You’ve probably see him on TV--or Facebook--or maybe even in person.

• Pasco's head of Public Safety in high demand
• Kevin Guthrie gained international exposure after 2017 natural disasters
• Pasco Co. dealt with wildfires, Hurricane Irma, sinkholes in 2017

If something big happens in Pasco County, Kevin Guthrie is there. With several natural disasters over the past 12 months, he’s certainly been busy. And now, he has international exposure because of it.

“We don’t get judged by how we respond. But it’s how we recover. I’m a firm believer in that,” Guthrie said.

He’s needed that mantra over the past year.

As the head of Pasco County Public Safety, he’s dealt with a lot recently, including wildfires, Hurricane Irma, and the Land ‘O Lakes sinkhole that destroyed two homes last July.

It’s the response to the sinkhole, especially, that has organizations and governments around the country, and even the world, wanting to talk to him.

“We were actually sought out by the United Kingdom to do a documentary on sinkholes and how we recovered from that,” Guthrie said.

He’s been speaking to several groups around the country, including FEMA, about how Pasco County handled the sinkhole, both in response and recovery.

He credits his team and also credits working with USF scientists after the hole opened, to see if they can figure out a better understanding of when and where sinkholes happen.

“Stuff like that is what makes me excited about doing my job in public safety, especially when we can work with an academic entity to figure out why things happen,” Guthrie said.

County Administrator Dan Biles promoted Guthrie to his current job. In fact, it was his first major hire when he became administrator last year.

“Seeing his leadership style. How he leads his team and the way his team operates. It gives us a lot of confidence as we head into another hurricane season,” Biles said.

Both say moving forward, they hope to help make Pasco one of the best places to live in Florida.

“We’re trying to take this county in a direction that’s not been done before. We want to continue doing that. Everything that we do and say, we want to be a premier county,” Guthrie said.

Guthrie was first hired as Emergency Management Director in 2016.

He's already been promoted twice. His current role is Assistant County Administrator for Public Safety.