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City Clerk Judy Rice administered the oath of office to the team, swearing in Beverly Loomer, Don Loomer, Patrick McInerney, William “Bill” Quinlan Jr., Richard Macias, Peter Duff, Michael Gray, Richard Barnett, Martha Reynolds-Brown, John Watts, Kenneth Stock, Beverly Frady and Lucy Andrade. |
New program: Initial class of special Disaster Service Workers sworn in
June 14, 2013
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula City Council
It was Lucky 13 for Santa Paula when a baker’s dozen of emergency responders were officially sworn in at the June 3 City Council meeting, the inaugural class of the new Disaster Service Worker (DSW) program.
Interim Police Chief Ishmael Cordero told the council that Sgt. Jimmy Fogata has “done a remarkable job” in helping to organize the new corps of responders under the leadership of Santa Paula Fire Captain Steve Lazenby. Although, “thank goodness,” California has escaped such recent disasters as the Oklahoma tornados, Cordero said the new disaster service workers would be important responders to such emergencies.
Fogata said the effort to create the program, which required recruitment and advanced training, started years ago under the auspices of Lazenby and the Santa Paula Citizens Corps, one of the oldest such disaster response preparedness councils in the state.
Lazenby said the duties of the DSW “will be very diversified in supporting our safety officers on the street” during an emergency. Once they’ve taken the oath, each disaster service worker will become an official responder and be covered by workers’ compensation during approved training as well as response duty, a cost that Lazenby said is borne by the state and not by the city.
“This is just the first step,” and Lazenby said he is hoping more workers will be recruited and added to the initial class. “They know us, they know our needs... the time will come when we’ll need help and when they come to the door prepared to help us” it is reassuring to know the dedicated volunteers are not only fully trained to offer help, but that they will also be fully covered for any injury they might sustain at no cost to the city.
Fogata noted the 13 were “selected for their specialties” that would benefit emergency response - whether through their professions, such as being retired from Southern California Edison, or volunteer efforts including the Red Cross.
All of the disaster service workers belong to either the SPPD Citizen Patrol or are members of CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) trained by Lazenby. They have worked with the SPPD and SPFD in the past, including setting up barricades, road closures, crowd control and other duties.
“There’s a lot of experience here that will benefit the city. They have a wealth of experience and we are going to use these people as our core group, the basis of our unit” that Fogata said will be made “bigger and stronger” as more volunteer.
Mayor Ralph Fernandez thanked the volunteers for all they do and “will do in the future.” Everyone has seen the efforts of Citizen Patrol and CERT, said Fernandez, and “We couldn’t do much without you... we don’t say it often enough but we do appreciate” the volunteers and their dedication to duty.
Fogata noted several of the new disaster service workers are long time city volunteers: “Pete Duff’s been here since day one when Citizens Patrol started in 1994, he’s the go-to guy in the unit; and Beverly Frady volunteers” at the police station in the records department and is a Red Cross trained emergency responder. Fogata noted Martha Reynolds-Brown has been active with CP, CERT and the Santa Paula Citizens Corps and is also a Neighborhood Watch advocate and organizer.
City Clerk Judy Rice administered the oath of office to the team, swearing in Beverly Loomer, Don Loomer, Patrick McInerney, William “Bill” Quinlan Jr., Richard Macias, Peter Duff, Michael Gray, Richard Barnett, Martha Reynolds-Brown, John Watts, Kenneth Stock, Beverly Frady and Lucy Andrade.
