Disaster Preparedness Forum Is in Planning Stages

Plans are in the works for a community-wide disaster preparedness forum to assure residents will know what to do in the event of a major disaster. The Committee for a Better Ramona is spearheading the meeting, working with Lt. Julie Sutton of the Ramona Sheriff’s substation.

Bob Krysak, the Committee president, said there is currently a 70-page plan on file at the Ramona Chamber of Commerce office but this is not something that would be convenient for households to have available “when the time comes.” He is looking for something more condensed that residents could have handy in their homes.

The move to be prepared for future disasters stems from the 2007 Witch Creek Fire when evacuation plans were not in effect ahead of time. Traffic was congested for hours while residents tried to leave town when the Sheriff’s Department ordered the mass evacuation.

“We plan to discuss issues of incident control so people can understand it,” Krysak said.

Krysak announced at the Committee's March 23 meeting that he and others involved in the proposed evacuation plans will be getting together with Lt. Sutton in April to discuss a forum to possibly take place in May.

“We’re going to design how the forum will be conducted,” Krysak said, adding that they may ask for questions to be submitted in advance “so we can have the answers at the forum. We want to get advance input.”

A survey at www.betterramona.net shows that the majority of those who participated are not planning to evacuate from Ramona should there be another major disaster. The majority also indicated they did not feel they were well-informed of the evacuation procedures at that time.

The Committee for a Better Ramona recently posted another survey on its website to determine if there is an interest in repealing Proposition NN which was passed in 1988 in a general election.  The proposition resulted in Ordinance 108, which restricts Ramona Municipal Water District's Board of Directors from entering into capital improvement projects that exceed $2 million without prior approval from the voters in another election.

In other business, Krysak displayed the boxes that will be placed in local businesses for residents to sign up on the website while entering a give-away contest for a week's stay at a local time-share location.

Committee for a Better Ramona meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays at Ramona Town Hall. Meetings are open to the public.