2007 AWC Municipal Excellence Awards
Electronic Application
(Signed hardcopy with Mayor’s signature mailed 4-13-07)
Category
Public Safety
Title of Project
Fourth Day Café – Conversations that Matter
A Redmond Disaster Recovery Gathering
May 9, 2006
City
Redmond, Washington
Form Completed by:
Name
Title
Patrick J. Hamman
Volunteer Fire & Police Chaplain and Mayor’s Faith Community
Liaison; Contracted Disaster Preparedness Educator
Address
c/o Redmond Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management
8450 161st Ave NE
Redmond, WA
98052-3848
Redmond Fire Department (425) 556-2200
Pat’s Voicemail/pager (425) 556-2697 Cell (425) 417-9390
City
Zip
Phone
Date
April 13, 2007
Mayor’s Signature Rosemarie Ives _____________________________
(To be sent by mail with other support documents.)
Project Statement: The Fourth Day Cafe
The May 9, 2006 Fourth Day Café was a successful private-public partnership program
designed to gather leaders from all six-sectors of Greater Redmond to have conversations
that matter concerning DISASTER RECOVERY….before the disaster happens! Leaders
from government, businesses, schools, neighborhoods, non-profits and faith communities
participated in this six-hour Café event.
Project Summary
The Fourth Day Café was part of an on-gaining disaster preparedness campaign the City
of Redmond began in 2005 entitled Everyone Prepared – PASS IT ON. This campaign is
built around a 22-minute video entitled Personal Survival Kit. (See attached PASS IT ON
flier. www.everyoneprepared.org).
Every Café attendee received the PASS IT ON peer-training and a DVD. They also
received our 10-minute Fourth Day Café DVD. Both of these DVDs were produced by
Global Net Productions in co-operation with the City of Redmond. They are part of an
on-going community-based disaster awareness program…a grass-roots campaign.. All of
our materials are available to anyone who wants to use them; this includes both the public
and private sectors.
Some Café statistics:
1. Café sponsors included City of Redmond, Redmond Fire Department – Office of
Emergency Management, Redmond COAD (informal community partnership
focus on disaster recovery), City Chaplain (Non-profit), Overlake Christian
Church, Global Net Productions (video producer), and Elway Research, Inc
(instant polling & results).
2. The event was free to attendees. The Cafe included continental breakfast,
beverages & treats all day long, nice box lunch, two DVDs, a notebook with
practical handouts, contact information of attendees (by permission) and resource
lists. The entire event was paid for by grant money plus donated/discounted
services and goods. [For example, Overlake Christian Church donated building
use (state of the arts AV & PA) and staffed the event (AV techs, table
settings/linens, set-up & clean up).]
3. Over 130 attendees from Greater Redmond and King County included:
a. Males 49% Females 51%
b. Ages: 13-17 (3%) 18-35 (14%) 36-50 (35%) 51-64 (41%) 65+ (8%)
c. Home Address: Greater Redmond (42%) Eastside (33%) Other King
County (17%) Outside King County (8%)
d. Place of Employment: Greater Redmond (77%) Other Eastside (19%)
e. Sectors representing: Government (25%) Schools (17%) Business (18%)
Non-profits (15%) Neighborhood (10%) Faith Community (15%)
As leaders from all six-sectors of Greater Redmond gathered, we assumed they had
embraced the 3-day All-hazards Preparedness message. Seated at round tables in groups
of eight, they addressed the question, “How can Redmond better recover from a
Northwest Katrina – an earthquake during a winter storm?” Table conversations were
approached from numerous perspectives. We continually emphasized the fact that they
were the “experts” for the day.
A repeated highlight of the Café was the instant polling & results of the on-going
conversations that mattered. (See enclosed/attached Elway Research results.)
The 2006 Fourth Day Café was a first-of-its-kind nationally. It impacted individuals
from every sector of our City. These two examples reflect the general reaction;
John Vollmer, Human Services Manager with Washington State Emergency
Management Division, wrote the following to Jim Mullen [Director of WA State
Emergency Management, “[The Fourth Day Café] is the first community recovery
workshop I have ever seen or heard of taking place before a disaster strikes. What
happened in Redmond yesterday should happen in every city in this state. If we
are going to take recovery seriously, we have to find a way to engage the public
much the way we do for preparedness. Redmond is setting the pace….
Father Jim Eichner of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Redmond and 200607 Leader of the Redmond Clergy Association wrote Mayor Ives, “The recent
4th Day Cafe at Overlake Christian Church gave me a lot to think about. I deeply
appreciated the creative discussions at the tables and the information given by the
speakers. And although we were told not to depend on the government, the
overall feeling of the Café was that the City of Redmond is very attentive,
competent, conscientious and dependable. As a result of the day, my expectations
of the government and my obligations to my neighbors have changed. The topic
was disturbing. The implications of recovering from a major natural disaster will
have me pondering for a long time. There is the saying that “the church is what’s
left after the building burns down.” This was a day for us as a community of
good neighbors to ask, what would be left if Redmond were shaken to its core by
a natural disaster? And in recovery, what might we accomplish with everything
except money at our disposal?”
Christine Hoffman, Executive Director of The Greater Redmond Chamber
of Commerce wrote in their monthly publication, “Yesterday I attended the
Fourth Day Café. It was a huge success, in that we, as a city, are talking about
emergency PLANNING prior to a disaster. [As a follow-up to the May 2006
Café] The Greater Redmond Chamber is actively planning an ‘Open for Business’
Disaster Preparedness Workshop for October 2006. [Note: Over 60 people
attended their all-day OFB workshop, and RFD OEM and City Chaplain were
participating co-sponsors of the event.]
We continue to look at the feedback from the conversations that mattered. This event
also helped us expand the database for our COAD – Community Organizations Active in
Disasters. (See attached RCCC flier plus the COAD flier and concept paper.)
We hope to have a 2007 Fourth Day Café in the fall. We plan to focus on lessons learned
from the “Rain, Wind & Ice” events from November & December 2006. We will also
emphasize the importance of MYN-ing Redmond (Washington State’s new “Map Your
Neighborhood” program) and execute a strong awareness campaign on the potential of a
Pandemic Flu event…and what “recovery” from that may look like.