As my two terms as Mayor of the great City of Pacificcome to an end, I wanted to take this time to review what we have accomplished as a community and the condition I have left this city in.  When I walked into this office in 2004 this city was a much different place to live.  Although our budgets then and now were within a few percentage points (both around $3.1 Million General Fund) our city was racked with debt and our sense of community was weak and in need of work.  Many of our employees had worked without a contract for over 18 months and our city faced many challenges that even after spending two years on the City Council, I had not fully understood. But as a community we faced and overcame these challenges.  Because of this our community is much safer, is fiscally stable and accountable to our citizens.

One of the first things I did was to assess how we went about doing our business as a community and found better ways of accomplishing some of the same task.  I combined the Community Development and Public Works under the same department head saving our city $70,000 per year. I also combined Youth and Senior services under the Community Service Department and brought back a well qualified manager who had left under the previous administration. As we understood the grant funding that had funded these programs was drying up we set about establishing a plan that both of these programs still operate under today.  Community Services needed to be more than just a lunch program for seniors and open gym after school for our youth. We created structured programs in both areas and documented units of service in each program to measure its value.  This documentation allowed us to pursue other grants and funding to support more programs for our citizens. We also created a Non Profit side of the community services that worked in partnership with the city, providing a unique combination of abilities.  By creation of a 501-C-3 we expanded our ability to pursue certain funding as well as provided for more flexibility to provide services to the citizens.  In 2008 it was commented at a King County Council meeting that the Pacific Algona Community Services program got “More Bang for the Buck” than any similar program in the county. Although the original non-profit broke away and formed their own program in Algona, we still provide more services for less cost than any other program we are aware of.  Since that division in 2009, our city now partners with Pacific Partnerships and has continued to provide services to not only Pacific residents, but many from Algona, Auburn and unincorporated King County.  We have almost doubled units of service and as participants in these programs have commented created a warm and safe environment for senior citizens and youth.

Pacific Partnership, mentioned above, is another big change.  A philosophy I have long believed is that government typically looked at community backwards.  Government would look at a community only as a glass half empty, seeing need for its citizens and then creating programs to hopefully fill that need.  Instead if you look at community as a glass half full, help facilitate and develop the resources you have in that community that glass can fill itself.  This was the idea behind Pacific Partnerships.  I will be honest; this great organization has exceeded what I originally envisioned.  I honestly believe that one of the reasons it works so well is that government does not interfere with its operations.  Government needs to partner with community to meet needs that might be critical but not a specific role of government.  Starting as an Ad Hoc committee of the Mayor’s office, Pacific Partnerships is now its own 501-C-3 non profit and fills that gap that government is not as adept in providing services.  It also strengthens our sense of community by empowering citizens to really make a difference.  I am proud of getting this group started but have to give all of the credit for what they accomplish to this fantastic organization.

When I took office we had a few projects that were started by the previous administration but needed to be completed. The Fountain and Pergola in front of City Hall is one of these projects. When King County and Metro wanted to build a new pump station for the sewer system, Pacific convinced them it made more sense to spend the 1% for the arts requirement on the fountain than artwork for a sewage lift station.  I give credit to the staff and members of the Pacific Parks Board at that time. It is their hard work that moved this project forward.  I also wish to point out that much of the city’s match for this project was provided by volunteers.

Another project that was started but we were in jeopardy of losing was improvements at Pacific City Park.  We had a grant to build the cabana, improve accessibility (bike and walking paths) and build the basketball court.  Because of inaction the funding for this project was close to being pulled.  As Mayor Elect, I met with Executive Ron Sims in December 2003 and was able to gain an extension and we got this project done in 2004.

The final big project started under the previous mayor was the Safeway mitigation for building the new distribution center in Auburn.  As they would be impacting our roads, it was important they help pay for improvements.  Although Safeway had agreed to pay some of the mitigation, the city lacked the ability to pay for the rest.  We also had many areas that were near or past the failure point because they had not been built to standards required to handle freight traffic. Working with John Walsh, the Public Works / Community Development director we were able to secure most of the funding to not only repair, but to entirely rebuild sections of Ellingson.  This funding from the Transportation Improvement Board also provided for sidewalks and traffic light improvements (Pacific Ave and Frontage Roads). As a result of our work, and a personal visit and plea to the TIB meeting in Bellingham this project was funded with minimal cost to our local taxpayers.

