GULF SHORES, Ala. -- Mayor Robert Craft has named Chief Building Inspector and Flood Plain Manager, Brandan Franklin, as the City’s Emergency Management Coordinator, adding to his municipal duties.

“Our chief building and environmental management official, we are appointing him as our EMA director working with us as a liasion with the county EMA for any future events that we hope we don’t have,” Craft said. “Brandan is prepared for this. He’s been working closely with Arthur Bourne the last couple of years. Arthur has been that person for us. Brandan has worked closely with him and is ready for this transition.

So we’ve got a good man there to work with a good man here.

The former poilce chief, Bourne, formerly held the position before retiring in 2009. Since then, Bourne has been filling in until a permanent replacement could be named.

Franklin has worked for the City since 2005, and has kept current on training certifications necessary in the field of emergency management.

“I look forward to this added assignment and appreciate the Mayor’s confidence in me,” Franklin said. “Chief Bourne did a great job in keeping us current and I hope to continue his work.”

Mayor Craft emphasized the importance of the job Franklin will assume with hurricane season less than three months away.

“As a barrier island, we will always be vulnerable to tropical events and having plans in place before, during and after an event cannot be stressed enough,” Craft said.

The Mayor said he was encouraged by former Gulf Shores Fire Battalion Chief, Mitchell Sims, being named as Baldwin County’s Emergency Management Director and the relationship between Sims and Franklin.

“So we’ve got a good man there to work with a good man here,” Craft said.