If you missed yesterday’s City Council presentation about “Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness” initiatives, you might have heard the following statement: “As you have heard many times regarding major disasters; it isn’t a question of IF, but WHEN. Whenever we approach the anniversary of he 1906 S.F. Earthquake, the public is reminded of the need to “Be Ready” and to “Be Prepared.”

Just a few weeks ago, the City Council heard a 30 minute presentation by personnel from the Sonoma County Office of Emergency Services. The council members heard the OES staff use acronyms such as SEMS and NIMS. As council members they have been required to attend workshops that inform them about how emergency situations are handled by OES professionals at the State, County and Municipal level.

However; what about local citizens? We have been told, more than once, that in the event of a 1906 magnitude earthquake happening along our Rodgers Creek Fault, the impact in

For over a year, there has been a group of local volunteers who have been involved with an emergency preparedness initiative that was “incubated” shortly after Hurricane Katrina. It has “hatched” a few more acronyms suck as CERT, NERT, and ALERT. The “spark plugs” who have been “energizing” this effort made a brief report about what has been accomplished, to date, to the council so that our families and friends at the neighborhood level will “Be Ready.”

This summary report may be view on the City of

http://petaluma.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

For additional information about CERT, NERT or ALERT, check out:

http://www.PetalumaNERT.org

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If  you have been reading the local newspapers recently, there appears to be a few “local action groups” (LAGs) that are perfect examples of how citizens can come together around an issue, concern or need and pursue a course of action that either captures the attention of the larger community and/or begins to solve the problem. For example:

PINS - Petaluma Involved Neighbors are concerned about the vandalism, graffiti, blight and decay in Petaluma. Founder, Frank Simpson, has created a web site that documents via photographs what has been happening in Petaluma over the past few years, http://www.picturetrail.com/PINS131/ He has also created an archieve site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graffiti_PINS131/ Recently, Frank has also blogged extensively on this theme for the Argus-Courier at http://frank-simpson.petaluma360.com Bottomline: He has gotten results. For details, go to my blog, “The Squeaky Wheel” does get results at  http://bill-hammerman.petaluma360.com

Victoria neighbors have launched a campaign related to the city’s “Draft Environmental Impact Report-Review of Planning Commision Recommendations for Parcel-Specific Land Uses.” They have asked the City Council to reconsider the existing very low residential designation to rural residential and increase in park acreage and place his item on the agenda of their next meeting, Monday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m.

This neighborhood action group has been focussed on this issue for some time, and their efforts may be reviewed on Granicus - the city’s video of past meeting - http://petaluma.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3 jump to “Sub-Area 8-West Hills-Lands of Davidson (Scott Ranch). Anytime a neighborhood action group can attract over 100 citizens to a public meeting you know they are organized, effective and having an impact.

 ALERT - Alliance for Local Emergency Response Teams held its quarterly meeting, last week, and a dozen neighborhood leaders (NERTs) participated in an information update session, as well as planning for the next quarter. Since last March, the Petaluma CERT-NERT-STAR intiative (now coordinated by ALERT), has: graduated 50 Community Emergency Response (CERT) volunteers, created 12 NERTS, licensed 12 FCC Amateur Radio Operators, established 6 electronic conference boards, and one web site http://www.petalumanert.org At the Sonoma County level, a Petaluma-based, team of eight volunteers participated in the 2007 CERT Challenge and five ham radio operators advanced to become volunteer members of the county’s Auxilary Communications Services (ACS).

These three reports are great examples of the PetalumaNet motto, the greatest resource of any community is the collective wisdom, intellect and creativity of it citizens. Stay tuned for future updates and example of community action groups.

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Have you noticed the number of acronyms I use in my blogs? What do they stand for and what do they mean? Isn’t the use of acronyms supposed to make it easier for readers to understand your references? Here’s my Weblog’s index of acronyms and their related community theme or topic. (There’s an exam at the end of this blog.)

 Earlier in my blogging career (such as it is as a volunteer journalists), our website projects in the late 19990s used PEN (Petaluma Electronic Network),  PCN (Petaluma Community Network), and POL (PetalumaOnline). Recently, our emergency preparedness initiatives resulted in CERT (Community Emergency Response Training), NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team), ALERT (Alliance of Local Emergency Response Teams), and STAR (Safe – Trained – Alert – Ready). 

Now that we have launched a campaign for OPEN (Our Petaluma Electronic Network), you might run across these letters and their relationship to local neighborhood action group projects.