These were not the only projects we have been successful in securing funding for over these past eight years.  In 2007 we were awarded $4.96 Million for Valentine Road (due for construction next year).  In 2008 we secured $1Million for sidewalks and bike lanes on 3^rd Ave and $505,000 to make improvements to the Gym and Community Center.  In 2009 we secured $1.1 million for traffic signal improvements, purchase of the Morgan Property and additional sidewalk projects.  Combined with funding we received in 2010 and 2011 improvements are now funded to build or replace sidewalks on Milwaukee Blvd. from 5^th Ave SE to 3^rd Ave and repair sidewalks from 3^rd SE to Ellingson.  Also in 2010 and 2011 we received more than $6.5 Million in grants and over $2.2 Million in low interest loans for Storm Water Improvements as well as 90% of the funding now to widen Stewart Road from SR 167 to the UP railroad tracks.  This project is scheduled for completion next year. Using low interest loans from the State Revolving Trust Fund, we built a new water tower as well as a regional retention pond.  Even as I leave office the impacts of my administration’s efforts will benefit this city in getting these projects completed.

What I am sure I will be remembered for the most is what we have done in emergency management. Everyone remembers our response in the floods of 2009 and the work we have done since to prevent that from happening again.  Although I am still a strong proponent of long term mitigation that includes removal of debris in the river, in the short term we must work with our partners to protect our citizens now. If the incoming administration follows the planning in place we should be in good shape now even if we get the heavy flood threats this January and February as expected.  In spite of the attempts to minimize and discredit my efforts to prepare this city, I stand behind everything we have done and I am proud of our accomplishments.  What we accomplished for literally pennies on the dollar is an amazing story in itself.

Changes in Federal Laws as a result of the September 11^th attacks and Hurricane Katrina required our city to seriously look at our emergency management capabilities.  When it was discovered that Pacific’s Emergency Management planning was a ¼ page of boilerplate language in our Pacific Municipal Code, I made a commitment that our city would take appropriate steps to create and implement an appropriate Emergency Management program.

I sat down with the Chief and Captains of Pacific Fire Department (now part of the VRFA) to discuss what we needed to do to protect the interest of our citizens and businesses.  Contrary to the perception that many people still have, the responsibility to prepare for, respond to and recover from a disaster belongs to the local level of government, not FEMA or the Federal Government. They will assist, but the work still needs to be done at the local level.  I met with a number of other government leaders, King and Pierce County Emergency Management to look at options and plan a strategy to meet our needs.  Our options at that time were to hire a consultant or a full time emergency manager, partner with King or Pierce County or the City of Auburn (who had just hired an emergency manager) or do the work ourselves.  As we did not have funding to cover the cost of the first two options, we set about looking at what we needed to do to create our own program.

I had already been exposed to some of the FEMA provided training programs such as Incident Command (ICS) and Continuity of Operations (COOP).  From working with some of our regional partners and on online courses I had a concept of what was needed. Thanks in part to a donation by a local businessman I attended an ICMA conference on disasters, Restoration 2006 in New Orleans.  As part of this conference I went through a two day workshop on writing COOP plans put on by the University of Maryland. This is where our original plan was developed from.  Three days after that plan was presented to the City Council for adoption, that plan was tested by the first of 2 floods our city faced under my administration.  Although the November 2006 floods did not cause damage to any homes, we still gained national attention because of how we responded. For the first time in its history, Pacific participated in the disaster declaration process and received disaster recovery money to cover cost and damage.  Because of the success of our response, I was asked to participate and speak at Restoration 2007, hoping to inspire other small communities to take this process seriously.  We were also featured in the University of Maryland’s Alumni Magazine for how we had adapted information gained from this program they were providing.

