State group honors emergency manager
Staff writer
Marion County emergency manager Marcy Hostetler was named Emergency Management Professional of the Year at Thursday’s Kansas Emergency Management Association conference in Mulvane.
She was nominated by Butler County emergency manager Tara Ghere.
“In 2022, she stepped into the role of emergency management director for Marion County. She fully embraced the role and strived to learn everything she could from other seasoned emergency managers in her area because she wanted to do the job to the best of her ability,” Ghere wrote.
Ghere said Hostetler had developed “a culture of collaboration” that successfully brought all emergency services together for the first time in decades.
Hostetler also works with the county health department on programs for area kids such as Safe Kids and Safe Paths to Schools.
Ghere said that during large wildland fires in the county, Hostetler lined up everything needed by firefighters including food and fuel.
Kathleen Fabrizius, president of Kansas Emergency Management Association, said Hostetler was selected from a field of three candidates. The others were Saline County emergency manager Michelle Weis and University of Kansas emergency manager Matt Matheis.
“Her having the large wildfires that she had, those are some of the things that we take into consideration,” Fabrizius said.