governor

The View From Highland Ranch

By John McCormick

Open Letter To Governor Rendell

Welcome to Governor Rendell and best wishes from here on the ranch.

How's it goin' so far? Still fun? I hope so.

Jack, an American Miniature Donkey, is obviously a Democrat and will keep a close eye on you the next few years to see if you can really cut property taxes. In past years Jack kept looking for an elephant suit so someone in Harrisburg would pay attention to him but couldn't find one that fit comfortably and is happy to see Democrats get a chance.

We ordered up some warmer weather and some fresh snow for Gobbler's Knob, just for your visit, but the welcome is always warm here in The Weather Capital. Sad to say, things will most likely be downhill from here because even broken-down ranchers like me will feel free to offer you advice and criticize your every move, despite our being dumb enough to raise food for America at slave wages and pay high property taxes for the privilege.

By the way, keep an eye on our Mayor; he got elected with the nickname "Snake." You'll have to admit that's a formidable barrier to elected office even for someone as friendly and non-reptilian as Jim. Jack is very fond of him because Snake sells animal feed. I like him because he's honest. A rare trait in an elected official.

To get your administration off to a running start with advice from a real jackass, Jack suggested that I make this week's column about what we both see as a critical emergency management problem.

After 15 years being involved in two counties, I've submitted my resignation as a local Emergency Management Coordinator and I feel that YOU as well as my neighbors should know why.

Few people realize that every municipality in Pennsylvania is required to have a coordinator and most of them do. But we generally don't do much in rural areas. In Punxsutawney Borough and other populous parts of the Commonwealth, the Emergency Management Coordinator has an important job and often works very hard at it.

Out in the rural areas our main job is to maintain a list of available resources, prepare damage estimates, and keep out of the way of the Volunteer Fire Department who do the real work. We have little authority and therefore no real ability to coordinate services but no one pays any attention to us anyway so it doesn't matter much.

We do little because we have limited resources and neighbors generally help each other out here in farm country. For example, I welcomed a new Amish neighbor a few months back and let him know I was the local coordinator but grinned when I said it. We both agreed that he would have little need for my help. After all, he lives every day in what many of us would consider emergency conditions and sees them as perfectly normal.

On my ranch we could be snowed in for a month and might not even notice.

But, there are two things rural coordinators could really use: radios, so we could actually coordinate things in a real emergency, or at least a beeper so we would know when an emergency occurs, and reinstated rights to use lights and sirens so we could get through police and fire lines to actually do something. In the past, fire police in Clearfield County have tried to block me from investigating flood conditions; I've been ridiculed by telephone company representatives when I tried to get some basic information during an emergency; and the thought of trying to coordinate disaster services with fire, police, medical services, and The Red Cross WITHOUT a radio to talk to them all is just too silly to bother planning for.

Another thing we could really use is a good County Web site and e-mail communications with County Control. My massive community site, www.15767.com, has links to emergency management and homeland security information but I think it's the only site in the county which does.

But that's all in the past. Here's why I finally resigned.

There was a recent one-time-grant to improve emergency preparedness and County asked local coordinators for suggestions.

I wrote a report pointing out that we didn't even have an inventory of all the vital computer systems in the county, a list of contacts for the administrators, confirmation that the systems had virus protection and uninterruptible power supplies, or an e-mail addresses list so administrators could be notified of threats.

Just seeing how much information system managers would readily volunteer can tell an expert a lot about the level of their security planning.

I suggested that County appoint a volunteer computer Tsar to conduct the survey and recommend changes as well as conduct basic computer security training. It shouldn't be expensive. Heck, I'd do it for nothing.

Now, despite what many readers think, I'm not foolish. I really didn't expect anyone to take action on this proposal. I'm just a tired old sheep rancher. Who would listen to me?

But I did have some hopes that County would at least acknowledge receipt of my detailed suggestions.

Instead of a reply, what I got was a new format for our local emergency plan so I can't just print out the old one with minor changes (not much changes around here). I wrote back asking if anyone had ever read my suggestions and also whether I could get the new plan in electronic form so we could just print them out. I didn't get a response to that letter either. Perhaps I have the wrong address? I could e-mail County but they don't publish an e-mail address.

