Lakitha Bell Named New EMA Director

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

Lakitha Bell, a native of Carrollton and graduate of Carrollton High School, has been named the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director for Pickens County. She began work on Feb. 26 this year and is taking on the challenges of her new job with gusto.

Ms. Bell has a background in both social work and as a dispatcher for the Pickens County E 911. Her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama is in Social Work where she was in the National Society for Leadership and Success and the Phi Alpha Honor Society. Ms. Bell was also in the United States Army Reserves for 8 years as a Transportation Specialist.

As an EMA Director, Ms. Bell’s job consists, in part, of being on alert and springing into action after a storm. When bad weather approaches, she “is on alert from the beginning. I mostly take my direction, as far as what I need to do, from the Birmingham National Weather Service. I take what they tell me and plan around what’s going on.”