WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. March 24, 2003: Congresswoman Nita Lowey heard from about 150 county officials, fire, police and safety stakeholders Monday morning at a forum she held at Westchester County Community College in Valhalla to determine homeland security needs of first responders. She heard police and fire chiefs and county executives give low marks to the state’s efforts to help the communities equip themselves to deal with chemical and biological terror attacks. Comment after comment indicated the state bureaucracy has failed to deliver equipment promised back in 2001, even when the money was allocated.
LOWEY GETS THE LOWDOWN: Pat Kelly, Commissioner of Emergency Services, for Westchester County makes remarks as Congresswoman Nita Lowey listens. The forum to hear concerns of local police and fire and community officials on First Responders’ needs was held at Westchester Community College today. Kelly said homeland security funds would be better used if granted directly to communities rather than through New York State agencies.
Photo by WPCNR News
We learned from Pat Kelly, County Commissioner of Emergency Services that the state still has not equipped Westchester County fire and police departments with gas masks even though funded to do so. He blamed this on the procurement, accounting, and contracts procedure used by the state.
From Deputy Fire Chief, Chris Kiernan of Yonkers to Police Chief Raymond Kiernan of New Rochelle, to Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef to Town of Greenburgh’s police chief, John Kapica, Ms. Lowey heard disturbing stories of an inept New York State bureaucracy operating with no sense of urgency.
New York State Department of Public Security, according to Pat Kelly, Westchester Emergency Services head, has been asked again and again where gasmasks were for Westchester County first responders. We learned from Chief Kiernan of Yonkers that his HASMET trailers promised Yonkers in 2001 were still not delivered 1-1/2 years later. County Executive Vanderhoef said Rockland County has not received one dime in state aid to help his county gear-up their homeland security efforts
Town of Greenburgh Police Chief John Kapica told Ms. Lowey homeland security money should not be distributed to the state of New York and funneled down, but instead should be given in direct grants to communities who would put it to immediate use.
Fire Chief Raymond Kiernan of New Rochelle said his department had nothing with which to respond to gas or biological attacks, and emphasized to Ms. Lowey that “before we can logically go to Code Orange we need to go to Code Green first.” (money)
When Programs Funded, State Fails to Deliver in Timely Manner. Chiefs say.
However, two instances of homeland security preparedness indicated that even when New York State has funded upgrades, it takes a long time to implement, purchase and deliver the equipment.
The Yonkers Deputy Fire Chief, Chris Kiernan, said his department had been promised HASMET (biological response) trailers by the state, and has been waiting for them since 2001 when they were funded by the state. Tony Sutton, Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services for Westchester County said the trailers, according to the state were being “outfitted” at the present time, but he had no date of delivery for the trailers from the State Department of Public Safety for the trailers yet. He said he called them a lot on the trailer issue.
Another official asked about the gas masks the state is purchasing for all the counties in the state. Mr. Kelly said those have not been delivered either and did not know when they would be. He said the state was hampered by a low supply of gas masks after the 2001 events, when a run on biological hazards equipment curtailed the supply. Kelly but did not know whether the state had priority purchase preference. He said the masks had been funded about a year ago.
Asked by WPCNR whether Ms. Lowey was going to discuss with Governor Pataki the of the Department of Public Safety efforts to upgrade first responders, Lowey said, “For sure.”
Lowey Distrubed at Equal Distribution of Homeland Security Money.
Representative Lowey in her remarks opening the conference said New York State was scheduled to receive $26.5 Million in homeland security money, only $1.80 per person in the state. She noted that the New York State Emergency Management Office reports to her that that is about 10% of what the state needs. She said since New York City and Washington are primary targets, they should receive more grant money to prepare for the obviously larger risk of attack.
She said, “New York is universally acknowledged to be a top target for terrorism. It’s just wrong to shortchange our first responders. We must distribute federal funds for homeland security based on the threat of terrorist attacks and need, as well as population (homeland security fund formulas rely on population), With limited resources and enormous responsibilities, we must prioritize and be strategic about how we spend federal funds”
Kelly: Filtering Funds down Through Bureaucracy a Mistake.
Pat Kelly, Commissioner of Emergency Services for Westchester County, lead off the concerned speakers with a comment that “as set up now the money goes to the state, then to the counties and the municipalities. That’s three levels. How does it get to the person on the street?”
Kelly remarked that the money would not find its way to local communities with each level of bureaucracy taking its “cut.”
Lowey said, “I agree with you,” and said she thought direct grants to communities similar to the COPS program would be more efficient, cutting the state bureaucracy out of the picture.
Rockland County: Need 2 to 3 times the resources.
The Sheriff of Rockland County said his men needed 2 to 3 times the resources, the men, and the equipment for the county to be able to respond appropriately to terrorism in his county. He said his men and women have no biological protection suits to walk into a bio hazard area, for example. He has the men to respond but they could not.
He called for a Citizen Core Committee of local department chiefs to recommend equipment and training needs.
ROCKLAND COUNTY SPEAKS: Scott Vanderhoef, the Rockland County Executive said the federal government needed to take over protection of Indian Point.
Photo by WPCNR News
Greenburgh Police Chief: problem is Training.
Police Chief John Kapica of Greenburgh said the problem really lies in training as well as the equipment when preparing communities for biological attacks. He said $36,000 was needed to training his force of 114 men, for example.
Feiner has Similar Funding Problem
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said that Greenburgh is not alone in not receiving promised financial help for first responders. Feiner, who attended the meeting with Congresswoman Nita Lowey, said that other officials are also complaining that checks in the mail never get received.”
Feiner said that on May 23,2000 Assemblyman Richard Brodsky promised a $30,000 grant to the Greenburgh Uniformed Firefighters Association for remittance to the town to purchase and install the necessary equipment for a Civil Defense Cascade Truck. The truck, which the town purchased in 2000, in cooperation with various town and village fire departments, primarily provides for the refilling of air bottles of firefighters and rescue workers at emergency scenes.
The truck was used in recent Yonkers fires and was unable to be utilized to its potential because of the lack of equipment (due to lack of promised funds). The town relied on these funds. It’s been almost 3 years since the grant was promised but no dollars have been received.
Last year Assemblyman Brodsky increased the grant amount to $50,000. So far, the town has not received a penny of the promised funds.
Rockland Legislator Harriet Cornell complained that Rockland never received decontaminated units –as promised.
More Forums to Come
Lowey said she would hold similar forums with hospital officials and school superintendents in the near future to find out what their needs were from a homeland security preparedness.
County monitors for biological anomalies.
Tony Sutton, Deputy Commissioner for Emergency Services for Westchester County, told WPCNR as the forum was breaking up that the county monitors hospitals daily for any indication of a concentration of persons reporting unusal symptoms. He said the county currently has 100 persons on call, trained and equipped to handle a gas or biological attack situation, with HASMET units based in Yonkers, Valhalla and the Department of Health roving unit.
He also said the county has smallpox vaccine on hand and could acquire more in needed. He also remarked that there are two schools of thought on smallpox vaccination, noting that the vaccine is effective if administered when the symptoms of smallpox first appear.