When he's not worrying about getting sweet hay for his family, or trying to figure out what these crazy four-horned Jacob Sheep are doing, Jack follows world events closely. I had told him of my problems getting any response from up the food chain and I could tell he wanted to ask me one thing, "Are We Any More Secure Yet?"

I had to tell him, NO. Even though every emergency service relies on computers, we don't know if any of them will work in an emergency. All we really have is some more paperwork to fill out.

Listening to Jack laugh (some describe it as braying), I experienced a sudden satori and mailed off my resignation.

Let's face it; PEMA probably isn't equipped to take a lead role in protecting our infrastructure from terrorists, and why should they be? Emergency management's mission has been to cope with disasters after they occur and mitigate natural disasters with some key projects. Few local coordinators are security specialists. Either homeland security responsibilities need to be placed elsewhere, or some serious attention must be paid to upgrading the skills and training of both local and county coordinators, perhaps starting with communications.

Communication is a two-way process. My humble suggestion is that we should have some in Emergency Management.

What's worse? To pretend to be fulfilling a homeland security role and not doing so? Or to admit that it's not emergency management's job?

With County and PEMA apparently ignoring critical emergency management tasks for rural areas, i.e., computer and data security along with local communications, Jack's laugh has convinced me to stop wasting my time and let someone with more to offer my township take over as a local Emergency Management Coordinator. I suspect he just wants me to spend more time brushing him. He's VERY self-centered and goal-oriented.

As I always say, you can learn a lot from a jackass if you just listen to him. Unless, of course, he's just another bureaucrat.

Good luck, Governor; please don't forget all my neighbors who work two jobs so they can afford to produce the food city folk eat even as they make fun of us hayseeds. You have my sympathy; it must be a daunting task to take on a job where every jackass feels free to criticize your every move.

Jack asked me to pass along just one question for you. "Since working farms and ranches feed the nation, protect the food supply, and are therefore vital services, why do they have to pay ANY property taxes?"

In fact, people can go longer without most government services than they can without food, so why are real farmers and ranchers taxed at all?

I'm left with the suspicion that I understand just why Jack laughs so often. I think it's because he doesn't have two legs.

Note to editors and publishers, my column, "The View From Highland Ranch," is available for syndication.



