!!!NERT Funding and Program in Jeopardy!!!
SFFD-NERT-Castro Coordinator
Castro-Eureka Valley NERT Members:
Your urgent action is required. Please read the below message, and take a moment to email a message to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voicing your continued support for the San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT).
Please copy me on your email, so we may track the public support for NERT.
Contact me with any concerns.
Thank you,
Dear
NERT Members and Coordinators,
We write you with an urgent request. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is
right now considering cutting $256,000 from the
Fiscal Year 2010-2011 budget for the San Francisco Neighborhood
Emergency Response Team (NERT). This cut would slash over half of
NERT's budget for the coming year.
Such a cut would end the NERT program as we know it.
How it is now: Every year, all SFFD-NERT instructors
participate in a rigorous "train-the-trainer" program, where they
supplement their SFFD training with instruction on how to be outstanding NERT
instructors. They practice teaching NERT classes, and observe and learn from
more seasoned instructors. In addition, when new instructors begin teaching
NERT classes, they are supervised for a time by experienced NERT instructors.
What the $256,000 cut would mean: The proposed cut
would eliminate certain instructor salary costs from the NERT budget.
The Budget Analyst believes that NERT training can be done by any firefighter
from any SFFD station, without training in how to be a good instructor. The
cuts would eliminate the train-the-trainer program that helps to make our NERT
instructors the best at what they do.
Great Instructors = No hurt NERT members! Our safety as volunteer
disaster responders depends on having outstanding NERT instructors who teach us
how to be safe and effective in responding after a severe earthquake or other
emergency. When you eliminate or even curtail our instructor training, you make
us less safe as volunteer responders.
Please help us save NERT: NERT has been here for San Francisco for
20 years. Please join us in standing up for NERT now by:
- Calling, emailing, or writing ALL the Supervisors and asking them to vote against this cut. Be polite and respectful when you contact Supervisors, but let them know that such cuts will devastate our program. Contact information for Supervisors is listed below. Please copy Mayor Newsom on your email or letter; send a copy of your email to Lynn Jacklevich at kg6...@yahoo.com.
- Attend a hearing of the Board's Budget and Finance Committee on Monday, June 21, 2010, City Hall Room 250, to speak out against the cuts and show your support for NERT. The hearing begins at 4 p.m. The earlier you arrive, the better your chances of being able to speak. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Lynn Jacklevich at kg6...@yahoo.com. You will receive talking points and information about participating in public comment.
- Coordinators, please share this email with your team members as quickly as possible and encourage them to speak out NOW.
A
sample email or letter follows. Feel free to use this language, but please add
your own feelings and comments about what the NERT Program means to you.
The NERT Advisory Board
Lynn Jacklevich, Chair
415- 282-4195, kg6...@yahoo.com
Shelley Carroll, Coordinator Chair
sfs...@pacbell.net
Maxine Fasulis, Secretary
mfas...@yahoo.com
Greg Morris
gmorr...@msn.com
Nick Powell
nfpo...@gmail.com
Diane Rivera
diana...@aol.com
Edie Schaffer
edie_s...@yahoo.com
San
Francisco Board of Supervisors
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
Michela Alioto-Pier, District 2
(415) 554-7752 - Voice
(415) 554-7843 - Fax
John Avalos, District 11
(415) 554-6975 - Voice
(415) 554-6979 - Fax
David Campos, District 9
(415) 554-5144 - voice
(415) 554-6255 - fax
David Chiu - Board President
District 3
(415) 554-7450 - Voice
(415) 554-7454 - Fax
Carmen Chu, District 4
(415) 554-7460 - Voice
(415) 554-7432 - Fax
Chris Daly, District 6
(415) 554-7970 - Voice
(415) 554-7974 - Fax
Bevan Dufty, District 8
(415) 554-6968 - Voice
(415) 554-6909 - Fax
Sean Elsbernd, District 7
(415) 554-6516 - Voice
(415) 554-6546 - Fax
Eric Mar, District 1
(415) 554-7410 - Voice
(415) 554-7415 - Fax
Sophie Maxwell, District 10
(415) 554-7670 - Voice
(415) 554-7674 - Fax
Ross Mirkarimi, District 5
(415) 554-7630 - Voice
(415) 554-7634 - Fax
Mayor Gavin Newsom
City
Hall, Room 200
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone:
(415) 554-6141
Fax: (415) 554-6160
Email: gavin....@sfgov.org
Sample email/letter language (Please personalize
this -- tell them why you love NERT!)
Dear Supervisors,
I understand that the Board of Supervisors is considering slashing half the
budget for the San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) for
the coming year. Such a cut will devastate the NERT Program. As a member and
supporter of NERT, I urge you not to take this step.
San Francisco needs citizens who are prepared to take care of themselves after
a disaster. NERT is the only program in our city that offers free, hands-on
disaster preparedness training taught by professional first responders from the
San Francisco Fire Department.
Please don't destroy the San Francisco NERT program.
Sincerely,