We have been talking about NET Redistricting for a few months now. Here is an update on the latest planning which has emerged from the All-hands NET Gathering in August, and the September Emergency Preparedness meeting, going into the Team Leader meeting in late October. Our thinking to date has these main features:

1. For staging areas and team operations, ignore arbitrary boundaries (e.g. FMA & Neighborhood Association); observe topographic boundaries
2. Observe FMA boundaries for emergency communications and logistical purposes (some teams may have to work with more than one fire station)
3. Identify the locations of existing NET members using the large map in SWNI office
4. Team Leaders and interested parties to assemble in late October to identify staging areas and new NETs
5. Individuals self-select which NET is best for them
6. Coordinate with POEM and Fire to implement new system

Discussion

Fire Management Area (FMA) boundaries, while somewhat better than Neighborhood Association boundaries for defining NETs, are still not sufficiently attuned to our topographical needs to be useful to us. Furthermore, with the relocation of Station 18, and the eventual construction of Station 21, those boundaries are certain to change at least once, perhaps more, in the next four years.

The Gabriel Park area is a perfect example why neither neighborhood boundaries nor FMA boundaries are practical for us: 45th & Vermont is the nexus of three neighborhood associations (Multnomah, Maplewood & Hayhurst) and two FMAs (18 & 5). The NE corner of Maplewood is topographically isolated from the Maplewood NET staging area. The park lies within Multnomah neighborhood association, but is not Multnomah NET’s primary staging area. Hayhurst NET’s staging area is across Vermont street from the park and most of their NET members reside close to the park, but they are prohibited from operating there if we respect either neighborhood boundaries or FMA boundaries. Furthermore, most of the NET members in the area are in Hayhurst. So Hayhurst can’t use the park as a staging area, and Multnomah will be elsewhere. But if you ignore these arbitrary boundaries, the park looks like the perfect staging location for that area.

So our plan is to generally ignore FMA boundaries – except for logistical matters and emergency communications, which must be to the appropriate fire station – and create our own organic† boundaries based on topographical features. We have a large map of the SW (which is currently in the SWNI office) and hope to mark every NET member’s location on the map as a purple or blue dot. We hope that individuals will mark their location, and team leaders will mark the location of their team members, on the map. Once the map is marked with every NET member’s location, we feel staging areas will more or less present themselves. More than likely, these will be the parks, schools‡ and churches near the clusters of the purple and blue dots on the map. Very likely, these will coincide with most of our current staging areas.

The most significant difference is likely to be who is on which team, so team sizes may be impacted. Under the old system, some people literally had to travel a mile or two to get to their officially assigned staging area while another staging area was literally across the street from them. The new system eliminates this, as well as teams of one or two people (as they will become members of a larger team). No longer will we create a NET and wait until it grows large enough to identify a staging area. The new system works the other way around.

As our SW NET membership grows, it will be possible (in the future) to identify new staging areas, spawning a new NET, and better serving our communities.

†: Organic in that people will self-select which NET is easiest for them to get to; there are no hard-and-fast lines drawn

‡: The Red Cross does not see a problem with NETs operating out of schools, so the prohibition on using schools as staging areas has been rescinded.

Suggestions made and questions raised at the September EP meeting:

• Can people choose to be a member of more than one NET?
• We need to make available a list of staging areas for the region.
• We should develop a sign, similar to SW Trails signs, which mark designated staging areas.

Comments and Questions

Please post your comments or questions here. This page is intended as an electronic forum for discussing this redistricting plan. You must be registered with the system to post comments. Registration is free.

Location