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Keep The Changes

Following a final meeting of the Ad-Hoc Committee with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, the committee was informed that the Supervisors will be asked to accept a UASI MOU without several approved changes at their March 12th board meeting.

The Committee was also told Bay Area UASI, the Homeland Security entity that doles out disaster preparedness funds, would not further consider any Alameda County requests at its March 14th meeting.

Published guidelines from both Bay Area UASI and FEMA/DHS do not require the use of the name "Urban Shield", having a vendor expo, or SWAT deployments, which are some of the changes refused by the Sheriff's Dept.

Send an email to the Board of Supervisors asking them to stand their ground and ask UASI to fund what we want and need in a disaster preparedness exercise.

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Alameda County Board of Supervisors

Subject: Please Approve The MOU With The Ad-Hoc Committee Recommendations

Message:

Dear Alameda County Board of Supervisors, I write today to encourage you to retain the Ad-Hoc Committee recommendations that you approved on February 26. Alameda County has engaged in a lengthy process to articulate the changes it wishes to make in the regional disaster preparedness exercise and to respond to community upset with the previous iteration of the exercise. The new vision laid out by the Ad-Hoc Committee is responsive to the needs expressed by many Alameda County residents and to FEMA's whole community preparedness guidelines. If implemented well, they will make Alameda County residents safer and more prepared for emergencies. The four recommendations described as contested in the Ad-Hoc Committee's report are not prohibited in the FEMA grant guidelines and, more importantly, do not negatively impact the County and the region's ability to respond to catastrophic events. 1. Build the capacity of vulnerable populations to have an authentic and meaningful voice in the planning ,implementation, and evaluation of UASI funded exercises. 2. Eliminate the vendor show from the UASI funded exercise. 3. Redesign law enforcement portions of the exercise, so that they are not SWAT deployment scenarios 4. Change the name of Urban Shield, rebrand UASI funded exercises and create outreach materials that take into account all UASI program audiences, including those with functional and access needs. It is unfortunate that the name of the event, a for-profit weapons expo, and the disproportionate SWAT emphasis are being presented as the top priorities or that there would be an objection to building the capacity of vulnerable populations to prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies . I ask you to stay focused on what Alameda County's real needs are in this era of catastrophic forest fires and rampant homelessness and ask for the exercise that we want and need.

Remaining:

Keep The Changes

Thank you for taking action.