Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Highline Amateur Radio Club
The second meeting of the Highline Amateur Radio Club (HARC) will take place at 10 a. m. on Saturday, February 28th at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Station at 15100 - 6th Avenue South West. We are still waiting to hear from the invited speakers whether they will be able to attend. The topic which we would like to have discussed is how hams can help our local emergency managers.
Federal Fiscal Crisis
The best explanation that I have found for our current national crisis is in http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/02/18/upside_down_economics
Friday, February 6, 2009
Emergency Preparedness Fair
The City of Normandy Park and the Burien/Normandy Park Fire District are currently planning to hold the second annual Normandy Park Emergency Preparedness Fair at the Cove on Thursday, April 23rd from noon to 6 p. m.
Critical Areas Ordinance
The City Council just completed (on Thursday) the review of the final portion of the new proposed Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) and we (on the council) received tonight a cleaned up copy of it (except for revision to the penalties section which the City Attorney will supply on Monday.) I will review it and provide a GreenGram (my nit-picking comments) to my colleagues, hopefully tomorrow so they have a chance to review them (so they can agree to them without further discussion (haha!))
When we all agree (or at least four of us) and pass this ordinance, this will complete an almost three year activity to update our existing (and very old) ordinance and bring the city into compliance with the Growth Management Act (if the state approves it.)
Since I have not been as intimately involved in this process as some of my colleagues, I am concerned that there are some other "stakeholders" (the consultant we hired, a technical committee of local residents with subject knowledge that worked on it originally, and the Planning Commission members,) who have an interest in it but may not have seen the final result of their long and arduous efforts. I am not sure what to do about my concern other than the e-mail that I sent this morning to the City Manager suggesting that they also get copies.
When we all agree (or at least four of us) and pass this ordinance, this will complete an almost three year activity to update our existing (and very old) ordinance and bring the city into compliance with the Growth Management Act (if the state approves it.)
Since I have not been as intimately involved in this process as some of my colleagues, I am concerned that there are some other "stakeholders" (the consultant we hired, a technical committee of local residents with subject knowledge that worked on it originally, and the Planning Commission members,) who have an interest in it but may not have seen the final result of their long and arduous efforts. I am not sure what to do about my concern other than the e-mail that I sent this morning to the City Manager suggesting that they also get copies.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Emergency Mangement
First let me try to express how I feel certain terms should be used. I will define an incident as a time when a response by government is required to save lives or protect property or the environment. There are three levels of incident: an emergency such as when the police respond to a traffic accident or the firemen to a house fire or the medics/emergency medical technicians (EMT) to a heart attack; a disaster when the local first responders (police, firemen, EMTs, Public Works) are overwhelmed by the magnitude (e. g. a 7.0 earthquake or a hurricane); and a catastrophe when an entire region is overwhelmed (e. g. Hurricane Katrina or an 8.5 earthquake.) Of course, these terms also are dependent on who is affected. If my house burns down, it might be an emergency for the city but is at least a disaster for me (and maybe a catastrophe.)
Normally, for an emergency, if the first responders need help they call on their neighbors (e. g. Normandy Park Police would call on their buddies in the Des Moines Police or the sheriff''s office in Burien or SeaTac.) Our firemen in the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department would call on South King Fire in Des Moines, SeaTac Fire Department, or the North Highline Fire District. All of those entities have "Mutual Aid" agreements which say not only would they respond to help us, but we will respond to help them, as for example, we send Rocky, our tracking bloodhound (and his partner, Officer Morella) to help them if they need to track someone.
If the problem becomes larger than what first responders can handle, a disaster is proclaimed and we would ask the county (and state) for help. If the problem is larger than the state can handle, the Governor can also proclaim a disaster and request help from FEMA and the federal government. The President, in turn can declare a disaster and offer assistance. Note that the ultimate responsibility for the safety of our residents resides in the local officials (City Manager, Mayor, City Council.) The County Executive, county Office of Emergency Management, Governor, state Emergency Management Division, FEMA, National Guard, etc. do not come to help us unless we ask (and ask in the proper way and on the correct forms.) That was a major problem during Katrina. One rarely hears about the problems in Mississippi where the hurricane actually came ashore and completely devastated the coastal area, because the Governor of Mississippi actually used the correct procedures to request help from the federal government. He also told them what he needed so the feds could send the needed help to the correct places at the right time. On the other hand, the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana somehow thought that going on TV and saying "we need help" would get a government bureaucracy to provide exactly what they needed, when and where they needed it. Going on TV and looking pathetic may be good public relations but filling out the proper forms and sending them to the right officials is what gets help for residents of a devastated area.
