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2023-2024 NET Program Realignment: Difference between revisions
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2023-2024 NET Program Realignment (view source)
Revision as of 11:55, 13 November 2023
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In the immediate post-COVID era, January 2022 to October 2023, NETs logged approximately 3,917 deployment hours. That includes planned deployments, such as serving as parade guides and first aid response at the Rose Festival or fire fuel mitigation. '''61% of those deployment hours were logged in response to events caused by extreme weather.''' When I started at PBEM in 2012, that percentage was closer to 10%. And the percent attributable to extreme weather events is likely only to climb. | In the immediate post-COVID era, January 2022 to October 2023, NETs logged approximately 3,917 deployment hours. That includes planned deployments, such as serving as parade guides and first aid response at the Rose Festival or fire fuel mitigation. '''61% of those deployment hours were logged in response to events caused by extreme weather.''' When I started at PBEM in 2012, that percentage was closer to 10%. And the percent attributable to extreme weather events is likely only to climb. | ||
=== Organizational | === Organizational changes === | ||
The City of Portland is undergoing the most radical restructuring of its government in its history. Day 1 of the new government is January 1, 2025. But, organizational transformations and fluctuations will continue well beyond that date as city government settles into its new state of being. This is relevant to us as NET volunteers as all programs are more carefully scrutinized and evaluated. NET should be ready for that scrutiny and seen as one of the strongest ''community'' programs in the City (and not just as a specialized emergency response program). We show that strength by demonstrating our connections to our neighborhoods, as opposed to being a program of insular disaster responders. | The City of Portland is undergoing the most radical restructuring of its government in its history. Day 1 of the new government is January 1, 2025. But, organizational transformations and fluctuations will continue well beyond that date as city government settles into its new state of being. This is relevant to us as NET volunteers as all programs are more carefully scrutinized and evaluated. NET should be ready for that scrutiny and seen as one of the strongest ''community'' programs in the City (and not just as a specialized emergency response program). We show that strength by demonstrating our connections to our neighborhoods, as opposed to being a program of insular disaster responders. | ||
As the City government changes, PBEM is simultaneously changing. We're undertaking an important reconstruction of our Operations Section. As NET volunteers have worked hard to grow the credibility of the NET program, it has become an increasingly important part of our routine emergency management response structure. For example, NET volunteers are called into the ECC/EOC to help when we have an activation. I am not | As the City government changes, PBEM is simultaneously changing. We're undertaking an important reconstruction of our Operations Section. As NET volunteers have worked hard to grow the credibility of the NET program, it has become an increasingly important part of our routine emergency management response structure. For example, NET volunteers are called into the ECC/EOC to help when we have an activation. I am not aware of another CERT program that can say that. | ||
Any organizational restructuring should imply a restructuring of resources as well. Though nothing is set in stone, we should prepare ourselves to have less access to resources in the immediate future, and also prop up the [https://friendsofportlandnet.org/ Friends of Portland NET] for fundraising more if, for no other reason, than a fiscal safety mechanism. ''However'', few teams are cozy enough with their neighbors to fundraise for their teams, and PBEM/NET needs to encourage a higher level of direct engagement with neighbors at the block-scale level. | |||
=== We need to revisit the purpose of a NET ''<u>team</u>'' === | |||