Jamestown (CSi)  Wednesday June 30, 2021 Jerry Bergquist retires after serving 32 and a half years as the Stutsman County Emergency Manger, and 9-1-1 Coordinator.

On Tuesday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, Jerry highlighted his tenure in those positions over the years.

With 9-1-1, starting in December of 1989, Jerry developed and organized, and put into effect the Stutsman County system, one of the first in North Dakota, and continued to work with technology updates over the years, including access from cell phones, and locates of callers.

Jerry pointed out that the  position for Emergency Manager/9-1-1 Coordinator was new back in 1989.

Some of the stand-out events that have occurred during tenure included the most challenging event, the flood in Jamestown of 2009, with the flood fight from February through July that year.  Stutsman County declared a Flood Emergency and received $29-million in flood relief to assist in the flood fight, and for infrastructure needs, including roads and other flood related issues.  During that span, Jerry Bergquist organized and led discussions, held seven days a week, with various agencies and entities on the flood fighting efforts, with the informational updates provided by city, county and state officials, including visits by then-governor John Hoeven, an then-U.S. Senators, Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, and  then Congressman Earl Pomeroy, along with representatives from the North Dakota Army National Guard that provided assistance including the use of a Black Hawk helicopter in emergency levy repairs.

Jerry was involved in 20 Stutsman County Presidential Disaster Declarations ranging from flooding to snow clearing efforts and other issues involved with heavy snowfall events, and the COVID-19 pandemic freeing up state and federal dollars. Also in 2020, City, County, and Central Valley Health District along with JRMC and Nursing Home officials  formed a committee where pandemic issues were updated daily including regular meetings with state government officials.

He said the event that changed how Emergency Management and Public Safety in general perform their functions was the September 11, 2001 attack on America with the World Trade Center towers destroyed along with an attack on the U.S. Pentagon, and the terrorist high jacking of the commercial airliner, that went down in Pennsylvania. He said that day led to the formation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other changes by federal state and local officials in safeguarding the U.S.

Jerry talked about some of his most important accomplishments over his tenure, including creating the  9-1-1 emergency telephone system for Stutsman County,  including a partnership with Barnes and Richland Counties, and expanding further.  Another important accomplishment he noted, that covered those year, is the working together with local officials in times of emergencies, along with partnering and working together with other agencies, and entities..

He said he will miss working with many individuals on all levels over the years.

He said he won’t miss being on call 24-7.

Succeeding Jerry Bergquist as Stutsman Emergency Manager is Andrew Kirking, who comes to Jamestown with experience over the last several years as the Pembina County Emergency Manager, with Assistance Emergency Manager, and Communications Administrator, Riley Schafer a former Sheriff’s Deputy.

The public is invited to wish Jerry Bergquist well on his retirement and thank him for his years of dedicated service at an Open House for him on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 from 11-a.m. to 3-p.m. at the lower level of the Law Enforcement Center, in Jamestown.