Future of program has CERT members nervous

The Community Emergency Response Team works to educate the community — largely through volunteers — about disaster preparedness and response. Members celebrate the program not only for teaching them valuable skills such as triage, search and rescue and first aid, but also for providing a sense of community. Many members describe CERT as a “family.”

In response to budget challenges, city officials decided to cut funding for CERT’s outreach coordinator position — filled by Christy Adonis — and create a new coordinator position in the county’s Office of Emergency Services, with the city and county splitting the cost.

Fire Chief Stan Maupin said a proposal for the new program is being drafted and will be shaped by the feedback from members at the meetings and two others planned for September. At this point, the OES has verbally committed to the partnership and to paying for half of the coordinator position, but as of yet, nothing has been made official.

Redwood City’s budget for CERT totaled $192,000 and Maupin said once an agreement is in place, the city will be spending about half of that on the program.

The goal is to hire a coordinator and have the new program up and running by January of 2019, Maupin said.

Just about every CERT member, it seems, wants Adonis to remain in charge and they fear her departure will lead to what many members refer to as a “sleep mode,” a period the program went through before Adonis took over in which members disengaged, communication was sparse and the program wasn’t especially organized. One member said CERT lost about half of its volunteers then.

“Christy has done incredible work with the program,” Maupin said. “We had to make hard decisions and there were things we had to do. We certainly prefer we still had this position because we know running this program is best done with a dedicated position, but we’re in a situation where we don’t have that option anymore.”

When the new position with the county opens up, Adonis will have the opportunity to apply for it, but there’s no guarantee she’ll be selected or even want it.

If it isn’t Adonis, CERT members at the meeting were especially adamant that the new coordinator be familiar with Redwood City and in regular communication with members. They’re worried that a new coordinator employed by the county might be not as familiar with the community or topography in Redwood City and that they won’t be able to devote as much attention to the program as Adonis has.

“I’m worried that a new person will be doing other things and they’re not going to have the interest,” said Matthew Reising, a longtime CERT member and Redwood City resident. “Here we have someone [Adonis] that works in the city, knows the police and fire departments and all the first responders. … To me it’s like asking a coach from a World Cup soccer team to come and coach the San Francisco 49ers. They’re both coaches, but from different leagues.”

According to its members, CERT offers training events once a year, monthly meetings and other programs throughout the year. It also trains high school students. There are roughly 400 members in the Redwood City and San Carlos CERT program, and many of them often point out that there are just 77 firefighters in Redwood City who could easily be overwhelmed and need the help of CERT volunteers should a large enough disaster occur.

Reising also credits Adonis and the current program for offering various special events, such as installing smoke detectors in mobile park homes, and doubts a new OES coordinator would continue those efforts.

Despite the change, many features of the CERT program will remain intact, Maupin said. The trailers stocked with equipment will remain in Redwood City and will be maintained by city staff, and CERT volunteers will still have access to the same training facilities and equipment.

Maupin also said the city’s adopted budget considers the new partnership with the county an “ongoing expense” and not a one-time Band-Aid.

The city will host additional meetings in September for CERT residents to weigh in on the new program, express concerns and ask questions.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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