Joe Guzzardi will join the County Administrative Office as the Office of Emergency Services Manager.
Joe Guzzardi will join the County Administrative Office as the Office of Emergency Services Manager.

New Emergency Services Manager to Join the County

Author: Administrative Office
Date: 1/3/2019 1:54 PM

An experienced leader among California emergency managers will lead the County's Office of Emergency Services starting in January.

The County of San Luis Obispo has appointed Joseph “Joe” Guzzardi as its new Emergency Services Manager, effective January 7, 2019.

“We are very excited to welcome an experienced leader among California emergency managers to the County team,” said Assistant County Administrative Officer Guy Savage.

With about 20 years of emergency management experience, Guzzardi will lead the County Office of Emergency Services (OES), a division of the County Administrative Office. In this role, he will manage about six staff members and a budget of $1.9 million in providing coordinated County response to disasters and large-scale emergencies.

Guzzardi will be responsible for preparing the County for FEMA-evaluated nuclear power plant exercises and drills related to Diablo Canyon Power Plant. He will also help spearhead County efforts related to the power plant’s eventual closure, which is slated to happen no later than 2025.

Guzzardi has served as Emergency Manager for the Santa Clara Fire District since 2015. Prior to that, he served as the Emergency Manager for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services (OES).

He takes on the role after the County’s former Emergency Services Manager, Ron Alsop, retired in December.