As the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety, Jennifer Ricker is responsible for overseeing several public safety agencies. Governor Blagojevich has charged her with coordinating the efforts of these state agencies to protect the citizens of Illinois.

Ms. Ricker's specific responsibilities include overseeing the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois National Guard, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Corrections, Prisoner Review Board, and the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority in matters of agency coordination and policy/legislative issues.

Jennifer Ricker holds a Bachelor's degree in history with a minor in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Prior to her position as Deputy Chief of Staff, she was acting director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. Her experience in state government also includes positions as legislative director and chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Revenue and legislative analyst for Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

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On March 16, 2007, Andrew Velasquez III was appointed as Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) by Governor Rod Blagojevich. As the State's top public safety official, Velasquez exercises leadership over the areas comprising emergency management, disaster preparedness and response, nuclear safety and homeland security. In the words of Governor Blagojevich, "Andrew Velasquez has an impressive track record of overseeing emergency response and knows how important it is to have communication and coordination at every level when dealing with a threat to public safety."

Previous to his appointment as IEMA Director, Andrew Velasquez III served as Executive Director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC). Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in May of 2005 to the cabinet-level post of OEMC Executive Director, Mr. Velasquez was responsible for planning and executing the City's public safety initiatives and managing the OEMC. With an annual budget in excess of $91 million and approximately 2,200 City and contract employees, this critical responsibility included the dispatch of all emergency and non-emergency services, the management of a 24-hour City Operations Center to coordinate routine emergency and traffic services; and the oversight, development and execution of all City disaster and homeland security planning and operations. The OEMC operates from a $217 million dollar facility providing services for a City of 2.9 million people.

During his tenure as Executive Director of OEMC, Mr. Velasquez also implemented innovative technology solutions such as wireless and satellite communications to enhance the City's delivery of emergency services. Mr. Velasquez implemented a first-of-its kind emergency management satellite communications vehicle, designed to respond to the scene of incidents extending core command and control, camera surveillance and other intelligent applications from the OEMC's Emergency Operations Center to any location within the continental United States.

As Chicago's lead emergency response official, Mr. Velasquez coordinated the response and recovery efforts for numerous city emergencies. He was responsible for coordinating the City's increased security measures taken in response to the elevation of the Homeland Security Advisory System to condition Orange when the need for heightened readiness was demonstrated by the intelligence community. In addition, recognizing the need to enhance the individual readiness of Chicago's residents, Mr. Velasquez created www.alertchicago.org, a public awareness campaign targeting three million residents.

Prior to being appointed Executive Director of the OEMC, Mr. Velasquez served as OEMC's Managing Deputy Director of Operations. As Managing Deputy Director for Operations, Mr. Velasquez was responsible for overseeing the City of Chicago's 9-1-1 Center. He was directly responsible for a staff of more than 400 police and fire call takers, dispatchers and emergency supervisors, which included 9-1-1 emergency dispatch services at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway International Airports. His 9-1-1 floor operation handled a daily emergency call volume averaging 18,000 requests.

Prior to joining the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Mr. Velasquez served the Chicago Police Department in various capacities since 1995. As Director of the Chicago Police Department's Criminal Identification and Records Services Division and with an operating budget of $8 million and a staff of more than 350 sworn and civilian personnel, Mr. Velasquez was responsible for overseeing criminal identification of arrested persons, criminal warrants and offender extradition, criminal and subpoena processing.

As a member of the U.S. military, Mr. Velasquez served six years in the U.S. Army. He was the recipient of the U.S. Army's Hispanic Achievement Medal completing his service at the rank of Sergeant. Over the course of his 15 years in public safety service, Mr. Velasquez has received numerous special commendations and honorable mentions.

A native Chicagoan from the Humboldt Park neighborhood and public school graduate, Andrew Velasquez III holds a Bachelor's degree and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University. He also received a Master of Business Administration in management from Saint Xavier University.

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Mr. Chamness is Chairman of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, appointed to that position in March 2003 by Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. He also serves as policy advisor to the Director of Homeland Security in Illinois and to the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, where he served as director from 1999-2003.

Mr. Chamness is past Vice President of Region V for the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), where he also served on the NEMA Terrorism Committee. Additionally, he served as past Vice Chairman of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) and was a member of CUSEC's Board of Directors.

Prior to beginning his career in emergency management, Mr. Chamness served eight years as a director in the Office of the Secretary of State, where he also served as Chairman of the Graduated Drivers License Task Force, which developed legislation establishing a system of graduated driving privileges for teens based on training, age and a record of safe driving.

Mr. Chamness previously worked as a newspaper editor at the Southern Illinoisan newspaper in Carbondale and later at the State Journal-Register newspaper in Springfield. In the newspaper business, Mike won a national award for column writing and state awards for his series on Title IX and for coverage of the crash of an Air Illinois flight.

Mr. Chamness is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and won the Oldham Paisley Journalism Scholarship. He lives in Rochester with his wife, Peggy, and has two daughters, Angela and Cindy.

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