The Board of County Commissioners hired Leslie Phillips on Friday to fill the position of McIntosh County Emergency Management director, replacing Jeffrey Moore who resigned last week to take the same position in Okmulgee County.

“We were lucky to get him,” said District 2 Commissioner Monty Grider. “He has a lot of experience.”

Phillips was the Checotah Emergency Management director from 2007 to 2016.

Then he went to work for Pafford EMS until 2020. Most recently, he has been a purchasing officer for the McIntosh County Court Clerk’s office.

Before taking the McIntosh County Emergency Management job he discussed it with his children.

“I sat down before making the decision and talked with my kids,” he said. “I made sure I had 100 percent support from my kids and family before I made the decision.” Phillips is the father of five children and three grandchildren, “and one on the way.” He is a native of the county, a 1993 graduate of Checotah High School.

Phillips lives in the Texanna Road area. In February he moved into a house he just built.

He has attended Connors State College, received an Associates Degree in Communication from Bacone College and attended Northeastern State University without graduating. In 2016 he returned to college and received an Associates Degree in Science from Oklahoma State University.

Phillips doesn’t anticipate any major changes in the way he will operate Emergency Management.

“I think me and Jeff are a lot on the same page. Maybe there will be a few changes, not because of any issues but just because there may be changes in the way the government does things,” he said.

He will continue to post weather reports, fires and other information important to the safety of residents.

The biggest challenge, he said, will be to figure out all of the steps Jeff had.

“There’s not really a manual on how to do some of the stuff, so I have to figure it out,” he said.

But Moore is just a phone call or text away if Phillips needs help.

“And I have a lot of contacts from my previous experiences, like Jeff in Okmulgee, Jeff Smith in Muskogee and Kevin Enloe in Pittsburg County. It’s a good group of people. We all support one another if we need something,” he said.

He also works with county fire departments, another tight knit group.

“If anyone needs something they call me and I will be there to help, logistically,” he said. “I am primarily logistics.”

He makes sure emergency peo ple have what they need to do what they have to do, whether making sure firefighters have enough water or other equipment.

For example, when he was with the City of Checotah in 2007 there was a devastating ice storm that knocked out power to many residents.

“I worked with the city and FEMA to get generators at public buildings,” he said.

He is largely a one-man operation at his office, but he does have a dozen or so volunteer storm spotters who help him keep up-to-date on local weather conditions.