Being a part of and speaking at Restoration 2007 was an interesting experience. The ICMA is the organization founded and made up of City Managers (CEO’s of a Council / Manager for of government).  Here I was a Chief Elected Official from a “Strong Mayor” form of government speaking and helping organize this conference.  As an organizer and speaker my conference cost were picked up by ICMA.  Other costs were again offset by donations from local business, Happy with what we accomplished and proud to see our community receive this honor.  This is where the whole controversy used during the campaign over the purchase of my wife’s airfare came from.  To get the best deal on Orbitz, we had to purchase both tickets together.  I paid $300 cash for the cost of my wife’s ticket to the city and it was then purchased by the City. Although we found out after the fact it was not a good practice, this was how the then finance director had used for the previous 2 years with other staff members on travel cost.  In August of 2007 after talking to the State Auditor’s office we changed the policy. That is why the controversy over this was so ridiculous.

While speaking at Restoration 2007, I met staff members from the Emergency Management Institute (EMI).  This facility, operating out of the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg Maryland, is one of a group of training programs operated by FEMA/DHS.  It was recommended that I attend what was known as the Integrated Emergency Management Course (IEMC) where I could not only build upon my knowledge about emergency management but also gain experience in a very realistic disaster exercise. At EMI, the cost of the program and housing is paid for by FEMA.  Approximatly six weeks later participants are reimbursed for the cost of transportation. This is where the original cost of the travel was paid for out of the Mayor’s travel fund and reimbursed by me after FEMA made the reimbursement by direct deposit. FEMA’s rules would not allow those reimbursements to be made directly to the city.  At EMI is where we found the potential problems with our plan and what we needed to do to fix them.

