February 17, 1999 Panel Discussion

Project Impact Revisited

SUMMARY

EIIP Virtual Forum Panel Discussion
Wednesday - February 17, 1999 - 12:00 Noon EST

Project Impact Revisited

Featured Panelists

Larry Deetjen
City Manager
Deerfield Beach, Florida

Renee Domingo
Assistant Emergency Services Manager
City of Oakland, California

Dave Jones
Meteorologist
NBC4 WRC-TV
Washington, DC

As follow up to two Virtual Forum panel discussions on Project Impact last year, the Virtual Forum revisit Project Impact one year later to see what kind of progress has been made over the course of the year. Panelists were Project Impact Awardees:

• Larry Deetjen, City Manager of Deerfield Beach, Florida, Project Impact Person of the Year
• Renee Domingo, Assistant Emergency Services Manager, Oakland, California, Project Impact Outstanding Public Sector Employee
• Dave Jones, Meteorologist, NBC4 WRC-TV, Washington, DC, Outstanding Media Individual

An interview format was used with the Project Impact panelists to give an overview of how each became involved in the disaster resistance project, community impact of involvement thus far (with a specific example), impressions of FEMA's December Project Impact Summit, inquiries from other communities about respective involvement, and lessons learned to be shared with others.

LARRY DEETJEN

City Manager
Deerfield Beach, Florida

Larry Deetjen has served as City Manager of Deerfield Beach, Florida, since July of 1994. Prior to his appointment as City Manager in Deerfield Beach, Larry was President of Harding
Energy Systems, Inc., a Phase I New Battery Technology firm bsed in West Michigan. In addition, he was an elected county commissioner of Ottawa County, Michigan, and served as City Manager for Grand Haven, Michigan, from 1979 through 1990, and was Assistant Town Manager of Arlington, Massachusetts, as well as serving on the Governor Elect Transition Teams for Governor Engler of Michigan and Governor Quie of Minnesota.

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RENEE DOMINGO

Manager, Emergency Services Office
Oakland, California

Ms. Domingo has been with the City of Oakland since 1989. She was working in the Office of Planning and Building during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and assisted in daveloping the first automated database system to track all the building damage assessment information for the City.

In September of 1990, she was promoted to an Emergency Planning Coordinator position in the City Manager's office, in the Office of Emergency Services. There, she developed and established various emergency plans including the Oakland Unified School District School Site Plan. This plan has been used as a "model" plan by the California School Board Association and various cities nationwide. Moreover, this plan provides emergency planning for 122 Oakland school sites and more than 50,000 children.

She was the Acting Emergency Services Manager during the 1991 East Bay Hills Firestorm and coordinated the Emergency Operations Center (FOC) during the first 10 hours of the incident.

In 1993, the Office of Emergency Services was transferred to the Fire department. In December 1993, at the request of former Fire Chief Ewell, Ms. Domingo developed a feasibility study and proposal which substantiated Oakland's role as the local regulatory administering agency for Chapter 6.95 of the Health and Safety code, with oversight responsibility for more than fifteen hundred (1500) businesses within the City limit that store, use or dispose of hazardous materials.

In September 1994, Ms. Domingo was promoted to Assistant Emergency Services Manager. She was the Acting Emergency Services Manager during the 1995 Winter Storms and acted as the EOC Management section chief during the 1997 and 1998 Winter Storms.

Ms. Domingo's current responsibilities include: the development, implementation, and management of FEMA's Project Impact initiative, called Project SAFE in Oakland. She also develops grant proposals for new emergency management programs, working with the community, outside agencies and businesses; negotiates contract proposals for services, overseeing various Capital Improvement projects, manages special emergency preparedness events, conducts training and develops education programs, participates in fiscal management, policy making and manages a staff of 16 employees. Ms. Domingo was recently recognized by FEMA at the Project Impact Summit as Outstanding Public Sector Employee.

Ms. Domingo's overall mission is to be creative, efficient, effective and a mentor to other Project Impact communities. Ms. Domingo believes building partnerships and working in team spirit are the keys to making the world a safer place. She wishes to be a pioneer in helping to further enhance emergency management in order to saves lives, protect property and the environment.

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DAVE JONES

Meteorologist, NBC4 WRC-TV
Principal Investigator, WeatherNet4
Washington DC

Dave Jones, NBC4 weekend meteorologist, is a member of NEWS 4's award-winning team of meteorologists and is an occassional guest for the NBC Weekend Today Show in New York as well as NBC Superchannel and CNBC Europe.

He's a member of the American Meteorological Society and holds the AMS Seal of Approval. This seal is given to members who exhibit excellence in weather broadcasting. Dave earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Sciences from the University of Maryland with minors in math and computer science. He took his first meteorology college class when he was in the 7th grade and has since been very active in the meteorological community both locally and nationally.

Late in 1994, Jones conceived of and championed a joint partnership with NASA in developing new and innovative ways to visualize weather information. The resulting first of its kind project, WeatherNet4, is part of the Public Use of Remote Sensing Data program. Since the start of WeatherNet4, Jones and NBC4 have been highlighted in Weatherwise Magazine, USAToday, The Washington Post and Communications Week. WeatherNet4 has also been listed as one of the Top 10 Websites in Communications Week (Jan 8, 1996).

Dave has conducted several workshops on the Internet and how to use WeatherNet4 as a teaching tool in the classroom. He has also worked with teachers in the area of "techno-fluency", teaching the teachers about technology and how it can be used in the classroom and at home. He is also passionate about public awareness of severe weather and has studied the
effects of intense hurricanes on the Maryland and Delaware coastlines.

Dave was recently honored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for his work under Project Impact. Project Impact is FEMA's effort to create disaster resistant communities. Dave formed a partnership with James Lee Witt and his organization that established NBC4 as the pilot broadcast TV station partner to become a model for other TV stations to follow. Dave deeply believes that better preparedness and mitigation, along with
education will lower the costs of disasters, both emotionally and monetarily. Dave was awarded the 1998 Outstanding Media Individual Award at the Project Impact Summit in December of 1998.

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