The Local War on Bioterrorism

teh
I’m glad to see Ray Cooke has a new position following the merger of the Springfield and Sangamon County health departments. He was a good administrator of the now defunct Springfield Health Department. However, I can’t help but feel the job he’s now been given is, well, made-up. Cooke has been given oversight of something called the Sangamon County Office of Bioterrorism Preparedness. In fact, he is the entire Office of Bioterrorism Preparedness; it’s a one man show.

My question is this: Had Cooke taken a position somewhere else would there still have been an Office of Bioterrorism Preparedness here in Sangamon County?

Another question would be, are there other communities our size with an office dedicated solely to the very specific task of preparing for bioterrorism?

Cooke is an asset to our community and I’ve always thought him to be a great guy in my interactions with him, but I’m wondering if his talents aren’t being wasted on an unnecessary position.

There’s nothing wrong with having contingency plans for terrorism or any other disaster but is the extremely minor threat of bioterrorism here really worth the resources that have now been allocated to it?