Candidate for
Board Member; Menlo Park Fire Protection District

I value the work of our professional emergency responders yet respect the fiduciary duty to answer to taxpayers from both financial and public safety perspectives.

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District is a very complex agency. Most members of the community have no idea of the challenges involved and cannot fully appreciate the management, financial, regulatory and personnel challenges that need to be addressed, in addition to the complexities of fire supression and emergency response.

Here are the key issues-priorities facing the District / Fire Board, which I believe need to be successfully tackled:

1. Getting to a labor agreement that works for both the employees and the taxpayers.

2. Defining, setting and getting agreement to the key strategic priorities for the future and then planning and budgeting for those priorities.

3. Ensuring the District has the necessary and appropriate infrastructure and capabilities for the future beyond fire suppression consistent with its strategic priorities.

4. Making the public aware of the issues, choices and challenges facing the District and better engaging the public to help define and set priorities in light of limited resources.

From a personal goal perspective, I am committed to help improve emergency preparedness awareness, education and planning of our communities, on the neighborhood and individual household level. Far too many of us are simply not sufficiently prepared to deal with the chaos and living challenges, which will follow a major earthquake. And the probability of a major quake hitting our communities is, unfortunately, extremely high. Despite top notch response capabilities and resources, our professional emergency responders and services will likely be overwhelmed during a big quake. By increasing readiness and self reliance on a more individual basis, we can mitigate personal injury and property loss, reduce the strain on first responders, and expedite the relief effort and recovery.