White Oaks Neighborhood Meeting: Police Transition, Lessons Learned from San Bruno.

Thursday, October 14.

If you have questions about the upcoming transition of police services to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department —  or if you're concerned about the safety of your neighborhood with the maze of gas pipelines that run beneath us, then mark your calendar for this Thursday, October 14th.   The White Oaks Neighborhood Watch organization has scheduled a very important neighborhood meeting where these very topics will be discussed by a panel of distinguished guest speakers.

Agenda:

WHITE OAKS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

NEXT MEETING:  THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 7 P.M.,
WHITE OAKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MULTIPURPOSE ROOM.

SPECIAL GUESTS:

• SAN MATEO COUNTY SHERIFF GREG MUNKS
• SAN CARLOS POLICE CHIEF GREG ROTHAUS
• BELMONT-SAN CARLOS FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF DOUGLAS FRY

Hi, neighbors.

We don’t have a lot of meetings, but when we do, they’re important.  And you won’t want to miss this one next week.

Two hot topics:

• THE HANDOFF OF OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT — What transpires when the San Carlos Police Department ends its 85-year existence and the Sheriff’s Department takes over policing in our city?  The transition will occur at the end of this month, starting on Halloween evening, Oct. 31. What will be different?  What will remain?  How will the city determine if we are getting good service? And what should you know if YOU have to call for help?

• LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SAN BRUNO GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSION AND LARGE-SCALE EVACUATION.  Could this happen here?  What do we need to know about gas lines, evacuation procedures and helping our fellow neighbors in emergencies?

On the police transition, Chief Rothaus (who will become a captain and bureau chief in the Sheriff’s Department) and Sheriff Munks will tell us what kind of resources we’ll have under this new outsourcing arrangement.  The sheriff is interested in hearing from residents about our concerns and wants to be as helpful as possible during this historic changeover.  Among other things, there may be new procedures such as obtaining records or filing reports in Redwood City instead of San Carlos.  There will also be new opportunities and resources that we haven’t had in the city for years.

On the disaster in San Bruno, officers and firefighters from both of our city agencies responded, and they have their stories to tell.   Some have not been told – until now.

And, as you know, PG & E has identified one 20-inch feeder pipeline in San Carlos that is on the list of the utility’s 100 highest priority projects.  The section of line in question is near Brittan Avenue and El Camino Real, but the line itself proceeds westward uphill parallel to Brittan, and thus is near the northern boundary of White Oaks.Pr
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You will hear some insights about the San Bruno disaster from both chiefs.  Yes, there were communications problems among the various emergency responders.  Yes, there were difficulties determining which residents had evacuated or were not home and which ones needed help.  This is why our Neighborhood Watch organization is so important – that we get to know the people who live on our block so that if we ever had to evacuate we would be available to help folks – and pets — who may need assistance.

This promises to be the most informative and insightful meeting we’ve had yet.  The fact that both chiefs and the sheriff are coming to our meeting is recognition that we have a large and effective organization of concerned residents.  The more folks who turn out, the more likely we are to get a timely response when we need something in our neighborhood.

You’ve seen what we’ve been able to accomplish so far in just a year and change: a reduction in property crimes, a crackdown on unlicensed solicitors and trash collectors, Neighborhood Watch signs for most of the blocks, and speed monitoring to help crack down on motorists in a hurry.  But we have more work to do.

Circle the date: Oct. 14, 7 p.m.