		The View From Highland Ranch By John McCormick Open Letter To Governor Rendell Welcome to Governor Rendell and best wishes from here on the ranch. How's it goin' so far? Still fun? I hope so. Jack, an American Miniature Donkey, is obviously a Democrat and will keep a close eye on you the next few years to see if you can really cut property taxes. In past years Jack kept looking for an elephant suit so someone in Harrisburg would pay attention to him but couldn't find one that fit comfortably and is happy to see Democrats get a chance. We ordered up some warmer weather and some fresh snow for Gobbler's Knob, just for your visit, but the welcome is always warm here in The Weather Capital. Sad to say, things will most likely be downhill from here because even broken-down ranchers like me will feel free to offer you advice and criticize your every move, despite our being dumb enough to raise food for America at slave wages and pay high property taxes for the privilege. By the way, keep an eye on our Mayor; he got elected with the nickname "Snake." You'll have to admit that's a formidable barrier to elected office even for someone as friendly and non-reptilian as Jim. Jack is very fond of him because Snake sells animal feed. I like him because he's honest. A rare trait in an elected official. To get your administration off to a running start with advice from a real jackass, Jack suggested that I make this week's column about what we both see as a critical emergency management problem. After 15 years being involved in two counties, I've submitted my resignation as a local Emergency Management Coordinator and I feel that YOU as well as my neighbors should know why. Few people realize that every municipality in Pennsylvania is required to have a coordinator and most of them do. But we generally don't do much in rural areas. In Punxsutawney Borough and other populous parts of the Commonwealth, the Emergency Management Coordinator has an important job and often works very hard at it. Out in the rural areas our main job is to maintain a list of available resources, prepare damage estimates, and keep out of the way of the Volunteer Fire Department who do the real work. We have little authority and therefore no real ability to coordinate services but no one pays any attention to us anyway so it doesn't matter much. We do little because we have limited resources and neighbors generally help each other out here in farm country. For example, I welcomed a new Amish neighbor a few months back and let him know I was the local coordinator but grinned when I said it. We both agreed that he would have little need for my help. After all, he lives every day in what many of us would consider emergency conditions and sees them as perfectly normal. On my ranch we could be snowed in for a month and might not even notice. But, there are two things rural coordinators could really use: radios, so we could actually coordinate things in a real emergency, or at least a beeper so we would know when an emergency occurs, and reinstated rights to use lights and sirens so we could get through police and fire lines to actually do something. In the past, fire police in Clearfield County have tried to block me from investigating flood conditions; I've been ridiculed by telephone company representatives when I tried to get some basic information during an emergency; and the thought of trying to coordinate disaster services with fire, police, medical services, and The Red Cross WITHOUT a radio to talk to them all is just too silly to bother planning for. Another thing we could really use is a good County Web site and e-mail communications with County Control. My massive community site, www.15767.com, has links to emergency management and homeland security information but I think it's the only site in the county which does.		But that's all in the past. Here's why I finally resigned. There was a recent one-time-grant to improve emergency preparedness and County asked local coordinators for suggestions. I wrote a report pointing out that we didn't even have an inventory of all the vital computer systems in the county, a list of contacts for the administrators, confirmation that the systems had virus protection and uninterruptible power supplies, or an e-mail addresses list so administrators could be notified of threats. Just seeing how much information system managers would readily volunteer can tell an expert a lot about the level of their security planning. I suggested that County appoint a volunteer computer Tsar to conduct the survey and recommend changes as well as conduct basic computer security training. It shouldn't be expensive. Heck, I'd do it for nothing. Now, despite what many readers think, I'm not foolish. I really didn't expect anyone to take action on this proposal. I'm just a tired old sheep rancher. Who would listen to me? But I did have some hopes that County would at least acknowledge receipt of my detailed suggestions. Instead of a reply, what I got was a new format for our local emergency plan so I can't just print out the old one with minor changes (not much changes around here). I wrote back asking if anyone had ever read my suggestions and also whether I could get the new plan in electronic form so we could just print them out. I didn't get a response to that letter either. Perhaps I have the wrong address? I could e-mail County but they don't publish an e-mail address. When he's not worrying about getting sweet hay for his family, or trying to figure out what these crazy four-horned Jacob Sheep are doing, Jack follows world events closely. I had told him of my problems getting any response from up the food chain and I could tell he wanted to ask me one thing, "Are We Any More Secure Yet?" I had to tell him, NO. Even though every emergency service relies on computers, we don't know if any of them will work in an emergency. All we really have is some more paperwork to fill out. Listening to Jack laugh (some describe it as braying), I experienced a sudden satori and mailed off my resignation. Let's face it; PEMA probably isn't equipped to take a lead role in protecting our infrastructure from terrorists, and why should they be? Emergency management's mission has been to cope with disasters after they occur and mitigate natural disasters with some key projects. Few local coordinators are security specialists. Either homeland security responsibilities need to be placed elsewhere, or some serious attention must be paid to upgrading the skills and training of both local and county coordinators, perhaps starting with communications. Communication is a two-way process. My humble suggestion is that we should have some in Emergency Management. What's worse? To pretend to be fulfilling a homeland security role and not doing so? Or to admit that it's not emergency management's job? With County and PEMA apparently ignoring critical emergency management tasks for rural areas, i.e., computer and data security along with local communications, Jack's laugh has convinced me to stop wasting my time and let someone with more to offer my township take over as a local Emergency Management Coordinator. I suspect he just wants me to spend more time brushing him. He's VERY self-centered and goal-oriented. As I always say, you can learn a lot from a jackass if you just listen to him. Unless, of course, he's just another bureaucrat. Good luck, Governor; please don't forget all my neighbors who work two jobs so they can afford to produce the food city folk eat even as they make fun of us hayseeds. You have my sympathy; it must be a daunting task to take on a job where every jackass feels free to criticize your every move. Jack asked me to pass along just one question for you. "Since working farms and ranches feed the nation, protect the food supply, and are therefore vital services, why do they have to pay ANY property taxes?" In fact, people can go longer without most government services than they can without food, so why are real farmers and ranchers taxed at all? I'm left with the suspicion that I understand just why Jack laughs so often. I think it's because he doesn't have two legs. Copyright, 2003 John A. McCormick, Inc. Note to editors and publishers, my column, "The View From Highland Ranch," is available for syndication.