by Carrie Bartoldus
Administrators throughout Clatsop County have learned a lot since FEMA came to town. The top thing learned was that progress can only be made with a focused effort of cooperation between all departments and agencies and a supreme effort of teamwork. The good news for the people of Clatsop County is that it can be seen at all levels of local government.
The effort is not a miracle, it is one of perseverance and consistently checking in with one another to clarify statements reported to have been made against what was actually said. Undermining authority, disregarding chains of command, refusing to follow standard operating procedures can lead to a break down in moral, and, ultimately, the loss of a project.
Disaster Mitigation Planning for a region the size of, and as geologically diverse as Clatsop County, such a break down could lead to constant disruptions and delays of the completion, and ultimate approval by FEMA of the plan.
Planning Balm Bares No Blame
Overwhelmingly, city and county administrators have been supportive of one another’s efforts as they learn the complexities of the mitigation planning process. Over and over again city officials have reassured those who ask that they are working cooperatively and assessing no blame for the lack of a plan on anyone.
“With this wind storm what we learned was what we need to do for certain programs [at the state and federal level]. Some things we qualify for, some things we don’t, some things maybe we could have qualified to apply for if someone had done something different a while back, but we aren’t looking at that and no one is blaming anyone. We are looking at where we are at now and where we are can go from here,” Astoria City Manager, Paul Benoit asserted.
Benoit said neighboring communities help and rally one another when they are in need. “I would hope when we are in a pickle, they’ll be there for us as we have been for them,” referring to Astoria’s assistance when Ilwaco’s Fire Department was helped after a crisis last year and Lewis and Clark’s water problems this past fall.
He also gave an example when the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) came through for the City of Astoria after the slide on Bond. “ODOT chose to help. They didn’t have to nor did they have a program to do it. They just said, ‘Go help Astoria, and that was a wonderful thing,” Benoit commented. ODOT saved the city of Astoria about $100,000 when they sent a specialized drill team and put instrumentation into the hillside at the Bond Street slide.
Clatsop County Commissioners Jeff Hazen, Ann Samuelson, Richard Lee, and Chairperson Patricia Roberts commended the cooperative efforts between County Manager, Scott Derickson and Sheriff Tom Bergin. The commissioners wrote, “We have confidence in the Sheriff’s administration of this project [mitigation planning] and appreciate Tom Bergin’s leadership.” They also clarified their position with the County Manager, “Scott Derickson has shown considerable professionalism, leadership, cooperation and strong character through some very difficult controversies.”
Need Identified Almost 3 Years Ago
It is a division of Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin’s department that is head of the Mitigation Planning project, which the Sheriff has been doggedly following since the head of his Emergency Operations Center, Gene Strong, became aware of the lack of a mitigation plan almost three years ago and brought it to his attention.
According to a memo recently released to the media, Strong found out in the fall of 2005 that Clatsop County didn’t have a FEMA approved pre-disaster mitigation plan. To develop such a plan, grant funds were determined to be needed. The Board of County Commissioners gave the approval to pursue available funds. During the following winter, Strong was able to identify FEMA funds as being available to communities involved in mitigation planning.
The Oregon Partners for Disaster Resistance and Resilience Memorandum of Understanding from Oregon Emergency Management was signed by the Board of County Commissioners in a regular meeting on February 22, 2006.
From that time forward Gene Strong has maintained contact with Oregon Emergency Management (OEM). Clatsop County was part of a multi-county Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan grant that had been awarded and Strong continued to ask OEM for updates as to when the planning process could be initiated.
OEM responded with periodic updates as to when trainings would be made available as one group of mitigation planners were moved through the process and new trainings could be made available.
Plan Makes Progress
October 30, 2007, Gene Strong attended a phone bridge conference along with Rich Mays, City of Cannon Beach, Jay Flint, Columbia River Estuary Taskforce (CREST), Jim Knight (with various other colleagues) from Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience and Joseph Murray, Oregon Emergency Management.
At this initial meeting it was clarified that Clatsop County’s Steering Committee (as organized by Jay Flint at CREST) would be comprised of fourteen individuals, including one representative from each city in Clatsop County.
Since then the planning process has proceeded forward, through the storm, through controversy created by media intent on creating adversaries and through the usual paperwork created through insurance claims and legalities. Agencies on all levels and from all jurisdictions have made a determined effort to work together to serve their communities.
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