Here is Local 20/20s’ June Column in the Port Townsend Leader (Thank you, PT Leader!), titled Resilience Review. It is copied below.
By Judith Alexander
The acronym YOYO, (You’re On Your Own) was the default message to the public back in 2007, when Local 20/20 reached out to Bob Hamlin, Director of the Jefferson County Dept. of Emergency Management (DEM) to partner on mobilizing our neighborhoods to prepare for the unexpected. It may be time to update that message!
At the initial meeting with Bob, (now-mayor) Deborah Stinson, and myself, we proposed that DEM partner with Local 20/20 to encourage self-organized neighborhood groups to prepare for the inevitable results of a severe earthquake or tsunami: No electricity, gasoline, running water. Little or no medical, fire, or police services. No food deliveries to stores. No internet. No phones. No texting. Likely significant loss of life.
While unsure of just what we were proposing, Bob was receptive to the idea of working with Local 20/20 on such an initiative. Later he would say: “I thought this might lead to some neighborhoods getting prepared. Little did I realize that over 100 neighborhoods would become really great places to live. We created a social movement.” Indeed, and more neighborhoods are joining that effort every year.
Recently, Philip Morley, our County administrator, asked three diverse teams to interview finalists for the next DEM director. One was a team of government officials, one a team of first responders for emergencies (fire, police, EMTs, etc.) and, third, team members of NPREP, Local 20/20’sNeighborhood Preparedness Action Group.
What emerged from this highly interactive interview process was the recognition there were two distinct skill-sets needed for the job: expertise in decisive incident command, and outreach with relational skills needed to work effectively with grassroots networks of neighborhoods, where immediate first responders would likely be your own neighbors. The three teams met to assess the top two candidates, and, unsurprisingly, they did not initially have the same priorities in mind about the most important talent for our new DEM manager to possess. To complicate things further, each of the top prospects had clear strength in one, but not necessarily both, of those skill-sets.
What followed was the truly surprising part. Over the course of the meeting, some 25 people talked and listened to each other in what could have easily devolved into a polarized exchange as people lobbied for their preferred candidate. Instead, the meeting culminated in those present agreeing that we could unanimously support either candidate.
What was more, no one wanted the meeting to end!
So, what happened here? What made the difference? A lot of listening. A lot of genuine responses to people’s real concerns with real information. No defensive posturing to promote one candidate over another. A clear recognition emerged, that when it comes to emergency preparedness, we are all in this together. The collegiality in the room was profound: expressions of respect and appreciation for the different roles within the emergency system; trust that each part of the response system could and would work with the other parts. Quickly, consensus was reached that both candidates were well qualified, although differently, for the job. The feeling in the room was, we were working together.
Perhaps the YOYO acronym does not tell the full story. YES, most certainly when the earthquake subsides we will, as households within neighborhoods, be on our own. Probably for a long time. But we will also be nested within a community of caring and connected people who want to provide for each other, who can communicate, who willingly do what they can, knowing we are all in this, together. John Crooks, DEM employee says “We in Jefferson County are very fortunate that so many people give their time, talent and energy to help with preparedness/resilience.”
So, what if we all sought out such common ground experiences, collaborating to meet our common needs? Joining a community garden with our neighbors. Initiating a neighborhood picnic. Or just having a social potluck with people of different political persuasions, choosing NOT to talk politics, but instead seeking out those shared places of connection that define our common humanity.
Joining neighborhood initiatives such as these can reconnect what has been separated, remind us we are all more alike than different, and reestablish strong bonds of community that honor our real human vulnerability and ultimately, our dignity.
In closing…don’t forget the free, upcoming All County Picnic—with the preparedness theme that drives it—Sunday, August 19th at H J Carroll Park. Fun, free corn on the cob, great music, kids activities, plus a grand opportunity to learn as much as you want to know about growing community resilience. All this thanks in large measure to the incredible partnership between Local 20/20’s neighborhood preparedness organization and the Dept. of Emergency Management!
