Association, the Council of State Governments, the National Conference of State Legislatures, NACo, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and the International City-County Managers Association.