Sample Matrix of Current Concerns

• NEAT = Neighborhood Empowerment & Action Teams
  • Graffiti and vandalism
  • Abandoned shopping carts
  • Overdue parking of vehicles

• NERT = Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams
  • Emergency preparedness
  • Emergency communications

• KYN = Know Your Neighborhood
  • Neighborhood political action groups

• PINS = Petaluma Involved Neighbors
  • PINS Picture Trail Site & Archieves

• NWG = Neighborhood Watch Groups
  • Under-age drinking & drugs
  • Inactive Neighborhood Watch groups
  • Speeding & reckless driving in neighborhoods
  • Cooperation with NERT & NEAT

• NAG = Neighborhood Action Groups
  • Issues identified by neighborhood

If you’re still with me, that means you are interested; so, we’ll skip the exit exam. However, you are invited to check out the http://www.petalumaopen.net and consider stepping up to the plate and bringing your neighbors together in order to identify and begin to take action that will address a need or concern of your choosing. After you have gotten the ball rolling, take the next step and share what your neighborhood accomplished by posting a blog to this site. Instruction on “How to post a blog entry” are linked on the OPEN home page.

 I’ve “talked the talk,” are you and your neighbors ready to “walk the walk?” Stay tuned for case study reports from Neighborhood Action Groups that actually did it.

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BY Petalumans and FOR Petalumans that Use ICT To Share Information ABOUT Petaluma

In spite of the rain last Saturday, a wonderful experience in neighborhood empowerment took place with about 100 residents who live in the LaTercera Park area. They had an opportunity to engage the mayor, members of the City Council, and the Parks & Recreation Commission, as well as members of the Petaluma Police and Fire Departments in a Q&A session dealing with concerns about vandalism and graffiti. (Additional details may be found on blogs featured on http://www.Petaluma360.com)

On Sunday, the day was sunny and bright, and my thoughts about the previous day were clearer and brighter, as well. Here are the conclusions I reached as a result of participating in this Neighborhood Action Group (NAG) meeting:

• All a neighborhood needs to get an initiative started is a “sparkplug” who commits the time, effort, and energy necessary to ignite interest in a local need or concern. The neighborhood cylinders gradually become interested and begin to get the engine up and running. In due time, this warmed up neighborhood engine increases its power and starts the journey toward the desired goals and objective, developed by the neighbors.

• After the initial get-together, follow-up is a necessary ingredient to sustain the effort. This can be accomplished by holding additional face-to-face meetings and the creation of an “over the back fence” conversation board … an exclusive electronic conference board for the neighborhood that is available 24/7.

• As Neighborhood Action Group (NAG) participants make head way, they become empowered to continue their journey with a greater degree of confidence and strength. They soon realize that what they learned from their experience might be of value to other neighborhood groups in the larger community regardless of the cause, need or concern, so they seek ways to share their new found wisdom and knowledge.

As these community-wide networks of local NAGs expands and grows, there is a need for a more sophisticated system of transmitting information, announcements, and dialogues. One solution might be the design and creation of a community website, independent of any political, commercial, or special-interest advocacy group.

Over the past twelve years, such an all-volunteer, community-driven group of citizens have incubated, designed, implemented and evaluated information and communication projects for every sector of the Greater Petaluma community. During this same period of time, 1995-2006, the Pew Research Center sponsored surveys have reported that the percentage of U.S. adults online has increased from approximately 15% to over 70%. These Internet use statistics include those who have ever used a computer at home, work, school to connect to a search engine, bulletin boards, or information services.

Obviously, we are in a state of change with respect to how Americans are sharing information through the use of computer technology and telecommunications. Perhaps the time has come for a new grass-roots, all-volunteer pilot project is needed in order to make greater use of ICT to connect citizens within a community.

Project OPEN – Our Petaluma Electronic Network – will be an independent Weblog designed BY Petalumans and will share information ABOUT Petaluma, FOR the benefit of all Petaluma who have access to our online community.

For this local endeavor to be successful, it will need citizen-reporters to share their stories about Our Petaluma, a community second to none in spirit and getting things done because its citizens truly believe that the greatest resource of any community is the collective wisdom, knowledge and creativity of its citizens. This moderated Weblog co-op is designed to make it easy for Petalumans to reach out to our growing “town” and strengthen our sense of community before we become just one more urbanized city along the Highway 101 corridor. If you are interested in participating in this new electronic collaboratory, and are willing to open the door to …

• Your thoughts
• Your heart
• Your mind

… and share them in order that all our friends and families may live, work, play and learn in a concerned and safe community that looks out for each other regardless of race, creed, or ethic origin…

Use the Register link at left to register and then login to post an entry to the site. When you post blog entries please use the Categories available, and/or add new Categories that apply to your entry topic. That’s all it takes to participate in this online community. By using this website you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Thank you for your participation!

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