A Church that I drove by today has a saying on their billboard; “Ask if it is for your fellow man or is it financial”. That inspired a conversation about motivations of people. Many people are motivated by money or power; I have always been motivated by doing something because it is the right thing to do. That is why I choose not to go negative during my reelection campaign and that is why I continue to do give back to my community.
I have been blessed with skills that allow me to make good money. As a Union Electrician I make over $40.00 per hour plus good benefits. During the time I was Mayor, I constantly took time off or passed on overtime work because of commitments I made to our citizens. I have no regrets for that as my years of service to the Citizens of Pacific will always hold a place in my heart. As I move on I look to other ways of serving my fellow man and giving back to my community.
In spite of some opponents claiming my training in emergency management was self-serving and evidence of corruption, I will never make more money than I make now in that field. But that is not the purpose. Since leaving office I have spent many hours working on the update of the CEMP for our city, not because I had to, not because of money, but because of a promise I made to our citizens. As I pass this updated CEMP to the City Council for passage, I was glad to spend the time because it protects the interest of our citizens. But now it is time for someone else to step up in this area.
Chapter 118-30 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC 118-30) requires jurisdictions like the City of Pacific to plan for emergencies. The work we have done in planning, training staff and conducting exercises is required, not optional. With tight budgets, instead of hiring a full time emergency manager, I took on many of those duties of writing the plan, creating training programs for staff and writing and conducting exercises. Now that I have moved on, someone else is going to have to step up and do this work.
As for me, I will continue to teach classes. The Emergency Management Preparedness Grant the City currently has requires some public education classes to be provided. One way or another I will make sure these classes are provided. Not just so the city can keep the grant money, but because it is the right thing to do. The Volunteer Emergency Worker Plan we have developed is our community’s best chance of being able to survive a large scale disaster. We do not have the staff or resources to deal with a large scale disaster that will have not only our community, but all of our neighboring jurisdictions overwhelmed. We will be on our own for a while.
Long term, I plan on working to close a gap that I have seen firsthand in our Nation’s preparedness. Too many of our Elected Officials do not realize the critical importance of being engaged in preparedness. Over this past decade we have seen what happens when elected officials are unprepared to deal with a disaster. Failures at all levels of government following Hurricane Katrina can be traced back to failures of policy leaders. This has been the focus of much of my work over this past year and is something I plan on continuing to work on. Not because I will see financial gain, because in fact I am more likely to see financial loss in my efforts. I am motivated to do this because it is the right thing to do. It is to help my fellow man and not only give back to this community but our Nation as a whole.
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