Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jim Cross Is Named County OES Leader

Nevada County has a new coordinator for the Office of Emergency Services (OES).

Jim Cross, transportation director for the Nevada School District in Rosston, was recently named to the position, replacing Charles Backus, who resigned to work full time as an appraiser for the Nevada County Assessor's Office.

According to Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown, when Backus accepted the job with the assessor's office, the state Department of OES said it could cause problems.

This, Brown said, meant Backus had to choose between the part-time OES position and the full-time county job. After much deliberation, Backus took the full-time job and resigned as OES coordinator.

From there, the county had to begin searching for a new director of the organization. Brown talked with members of the Nevada County Rescue Unit and rural fire departments.

A search committee was formed to find a replacement and conduct interviews. Brown said he didn't want someone in the position the NCRU and fire departments couldn't work with.

The committee found and picked Jim Cross for the post, with Brown following its recommendation.

Brown and Cross met with Danny Orman, who works for the regional OES office, and Cross was apprized of the duties he would have as the county OES coordinator.

When Cross was questioned about his job at Nevada School interfering with the OES job, Cross replied if problems occur, he will resign from the OES spot.

Cross has worked with the Rosston Volunteer Fire Department for more than 20 years, including several as the department's chief.

He plans to work and get the 9-1-1 emergency telephone system installed in Nevada County. This is a project Charles Ray Cross, a former OES coordinator, was working on before he died.

Currently, Cross is working on the emergency warning siren system, making sure all the sirens work so county residents can be warned of approaching severe weather conditions.

"I'm interested in carrying out what the previous coordinators have done," Cross said. "I'll work to make sure Nevada County keeps pace with other counties of the state in this area. A lot of good work has been done in the past, and I hope to continue it."