Phyllis Mann: Welcome to all. On behalf of IAEM we are working nation-wide Phyllis Mann: The last thing I did for Y2K was to send to my Tier II reporters a letter stating I wanted to know their plans have any of you done this yet? David Crews: What about local government? Phyllis Mann: Have you all read IAEM position paper on Y2K? if not you can go to our Web site to pick it up. Phyllis Mann: David could you be more specific? Lindsey Burke: Hello. David Crews: All governments have data bases build before Y2K conversions. The data bases will need to be made compliant for information retrieval. Phyllis Mann: David are they aware of this? Or is this an issue we need to put out through the Presidents Council , league of cities and NACO? Phyllis Mann: I testified before Congressman Horns committee on Y2K last month. Phyllis Mann: WE worked in small groups and tried to build a team approach to community Prep. It was to say the least interesting Amy Sebring: Phyllis, can you tell us what message you gave the Congressmen and what their reception was? Phyllis Mann: Ok here is our community statement then lets discuss your thoughts and concerns IAEM is recommending 7-10 days of self sufficiency we stated that citizens need to be prepared to take care of themselves.... Amy Sebring: It appears we have lost Phyllis ... Amy Sebring: the House Subcommittee she testified for ... Amy Sebring: is the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information & Technology ... Amy Sebring: they have a Website for Y2K issues which is located at ... Amy Sebring: http://www.house.gov/reform/gmit/y2k/index.htm Amy Sebring: There is another page for hearings on this issue ... Amy Sebring: however the testimony from Mar 22-23 is not posted there yet ... Amy Sebring: but it may be in the future . See ... Amy Sebring: http://www.house.gov/reform/gmit/hearings/hindex.htm Amy Sebring: Avagene was in attendance ... Phyllis Mann: Sorry I got knocked off Amy Sebring: Ok, Phyllis ... Amy Sebring: glad you are back. Amy Sebring: I just put up the addresses for the two Web pages ... Amy Sebring: please continue with your testimony and the response. Phyllis Mann: So to restart testimony went well. But our message was not well received by FEMA. .. Phyllis Mann: We are still asking for a national spokesperson, a media campaign etc.... Phyllis Mann: To get the message out. However it appears as we take one step forward in moving the.... Phyllis Mann: citizen to prepare, we get a neutral message from DC saying everything is going to be ok.... Phyllis Mann: as far as local govt. IAEM is working with NEMA and FEMA to conduct another assessment on prep issues. Beth has that started yet> Beth Armstrong: Not yet. Beth Armstrong: Waiting for Kay Goss' office to identify what specific data they want. Phyllis Mann: Ok gang now its your turn. What are your concerns? Lets start with Lindsey Lindsey Burke: Well my concerns seem to be with the people...not everyone understands what might happen...what is truly being done about them Phyllis Mann: Isabel your thoughts Phyllis Mann: Jose where are you from? What are you doing to prepare? Jose Musse: Hi, I'm Lima, PERU.. i'm Fire Officer Phyllis Mann: Terry please follow with your thoughts Phyllis Mann: Avagene and Beth your thoughts on the hearing David Crews: Re: Local Governments. Some 911 Motorola systems with simulcast capabilities will need firmware/software upgrades before 2000. Avagene Moore: Shall I go first, Beth? Avagene Moore: Thanks, I was in the breakout group that discussed Disaster Information. ... Phyllis Mann: David aren't most working on this issue by now? David Crews: ???? David Crews: Don't know. Avagene Moore: The group never really came to consensus because the emphasis was changed from the written invitation that we received. ... Avagene Moore: The written invitation was broader than Y2K ... Terry Storer: We have been using the 72 hour time frame for our presentations, surprised to see that they are advising a longer period. Avagene Moore: There was some discussion of public/private partnerships and I was able to handout some material on the EIIP and Red River Basin network. ... Avagene Moore: The greatest benefit was ... Avagene Moore: the people that were there for the workshop. Isn't that always the way it is? Terry Storer: Sorry if I'm breaking in the net is really slow today. Avagene Moore: Phyllis, you did great in your part of the testimony. Avagene Moore: Beth? David Crews: Ditto, I have been disconnected from the server twice. Beth Armstrong: I was in the workshop re "Msg to the Public" ... Phyllis Mann: My concern is simple, to what avail does these workshops and hearings do. ... Avagene Moore: Comment on Terry's remark about 72-hour timeframe .... David Crews: ? Phyllis Mann: we are all saying the same thing. Tell the public to get ready and DC will not do that Amy Sebring: ? Phyllis Mann: David babsims: ? Phyllis Mann: Amy after David David Crews: I believe the areas with the greatest impacts will be in the large metro areas with high population density. The impact may be minimal in rural areas. Amy Sebring: Did American Red Cross