(Note: Notice that I stated above that the local official (more about that later), the Governor (and the County Executive) each proclaimed an emergency or disaster while the President declared one. That is my understanding of the correct terminology. Only the President "declares" a disaster; lower levels of government "proclaim." I am sure that there is a reason why that is so but I don't know it. It is just another of life's little mysteries.)
In a catastrophe, the whole country and maybe even the world comes to help but it will take time. While we can fervently hope that we never experience a catastrophe on the order of Katrina here, Emergency Managers must plan what they would do when (not if) a disaster occurs and how to help people in a catastrophe. The first thing that each and every person in Normandy Park must realize is that each of our first responders has family and those are the first people he or she is coing to think of in a disaster (or catastrophe.) In fact, this is as it should be. What kind of a person would a police officer or fireman be if he (or she) didn't think of his/her spouse, children, and parents first. This has two implications: first, they may not be able to get to help you as quickly in a disaster as they would normally so you need to be able to take care of yourself and your family; and second, the city needs to have a plan to ensure the well being of their families so they can get back to their jobs without worrying about their families.
You may have heard of the Three Days/Three Ways program, which basically would show you how to help you to take care of yourself (with food, water, medications, etc. for the first three days after a disaster.) Unfortunately, as we saw during Katrina, three days is insufficient in a catastrophe or even in a major disaster. The City of Normandy Park is asking that you consider how you might take care of yourself for up to ten days before you could expect help in terms of getting to an open grocery store or gas station, etc. (Remember during the Hanakkah Eve windstorm in 2006 when not only were homes without power but also the grocery stores and gas stations could not provide service because they also did not have power. That was a relatively minor disaster but was still very disruptive to all of our lives.) If a major disaster interrupted our infrastructure, we might need to have potable (drinking) water trucked or barged in from outside the area. Our grocery stores have about a day's worth of food readily available to them. They depend on resupply from outside the area. (The recent snowstorms that closed the passes and floods that closed I-5 caused a fear that we could have run out of food here in the Puget Sound region.) Again that was a small disaster (to most of us if not to those affected) but the lessons are that a larger incident could have serious consequences if you are unprepared. Please make sure you have an emergency supply of everything you need to last for a minimum of ten days.
After you take care of yourself and your family, consider checking on your neighbors (as you would like them to check on you.) The City has a program called Map Your Neighborhood which is sort of a Block Watch for disasters. (Block Watch or Neighborhood Watch as it is also called, if you don't know, is a program to get to know your neighbors and call the police to check if you see something strange going on at your neighbor's house while they do the same for you.) If you are interested in either of these programs (in Normandy Park,) call Officer Dave Bond during normal business hours at 206-248-7600. Outside of Normandy Park, call your local Police Department.)
Now, finally, I am going to get on my soapbox for the reason that I started this particular posting in the first place. In a time of disaster, a local official must start the ball rolling to get outside help. The mechanism to start that (under state law,) is the Proclamation of Emergency. Besides being an official call for help, it authorizes certain actions by the city government. It authorizes the government to suspend normal bid procedures that would be required to purchase supplies and services for the response to the disaster.
State law says that the Chief Executive Officer of the city (or his designee) is the one authorized to proclaim an emergency. The City of Normandy Park runs under the "council/manager" form of local government (i. e. the City Council is a legislative branch and hires a City Manager to actually run the executive portion of the city (as opposed to a strong mayor form, in which the Mayor is elected directly and is the chief executive with a city administrator to help.) Mayor McEvoy was elected from among the seven city council members by the council to serve as or but his duties are limited to running city council meetings and being the ceremonial head of the city. (I was elected as Mayor Pro Tem to perform his duties if he is unavailable. Sometimes we do allow him to go on vacation.)