A strong point about the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the standardization it promotes across all disciplines and regions.  Responders from anywhere in the country could assist in disaster operations anywhere in our nation and operate under a standardized system. Although our emergency management plan had adopted NIMS and ICS, the layout of the plan was not in a preferred outline. Following best practices used around the country, I rewrote our Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) into the form it is in today.  Sitting down with staff we looked at our options of implementing this CEMP and what was going to be needed for the long term preparedness of our city.  The first step to implement this plan we needed to create and participate in a training and exercise plan. This plan required the city to develop strategies to train staff and potential responders in ICS and to test the emergency plan with a regular program of exercises. From our participation in “Sound shake 08”, a statewide disaster exercise, we knew that the answer was by using a combination of resources in which to accomplish these tasks. As at that time I was the only person in the city to have passed ICS 300 and 400, I arranged to travel back to EMI to take the ICS Train the Trainer program.  EMI also had what was known as the Master Exercise Practioner program which was a series of online and resident classes to teach and credential participants to write, conduct and evaluate disaster exercises.  I was the first elected official to graduate from this program.  Two of my classmates now hold elected office in their jurisdictions.  We all share the belief that it is critical that elected officials understand and participate in the training and exercise process.  Psychologists who study performance under pressure are aware of the phenomenon called "brain freeze," the inability of the human mind to engage in complex reasoning in the grip of intense fear. It appears that arousal of the amygdala causes a partial shutdown of the frontal cortex, so that it becomes possible to engage only in instinctive or well-learned behavior.  This is why policy leaders who might be called upon to make critical decisions during times of disaster take the time to learn and practice this type of thinking and these type of decisions.  To make a long story short this is why I have dedicated so much of my time into taking this type of training.  It is something I found a new passion about and plan on staying involved in, but the original and still primary motivation was to bring back this type of training to our community.
Part of emergency planning is looking at the various types of incidents that could occur in a jurisdiction. At EMI I had gained a good background in dealing with most natural disasters.  But EMI was only one program offered by FEMA/DHS.  Located at the former Fort McClellan in Aniston Alabama is the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP).  They offer a number of classes (see links below) that offered me an ability to expand my understanding and perceptions.  Another difference with the CDP is that they are funded directly under DHS and covered most cost up front.  This is why my travel to classes at the CDP included only baggage fees and a couple meals.
At the CDP, the Department of Homeland Security operates the COBRA training facility.  This is the only facility in the nation where civilians can learn firsthand what it is like to operate in an environment exposed to chemical or biological agents.  As part of different classes, I have entered the COBRA facility now 4 times, the most of any elected official in our nation. Although it might not seem like this training would be of any use to our community, much of what I have learned can be translated into other risk our community faces.  We can never forget that Boeing operates chemical treatment facilities on our borders and that we have over 5000 box cars of hazardous materials go through our city by train every year.  This does not include the thousands of trucks traveling down SR167.  It can also be translated into response to some meth labs.  I now have a realistic perception of what it would take if God forbid we were to have a serious Hazardous Material accident in our city.
When our city was flooded in January 2009 the city had a good idea of what we needed to do in response and as we transitioned into recovery.  But we did have areas we realized we needed to work on.  One of those areas was the management of volunteers.  Because of the work we had already accomplished the City of Pacific qualified for what are known as EMPG or Emergency Preparedness Performance Grants.  Using some of the EMPG funds we hired a consultant to help us develop a volunteer management plan.  Our EVS (Emergency Volunteer Services) plan that was developed is what we have been working on for the past two years. We know that during times of disaster that we will be flooded with citizens wanting to help.  We also know that in a catastrophic event such as a large earthquake we will not have the ability to draw resources from our neighbors, they will be busy themselves and we will be on our own.
The Pacific EVS Plan creates a three tier system of volunteers and establishes a process for our community to train and credential some of these volunteers in advance.  Some of this training can be provided by use of online and other existing programs.  Some of this training would require us to develop new programs specific to our needs and resources. A program at EMI, the Master Trainer Program, established the ability for us to custom design training programs for our needs.  Similar to a Thesis in a Masters program, as part of this program I am currently finishing up my Practicum where I am writing a complete training program including all materials, student and instructor guides.
The final thing I will discuss about our emergency management is to point out what we have accomplished and what cost to our local taxpayers.  As was discussed earlier, we did not have any choice to write our emergency plan and to work towards closing gaps in our community preparedness.  Both State law (WAC 118-30-040 and 060, RCW 38.52.070) as well as Federal requirements (HSPD-5 and 8, SARA and others) provide the requirements for local government. What is different is the way we met those goals and the cost.  I personally believe that we could use a full time Emergency Management Professional to refine our plan and organize training for our community.  In the tight budgets we have had, paying off old debt and now recovering from the bad economy, we have not had the ability to do so.  Diverting current staff to take the training and spend the time needed was not an option either as they have their regular duties to accomplish as well.  In addition to any cost of travel and training we would also have to pay regular wages as well as cost to replace them while they are away.  For many of these classes I took time off from my job as a Union Electrician in order to attend training. I have never complained about or regretted the thousands of dollars in lost wages I have personally lost.  As it is, for a cost of less than what we now qualify for in EMPG funds, we now meet Federal and State requirements. For what could have cost over $100,000 using consultants we accomplished for pennies on the dollar. And they were not even local taxpayer pennies. Thanks to donations by local businesses and reimbursements made, costs were not paid out of local tax dollars. These businesses realized how critical this work is to our community they choose to do business in.  I have also volunteered my time with a few of these donors with creating their own emergency management plans.  There has never been any corruption as my political opponents claimed.  No special favors were ever granted any business for a donation, nor were they treated any differently than anyone else. A community that can respond to and quickly recover from disaster is in their best interest as well as our community’s.
As I transition out of this office, I am exploring options of how to continue my commitment to our community.  My job as Mayor was the tool I used to serve our citizens. I have no intention of abandoning my commitment to this community or to emergency management. One way or another I will continue to develop and present training to our citizens.  Officially or Unofficially I will continue to refine emergency management plans for our city and develop a volunteer organization capable of assisting our community in times of disaster.  I have a lot of love for this community and do not want to see anything happen to it.  As I step aside as Mayor, I will remain committed to doing what is in the best interest of our community.



Information on EMI - http://training.fema.gov/EMI/
Information on the Center for Domestic Preparedness - http://cdp.dhs.gov/
(note: If you look at the Why Train at the CDP link on the homepage and scroll down you will find a story on me attending training in the COBRA facility)