Brevard Emergency Management Director Prosser resigns

Brevard County Emergency Management Director Kimberly Prosser on Tuesday submitted her resignation, which will take effect June 5.

In her letter of resignation, Prosser said she is leaving the position she has held since 2012 to take a job in the private sector.

The resignation comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and at the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 13 to 19 named storms.

In her letter of resignation to County Manager Frank Abbate and other county officials, Prosser wrote: "I appreciate the opportunities for professional development that I have been provided over the past 15 years, including the fortuity to be mentored by and follow in the footsteps of the legendary Bob Lay," her predecessor as emergency management director.

Prosser said she is "proud to have shaped and led an emergency management program that is respected statewide, and am confident that our great team of professionals will continue the mission. During the next two weeks, I am willing to assist in any way necessary to ease the transition."

Brevard County Public Safety Group Director Matthew Wallace said John Scott, the county's deputy director of emergency management and director of operations, will fill Prosser's position on an interim basis. Scott also runs the county's Emergency Operations Center in Rockledge when it is activated.

"We have the utmost confidence in John Scott," said Wallace, who supervises emergency management, Brevard County Fire Rescue and the medical examiner's office.

Wallace said he expects the county to do a national search to seek candidates to fill Prosser's position on a permanent basis.

Wallace said he thanks Prosser for her "outstanding service to Brevard County. We're very sad to see her go. She's been a huge asset to the team. We wish her all the best in the future."

County Commissioner John Tobia, however, said he is not happy about the timing of Prosser's resignation.

"I think it's disgraceful that our emergency management director would step down in the middle of a pandemic and a week before hurricane season begins," Tobia said.

Wallace said he and Abbate will make it a top priority to find a successor to Prosser.

"I'm very hopeful and guardedly optimistic" about the search, Wallace said.

Wallace said, "without a doubt," the county will fill the position.

Wallace said, while the position of emergency management director is a challenging one in a hurricane-prone area like Brevard County, it may be the challenge that strong candidates are looking for.

Prosser's current annual salary is $97,535.

Prosser became Brevard's emergency management director in 2012, after Lay's death that January.

Prosser previously had been the county's director of communications and Space Coast Government Television since 2005.

Before joining county government, Prosser was community relations and marketing director for Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College) and communications training officer for the Cocoa Police Department.

She is a former member of the Rockledge City Council, the Rockledge Planning Commission and the Rockledge Citizens Advisory Committee, which she chaired.

The County Commission would need to confirm Prosser's permanent successor.

Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY.  

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bydaveberman