LAKE ELSINORE: Safety commission calling for citizen corps

Corps would support first-responders in serious emergencies

By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 9, 2008 9:25 PM PDT ∞

LAKE ELSINORE ---- A citizen corps that will support the city's first responders in an emergency will be created later this year if a recommendation of the city's Public Safety Advisory Commission is eventually approved by the City Council.

The commission voted 4-0 during its regular meeting Wednesday night to forward the recommendation to the council along with a request for $10,000 in seed money to start the corps, a group of volunteers trained in lifesaving techniques, evacuation procedures and other skills. The commission also voted unanimously to send a letter to the council asking for the creation of an $85,000 public safety coordinator position.

The coordinator, as envisioned by the commission, would provide support to the corps, the city's public safety agencies and the commission. The commissioners, noting the city's tight budget, asked for grant writing to be included in the job description so the council would see the position has a tangible benefit.

Talking about the corps, commissioners said such a group in Lake Elsinore would be especially valuable because of the city's unique risks, which include earthquakes, fire and flooding.

More than 2,000 cities throughout the U.S., and some in Southwest County, heeded the call of President Bush and formed corps following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The corps' leaders, usually pulled from a group called a citizen corps council, use training materials provided by the Department of Homeland Security to prepare residents for large-scale emergencies such as earthquakes, floods and fires.

The commission has been working since May on the logistics of starting a corps, which, in most cities, involves setting up telephone hotlines to connect people during emergencies, training and recruiting volunteers, and acquiring stockpiles of medical supplies.

During Wednesday's meeting, Lake Elsinore spokesman Mark Dennis delivered a report detailing how a corps would be created locally and what its responsibilities and duties would include.

That report, called the draft citizen corps framework, will be finalized and then sent to the City Council later this year, he said.

One of the first steps involved in starting a corps is naming the 12 or so members of the corps' council, which would develop an action plan, said commissioner Nicole Dailey, a member of the commission's subcommittee that worked on many of the program's details.

The chairman of the commission, Mike Norkin, said he expects that the city's corps can be started sometime next year if the City Council decides to set aside funding for the supplies and administrative support that will be needed.

Members of the corps will be called upon during serious emergencies when first-responders are unavailable or physically unable to reach a dangerous location.

"Citizens have to be able to help themselves for up to three days," Norkin said.

Temecula's citizen corps, formed six years ago, has a membership of about 250 to 325 volunteers, said Cynthia Quigley, a member of the Riverside County Fire Department's Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Quigley said Temecula's leaders try to offer plenty of opportunities for training for the members to keep them active.

"That's a huge aspect," she told the council. "People have to always be involved in doing things."

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.

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