State law does permit one exception to the concept that the City Manager is the Chief Executive and that occurs during a disaster. The Mayor may be tasked with proclaiming the disaster, if the council so chooses (and enacts an ordinance to that effect.) I would like to see the council do precisely that primarily for two reasons. First, as I learned in junior high social studies, we Americans like to have a separation of powers. Since it is the City Manager who would acquire the power to operate without the bid laws, etc., I would like to see someone else authorize him that authority rather than having him both authorize and exercise that power. (I must state that this is a philosphical reason because I have no doubts that our current city manager would not abuse this authority; perhaps a subsequent one could.) My second reason is that if the City Manager were not available (we also allow him to go on vacation, although infrequently), the next people whom he has designated to act in his stead, do not live in (or even particularly near) the city and thus might be difficult to reach in a major disaster when transportation and communications are disrupted. The Mayor (and his successors) all live in the city (by law) and are, therefore, much more accessible.
Several of the counter arguments that I have heard are that it might be possible that a future mayor might have some conflict with the City Manager (who would be advising the Mayor that a Proclamation of Emergency is needed) and that conflict might delay (or even prevent) a necessary proclamation. Another argument is that, since the City Manager's advice to the Mayor is highly desirable before a Proclamation is signed, two people are necessary to agree when time is of the essence. Also, if the disaster occurs during working hours (think Nisqually Quake,) the City Manager is likely right at hand in City Hall, while a Mayor might be at work outside the city.
Normally, for an emergency, if the first responders need help they call on their neighbors (e. g. Normandy Park Police would call on their buddies in the Des Moines Police or the sheriff''s office in Burien or SeaTac.) Our firemen in the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department would call on South King Fire in Des Moines, SeaTac Fire Department, or the North Highline Fire District. All of those entities have "Mutual Aid" agreements which say not only would they respond to help us, but we will respond to help them, as for example, we send Rocky, our tracking bloodhound (and his partner, Officer Morella) to help them if they need to track someone.
If the problem becomes larger than what first responders can handle, a disaster is proclaimed and we would ask the county (and state) for help. If the problem is larger than the state can handle, the Governor can also proclaim a disaster and request help from FEMA and the federal government. The President, in turn can declare a disaster and offer assistance. Note that the ultimate responsibility for the safety of our residents resides in the local officials (City Manager, Mayor, City Council.) The County Executive, county Office of Emergency Management, Governor, state Emergency Management Division, FEMA, National Guard, etc. do not come to help us unless we ask (and ask in the proper way and on the correct forms.) That was a major problem during Katrina. One rarely hears about the problems in Mississippi where the hurricane actually came ashore and completely devastated the coastal area, because the Governor of Mississippi actually used the correct procedures to request help from the federal government. He also told them what he needed so the feds could send the needed help to the correct places at the right time. On the other hand, the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana somehow thought that going on TV and saying "we need help" would get a government bureaucracy to provide exactly what they needed, when and where they needed it. Going on TV and looking pathetic may be good public relations but filling out the proper forms and sending them to the right officials is what gets help for residents of a devastated area.
(Note: Notice that I stated above that the local official (more about that later), the Governor (and the County Executive) each proclaimed an emergency or disaster while the President declared one. That is my understanding of the correct terminology. Only the President "declares" a disaster; lower levels of government "proclaim." I am sure that there is a reason why that is so but I don't know it. It is just another of life's little mysteries.)
In a catastrophe, the whole country and maybe even the world comes to help but it will take time. While we can fervently hope that we never experience a catastrophe on the order of Katrina here, Emergency Managers must plan what they would do when (not if) a disaster occurs and how to help people in a catastrophe. The first thing that each and every person in Normandy Park must realize is that each of our first responders has family and those are the first people he or she is coing to think of in a disaster (or catastrophe.) In fact, this is as it should be. What kind of a person would a police officer or fireman be if he (or she) didn't think of his/her spouse, children, and parents first. This has two implications: first, they may not be able to get to help you as quickly in a disaster as they would normally so you need to be able to take care of yourself and your family; and second, the city needs to have a plan to ensure the well being of their families so they can get back to their jobs without worrying about their families.
