HAHNVILLE — St. Charles Parish Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Joe Ganote was recently elected to serve as the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Chairman for the Regional Directors Sub-committee by the regional directors at their monthly meeting.

He will serve a one-year term as the chairman; however, can be reelected each year.

Ganote is serving as the GOHSEP Region 3 director and will continue to serve in that role in addition to serving as the chairman.

“It is such an honor to be elected by my peers, who I have a great deal of respect for, to serve as the Chairman,” Ganote said. “In this role it is my hope to respectfully serve the 63 other emergency managers throughout the state in a manner that best benefits their residents.”

GOHSEP has nine homeland security regions with each region being represented by a ‘Regional Director’ selected from his or her emergency management peers within the parishes of the particular region.

The Chairman of the regional directors sub-committee acts as the voice of for the regional directors when addressing federal legislation.

Region 3 is comprised of six parishes in the surrounding area: Assumption, Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist Parish.

Regional Directors provide leadership and serve as a voice for the parishes within the region.

They also raise awareness of issues at the State level by providing recommendations to GOHSEP on issues that are pertinent to the parishes within Region 3. The Regional Directors work closely with the Regional Coordinators to determine overall strategy for the region.

“Joe continues to exhibit strong understanding of the emergency management process and has excellent relationships with the other parish managers within Region 3 and the State,” said GOHSEP Region 3 Coordinator Pam Roussel. “Joe brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this position and is greatly respected for his leadership.”