testify? They seem to be putting out a message to prepare in context of ALL Hazards. Phyllis Mann: BABSIMS after Amy Amy Sebring: or did they have reps in the workgroups? Phyllis Mann: No they did not. But we are saying similar. Prepare for storm Avagene Moore: (Beth was not allowed to finish her comment.) Terry Storer: Given the possible problems, I was surprised to see one of our State departments purging their computer bureau. A change in political parties , all the people who have been working on Y2K are out the door. The politicians say nothing is going to happen. Phyllis Mann: Please finish Beth and sorry and Terry what State is that? Terry Storer: Illinois Beth Armstrong: Just wanted to say that the Capitol Hill Workshop reiterated what is said this morning re msg, etc... Amy Sebring: ? Beth Armstrong: I was in the "Public Msg" workshop which included a lot of national organizations, and one good outcome ... Beth Armstrong: was that we came to consensus on the msg, how many days to prepare for the "storm," where to look for help with msg details. Phyllis Mann: Amy Amy Sebring: Here is link to Red Cross material on Y2K. A pdf file is also available for download. Amy Sebring: http://www.redcross.org/disaster/safety/Y2K.html Amy Sebring: I would also like to ask a question of the group ... babsims: What about low income families who have a hard time feeding their family each month...urban , minority outreach planned? Avagene Moore: ? Phyllis Mann: Great ? re low income. As EM I work with food banks, housing etc., to come up with a plan to assist them if needed. I do not think low income can plan even 24 hours Phyllis Mann: Avagene Avagene Moore: I received a small booklet from DERA yesterday that can be downloaded from http://www.utne.com/y2k Called Y2K Citizen's Action Guide. David Crews: Very good book, I have a hard copy! Phyllis Mann: Who is DERA? Avagene Moore: David, isn't it the Disaster Emergency Response Association? David Crews: Yes. The book also has URLs listed to other sites. Phyllis Mann: That was an issue at the DC workshop So many grass roots with own agenda Terry Storer: Has everyone had the chance to read FEMA's "Contingency and Consequence Management Planning for Year 2000 Conversion" ? Might be helpful to have on hand. Lindsey Burke: Where can we find that, Terry? Amy Sebring: I have recently added a link to it in our Library Lindsey. Phyllis Mann: Terry the State of Washington made sure we all had our copy Lindsey Burke: Thanks David Crews: DERA is about 30 years old. Much of the membership is also part of the Amateur Radio Community. DERA http://www.disasters.org Amy Sebring: http://www.fema.gov/y2k/ccmp.htm Amy Sebring: Has anyone in local government been contacted by reps from State government on this issue? Or are local communities being left to fend for themselves as best they can? Phyllis Mann: We have about 5 min left. Are there any other issues on Y2K we can discuss? Any concerns? Amy Sebring: I get the impression that it is the latter. Amy Sebring: Phyllis, what about in your state? Are you working with State level people at all? Avagene Moore: Amy, if you are right, how can the states report on readiness for Y2K? Amy Sebring: Well, I expect they will report on state systems only. But I do not know what the actual situation is which is why I asked. David Crews: FYI: The is also a Y2K Disaster Resource Guide that can be ordered at http://www.disaster-resource.com (714) 558-8940 Beth Armstrong: Yeah I'm wondering if it's an after thought that IAEM has been asked to collaborate with the new data collection effort. Amy Sebring: Phyllis, your experience in your state? Amy Sebring: Let's go ahead an wrap for today ... Avagene Moore: Seems to me that the true picture of counties' preparation has to come through the states. Who else has contact with all counties? Amy Sebring: thanks to Phyllis once again ... Amy Sebring: Avagene, can you give us our upcoming events please? Avagene Moore: Thanks, Amy. I believe tomorrow's program should be of great interest. ... Avagene Moore: Wednesday, April 29, 12: 00 Noon EDT, The Tech Arena presents John Cormack, FEMA IT Directorate, in a discussion and demonstration of NEMIS. ... Avagene Moore: Next Tuesday, May 4, 1: 00 PM EDT: SALEMDUG will host our Round Table. Preston Cook, President of the organization will be leading our discussion. ... Avagene Moore: On Wednesday, May 5, 12: 00 Noon EDT, we hope to have a discussion of aircraft disasters/hazards. You are urged to look for the May edition of "Emergency Partner Postings" this weekend for a complete schedule of May dialogues --- Round Table and formal discussions. ... Avagene Moore: The Wednesday events will be posted on the Virtual Forum web site at http://www.emforum.org/events.htm ... Avagene Moore: That's it, Amy. Amy Sebring: Ok Ava. Thanks. Amy Sebring: And thanks to all our participants today ... Amy Sebring: we seemed to have more than usual Internet difficulties ... Amy Sebring: so thanks for hanging in there with us. Amy Sebring: We will say goodbye for today... Amy Sebring: but you are welcome to stick around for open discussion if you wish.