You may have heard of the Three Days/Three Ways program, which basically would show you how to help you to take care of yourself (with food, water, medications, etc. for the first three days after a disaster.) Unfortunately, as we saw during Katrina, three days is insufficient in a catastrophe or even in a major disaster. The City of Normandy Park is asking that you consider how you might take care of yourself for up to ten days before you could expect help in terms of getting to an open grocery store or gas station, etc. (Remember during the Hanakkah Eve windstorm in 2006 when not only were homes without power but also the grocery stores and gas stations could not provide service because they also did not have power. That was a relatively minor disaster but was still very disruptive to all of our lives.) If a major disaster interrupted our infrastructure, we might need to have potable (drinking) water trucked or barged in from outside the area. Our grocery stores have about a day's worth of food readily available to them. They depend on resupply from outside the area. (The recent snowstorms that closed the passes and floods that closed I-5 caused a fear that we could have run out of food here in the Puget Sound region.) Again that was a small disaster (to most of us if not to those affected) but the lessons are that a larger incident could have serious consequences if you are unprepared. Please make sure you have an emergency supply of everything you need to last for a minimum of ten days.
After you take care of yourself and your family, consider checking on your neighbors (as you would like them to check on you.) The City has a program called Map Your Neighborhood which is sort of a Block Watch for disasters. (Block Watch or Neighborhood Watch as it is also called, if you don't know, is a program to get to know your neighbors and call the police to check if you see something strange going on at your neighbor's house while they do the same for you.) If you are interested in either of these programs (in Normandy Park,) call Officer Dave Bond during normal business hours at 206-248-7600. Outside of Normandy Park, call your local Police Department.)
Now, finally, I am going to get on my soapbox for the reason that I started this particular posting in the first place. In a time of disaster, a local official must start the ball rolling to get outside help. The mechanism to start that (under state law,) is the Proclamation of Emergency. Besides being an official call for help, it authorizes certain actions by the city government. It authorizes the government to suspend normal bid procedures that would be required to purchase supplies and services for the response to the disaster.
State law says that the Chief Executive Officer of the city (or his designee) is the one authorized to proclaim an emergency. The City of Normandy Park runs under the "council/manager" form of local government (i. e. the City Council is a legislative branch and hires a City Manager to actually run the executive portion of the city (as opposed to a strong mayor form, in which the Mayor is elected directly and is the chief executive with a city administrator to help.) Mayor McEvoy was elected from among the seven city council members by the council to serve as or but his duties are limited to running city council meetings and being the ceremonial head of the city. (I was elected as Mayor Pro Tem to perform his duties if he is unavailable. Sometimes we do allow him to go on vacation.)
State law does permit one exception to the concept that the City Manager is the Chief Executive and that occurs during a disaster. The Mayor may be tasked with proclaiming the disaster, if the council so chooses (and enacts an ordinance to that effect.) I would like to see the council do precisely that primarily for two reasons. First, as I learned in junior high social studies, we Americans like to have a separation of powers. Since it is the City Manager who would acquire the power to operate without the bid laws, etc., I would like to see someone else authorize him that authority rather than having him both authorize and exercise that power. (I must state that this is a philosphical reason because I have no doubts that our current city manager would not abuse this authority; perhaps a subsequent one could.) My second reason is that if the City Manager were not available (we also allow him to go on vacation, although infrequently), the next people whom he has designated to act in his stead, do not live in (or even particularly near) the city and thus might be difficult to reach in a major disaster when transportation and communications are disrupted. The Mayor (and his successors) all live in the city (by law) and are, therefore, much more accessible.
