Linn County emergency manager retiring

CEDAR RAPIDS - Mike Goldberg has worn many public service hats over the years.

From the fireman's helmet he wore as an arson investigator with the Iowa City Police Department to his current position as director of the Linn County Emergency Management Agency, Goldberg, 64, said he has worked with countless remarkable people.

'Police, fire, EMS, they're all in it for the right reasons,” he said. 'They're in it to help people, to help their communities. In emergency management, we get to work with all of them.”

After 42 years in public service jobs, Goldbert plans to retire Jan. 31, which will make his tenure at the Linn County Emergency Management Agency exactly nine years.

As the agency's administrator, Goldberg works with staff to carry out the policies and programs created by the 20-member Emergency Management Commission.

The commission is made up of mayors from all Linn County cities, the county sheriff and a representative for the Linn County Board of Supervisors.

One of the biggest moments in Goldberg's career, he said, came with 2008's record flooding, when he was community emergency response spokesman.

Emergency response to the flood event went incredibly well, thanks to regular training exercises done in connection with Duane Arnold Energy Center, the nuclear power plant near Palo, he said.

Essentially, the practice paid off.

That training, Goldberg said, is more than part of the job. It's the difference-maker when handling an emergency.

'There's an old adage that, a disaster is a lousy time to exchange business cards. That's why we train, and that's why we did so well for all the floods that have happened,” he said.

Goldberg's impact on training and preparation date back even further, to his time helping start the Iowa City Police Department's Multi-Agency Training System.

Goldberg and his twin brother were born in Iowa City on Sept. 11, 1953. In the next 64 years, the date would hold several meanings beyond birthdays.

Sept. 11, 1975, was Goldberg's first day at the Iowa City Police Department, where he would work for 14 years until he became the Mount Pleasant police chief, where his first day was Sept. 11, 1989.

In 2001, of course, terrorists attacked the United States.

Last year, Sept. 11 was the last day Goldberg spoke to his mother, Janet, who had a stroke the next day.

And on Sept. 11 of this year, after more than four decades of public service, Goldberg told the Emergency Management Commission of his plans to retire.

The commission will appoint the next EMA director, who is responsible to preparaing for and coordinating major emergencies and disasters.

'I feel confident that we're handing the operation of emergency management over in a better condition than when we started,” Goldberg said.

Looking forward, Goldberg said he hopes to stay involved in public service - he was recently appointed to the Marion Municipal Airport Committee.

He also plans to travel, spend time with family and have more time to practice his trumpet. He's been playing for 55 years - including as section leader in the Hawkeye marching band - and can still be found performing with the Marion summer concert band, jazz band and Marion Big Band.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com