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Oregon is indeed a leader in emergency "readiness".  Thanks for sharing Portland's leadership in emergency management and response readiness. 

However, the public can be led to an artificial sense of security when they don't understand that emergency managers' "readiness" doesn't equal their safety or their children's safety in buildings that are not seismically retrofitted or upgraded (or built after 2001).   It's a critical distinction that I fear is lost in the reporting this week.

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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Seismic rehabilitation work in Portland Public Schools has "not resulted in complete seismic rehabilitation of any facilities based on current criteria" according to a December 2009 engineering study.  Close examination of the school by school work proposed under the proposed bond measure in Portland reveals little work to remedy the deficiencies at the schools.  Cross-referencing the school-by-school work proposed against the deficiencies indicated in PPS's own engineering firm's study, seismic safety doesn't appear to be an immediate spending priority.  Perhaps it shouldn't be when all needs are considered, but I fear that the public incorrectly assumes that something like a proposed $548 million bond will make substantial strides to remedy the $422.6 million of seismic project work identified in PPS's own study. (http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/schoolmodernization/PPS_Seismic_Report091207.pdf )

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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