Whatcom Unified Command change will help coronavirus ‘decision-making, communication’
Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-government agency that’s directing local response to the new coronavirus pandemic, is getting a single leader and settling in for long-term operations.
Scott McCreery, who is emergency management and security officer for the Port of Bellingham, was named incident commander for Whatcom Unified Command.
He joined the Port in February and his appointment to Unified Command is effective Thursday, April 23.
McCreery replaces the three incident commanders and nine other county officials who have been serving as their relief, putting in 12-hour days or more on a rotating schedule since Unified Command began operating daily on March 18, 2020 — about a week after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Whatcom County, and one day before the first death.
“It will improve decision-making, it will improve communication,” Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo said during Tuesday’s online County Council meeting.
Elfo said he consulted with Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu and other officials before naming McCreery to lead the pandemic response team.
“He’s really experienced, very competent in running an organization such as this,” Elfo said.
Before joining the Port of Bellingham, McCreery was a principal at Fairlead International of Bellingham, which focuses on oil spill prevention and response, crisis management for business and regulatory compliance.
According to his Linked-In resume, McCreery has more than 30 years in crisis management, including brief work on the Deepwater Horizon disaster and 17 years in various positions at BP Cherry Point Refinery.
From 2013 to 2018, he was BP Cherry Point’s crisis and continuity manager/business security manager.
He has a master’s degree in resource development and environmental policy and law from Michigan State University, served for years as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer, and for nearly 16 years was on the adjunct faculty at Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment.
McCreery replaces a trio of commanders who have been managing the response — John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management; Bill Hewett, Bellingham fire chief; and John Wolpers, with the Whatcom County Health Department.
A unified command system with several leaders normally transitions into an incident command system with one person in charge as a disaster response evolves, Elfo said.
McCreery’s assistant will be Andy Day, a battalion chief with the Bellingham Fire Department.
Hewett said Day, who has a strong background in emergency management, was given a temporary promotion to assistant chief that enabled him to step into the role of assistant incident commander at Whatcom Unified Command.
“When the pandemic hit, Chief Day stepped forward and volunteered to change his schedule to fill a key leadership role for the city and help in this community-wide response,” Hewett told The Bellingham Herald in a text message.
Both McCreery and Day retain their Port and Bellingham jobs, Elfo said.
