The man who commands State Civil Defense called CHORE late yesterday afternoon at the suggestion of Lenny Klompus, the Governor’s senior communications aide with whom we spoke earlier this week.
General Robert Lee hadn’t read this blog and therefore wasn’t familiar with the opinions expressed here for the past two months. We discussed several of them and followed up with an email calling his attention to seven posts -- October 18, 25, 27 and 29; November 23 and 28, and December 14 – that summarize the major issues CHORE has had with State Civil Defense’s emergency communications response and the review committee.
As reported here two days ago, the recommendations of the Comprehensive Communications Review Committee will be released to its members next week. General Lee said he’d be sure CHORE is included in the distribution.
Public Briefing Still in Limbo
We were disappointed at Lee’s implication that a public meeting of the kind advocated here for weeks might not occur before the ongoing earthquake disaster declaration period is terminated at some unknown time next year.
In response to that statement, our email to him concluded: “I can’t stress how important I believe it is for State Civil Defense to meet with the public as soon as possible — and certainly before your ongoing mission to help the earthquake’s victims is completed. Frequency of interaction is important in building trust after an emergency, and without question, the public’s trust in its emergency responders was shaken on October 15th.”
Notwithstanding his apparent current inclination to conduct a public briefing later rather than sooner, General Lee did say a Civil Defense staffer would call to discuss the timing – something Vice Director Ed Teixeira said would happen.
In the meantime, we'll look forward to seeing what the Comprehensive Communications Review Committee, which included no non-media, non-governmental public members, has recommended to improve public safety communications.
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Three things. One, you obviously don't know the first thing about who you are dealing with or what the agency is about. Two, I am probably the only one who has ever read or seen this blog. This would be hilarious if not for the shame of you wasting so much of SCD's time. The agency already has credible media outlets who are in fact represented within the EOC during an emergency. And Three, concerned citizens who really want to make a difference do not see helping their fellow neighbors as a CHORE, they get involved through the proper channels and "improve" the system through the contributions and skills they bring along with them. Your energy and enthusiasm could be better put to use at the County level, consider joining a CERT team. Please consider the time loss and damage done through your fruitless pursuits.
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