BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo announced Tuesday that it has hired an emergency services manager and a fleet manager for the upcoming winter season.
Mayor Byron Brown said the two new key senior officials are Thomas Luby as the Emergency Services Manager and James J. Cross as the Fleet Manager.
“I am pleased to bring these highly qualified individuals to City government as we prepare for our next Buffalo winter. Their expertise in their respective fields will be a major asset to our team. I am confident that the city, in conjunction with our partners in county and state government, will be as ready as possible for anything mother nature throws our way", Brown said.
According to the news release, Luby has over 30 years of public safety experience with the New York City Fire Department, where he served as a Captain through the terrorist attack on 9/11. Luby also has emergency management experience with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He has a Master of Arts (MA) in Emergency and Disaster Management with a Concentration in Crisis Management and Continuity of Operations from American Public University and he is also a Department of Homeland Security FEMA Certified Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP).
Luby will serve as the city’s liaison on emergency preparedness issues, coordinating training programs and emergency operations drills and assisting departments with their emergency and mitigation plans.
“I am grateful to Mayor Brown for choosing me to serve as the City of Buffalo’s Emergency Services Manager. This is an exciting opportunity for me and my family and I believe my experience and training will enable me to hit the ground running,” Luby said.
According to the news release, James J. Cross has more than a decade of experience in vehicular fleet management. He most recently worked as the Assistant Fleet Operations Manager for AAA of Western and Central New York. Cross has a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University at Buffalo. He is a lifelong resident of East Buffalo. He will be tasked with overseeing the fleet of city-owned equipment and vehicles and is the primary contact concerning vehicle fleet maintenance and operations.
“I am excited to join the Brown Administration to manage the city’s fleet of vehicles. My first order of business will be to fully inventory and assess the city’s current vehicle fleet to help plan for the future needs of the fleet moving forward," Cross said.
The City of Buffalo conducted a national search for both of these positions.