Several of the counter arguments that I have heard are that it might be possible that a future mayor might have some conflict with the City Manager (who would be advising the Mayor that a Proclamation of Emergency is needed) and that conflict might delay (or even prevent) a necessary proclamation. Another argument is that, since the City Manager's advice to the Mayor is highly desirable before a Proclamation is signed, two people are necessary to agree when time is of the essence. Also, if the disaster occurs during working hours (think Nisqually Quake,) the City Manager is likely right at hand in City Hall, while a Mayor might be at work outside the city.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Urban subsidies
While the legislature is making sure that King County does its job in House Bill 1823 for prosecuting felons, maybe it should think about making sure that the county does its jobs with the right amount of money. The state property tax has two specific portions (one for county or regional government, and one for local government services.) In cities, these two portions of you property taxes are separated out and sent either to the county or to the city. In unincorporated county areas, both go to the county. In those unincorporated areas (of King County,) Rons Sims is in reality both the County Executive and the Mayor. The county provides local roads and police protection (which in the cities are provided by the local city government.) Since most of the urban unincorporated areas (e. g. North Highline/White Center/Boulevard Park) are that way because the local taxes revenues are insufficient to pay for all of the required services so the cities don't want to annex them, King County makes up the shortfall out of the portions of revenues from the county as a whole. This is generally called the urban subsidy and means that residents of the cities are paying for local services for the unincorporated areas.
This is one of the reasons that some Burien residents are not eager to annex portions (especially residential portions that have no sales tax base) of North Highline. The residents of North Highline that are annexed will lower the per capita revenue of Burien. In additon the infrastructure of North Highline is not as well maintained as that in the city of Burien so will take an intra-Burien subsidy to raise its standards for years.
A reason that North Highline residents might like to keep things as they are is that cities have ceratin other taxes that they are allowed to add to their residents' tax bills (e. g. utility taxes) that the county is not allowed to charge the residents of unincorporated county areas. As long as they stay unincorporated, they keep their tax bills lower and keep receiving the urban subsidy (but of course, they have little say in a county government gerrymandered to give Seattle a disproportionate vote.)
What is the answer? There probably isn't one that is desirable for all, but if the state would mandate that the county keep separate budgets for its local government rsponsibilities and its regional responsibilities, at least we might be able to figure out what they are up to.
As an example, I was disheartened to learn that King County has (only) two sets of Emergency Management Plans, one for the residents of unincorporated county and one for county government agencies. They have no plan for what services they plan to offer on a regional basis for all residents of the county, both in and outside of cities.
This is one of the reasons that some Burien residents are not eager to annex portions (especially residential portions that have no sales tax base) of North Highline. The residents of North Highline that are annexed will lower the per capita revenue of Burien. In additon the infrastructure of North Highline is not as well maintained as that in the city of Burien so will take an intra-Burien subsidy to raise its standards for years.
A reason that North Highline residents might like to keep things as they are is that cities have ceratin other taxes that they are allowed to add to their residents' tax bills (e. g. utility taxes) that the county is not allowed to charge the residents of unincorporated county areas. As long as they stay unincorporated, they keep their tax bills lower and keep receiving the urban subsidy (but of course, they have little say in a county government gerrymandered to give Seattle a disproportionate vote.)
What is the answer? There probably isn't one that is desirable for all, but if the state would mandate that the county keep separate budgets for its local government rsponsibilities and its regional responsibilities, at least we might be able to figure out what they are up to.
As an example, I was disheartened to learn that King County has (only) two sets of Emergency Management Plans, one for the residents of unincorporated county and one for county government agencies. They have no plan for what services they plan to offer on a regional basis for all residents of the county, both in and outside of cities.
Make the county do its job(s) - swim pools
Besides the pending new King County requirement for cities to prosecute some felonies (if the people are going to get them prosecuted at all,) King County has in the past foisted other of its responsibilities onto the cities (without, of course, passing on any of the revenues allowed by the state for fulfilling those responsibilities.) I am thinking of the decision several years ago to defund the Forward Thrust Swimming Pools that the county built (with our money) many years ago and then neglected the maintenance of. Now those pools are in sad state of repair which would necessitate huge expenditures to refurbish. Mt. Rainier Pool in Des Moines has for the past several years been funded by several of the local cities and the Highline School District. With the tight budgets we have, we can not really afford this but certainly can not afford the refurbishment of the pool to keep it running safely. Thus the home pool of our local several time state championship swim team will probably close its doors, not only to the swim team but also to the public. The only benefit was to the county executive and the council which balanced their budget on the budgets of the local cities.
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