After seven years with Santa Barbara County, Kelly Hubbard suddenly resigned last week from her position as director of the Office of Emergency Management.

Hubbard submitted her resignation to the county on Sept. 3 and left the same day.

“I think it was the best thing for myself at this time,” Hubbard told Noozhawk. “I’m not leaving for any particular job. It was time for me to move on from the county.”

Hubbard had been director of the Office of Emergency Management since August 2019. She previously worked as the emergency manager for the Municipal Water District of Orange County.

Kelsey Gerckens Buttitta, the public information officer for the county, confirmed that Hubbard resigned last week.

She said Stacy Silva has been appointed as the interim director of the OEM. Silva already worked in the office as associate director.

Under her tenure, Hubbard oversaw the county response to major incidents and helped coordinate emergency alerts and responses among the county’s various departments.  

She took over the role shortly before the Conception dive boat fire that killed 34 people off the coast of Santa Cruz Island. The incident occurred a few weeks after she started.

About six months later, the OEM responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hubbard said the Emergency Operations Center was activated for 442 days.

She also oversaw the responses to various wildfires, including the Gifford Fire, the Lake Fire and the Alisal Fire.

During her time as director, Hubbard said her goal was to focus on building partnerships and filling gaps in serving the community.

Her office was able to launch the 24/7 emergency radio station AM 530, improved access with support for the hearing impaired, developed a standardized process to evaluate post-fire areas for signs of possible debris flows, and more.

Hubbard also praised her team in the OEM and said they are the best in the state, and sometimes the best in the nation.

“I think we’ve been able to pull together a team that loves the community and works hard for this community and does as much as they possibly can,” Hubbard said.

At the same time, Hubbard said she does not think the office is funded or supported the way it needs to be. Even though she said the team does its best to prevent that from impacting the community, they could use more support.  

In June, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury issued a report stating that the Office of Emergency Management is understaffed and underfunded.

The report suggested that the county increase the number of staff in the office to 12. At the time of the report’s publication, it stated that there were seven employees.

Santa Barbara County is in the top 1% of risk for counties among all counties nationwide, according to the report.

The Grand Jury also suggested that oversight of the OEM be returned to the County Executive Office. Oversight of the office was originally under the county executive but was moved to the supervision of the County Fire Department in 2023.

During its Aug. 25 meeting in Santa Maria, the Board of Supervisors largely disagreed with the report’s analysis and expressed support for the fire department’s oversight of the office.

In the county’s response, it disagreed that the office did not have enough staff to meet the program’s needs, but did agree to work with an outside consultant to conduct a review of the OEM program.

The Board of Supervisors approved its response in a 5-0 vote.

Hubbard declined to comment on the Grand Jury report but said the office could use more support from the county.

“I think it’s important that the division gets more support than what they have now, and that they would definitely benefit from more resources,” she told Noozhawk. “They work hard and do a lot.”

Hubbard said she hopes to stay in the area moving forward and find a new way to serve the community.

She called Santa Barbara one of the most resilient communities she has ever met and encouraged everyone to continue signing up for emergency alerts from the county and help their neighbors.