Letter: Kudos to Tesei, Emergency Op's Team

Letter to the Editor,

First Selectman Peter Tesei and his Emergency Operations Team have done an outstanding job preparing our town in the event of significant weather events and to rapidly recover from such events.   I have seen first hand the countless hours of dedication by this team, having volunteered most recently during Hurricane Irene while working along side of these heroes who unconditionally risk their lives to protect us.  

On August 28, 2010, President Barack Obama made the follow Proclamation on National Preparedness Month.  "I encourage all Americans to recognize the importance of preparedness and observe this month by working together to enhance our national security, resilience, and readiness."  The Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI) believe that resilient communities are the foundation of a strong and resilient nation.  CARRI began in 2007 and in 2010 convened a distinct group of representatives (academia, private sector, faith-based, non-governmental, and all levels of government) to embark on the Community Resilience System Initiative (CRSI), a comprehensive undertaking to articulate the common understanding of community resilience and ultimately build a national system aimed at helping  communities.  This process has resulted in the development of the Community Resilience System (CRS), a practical, web-enabled process that helps communities to assess, measure, and improve their resilience to a variety of threats and disruptions of all kinds, and ultimately be rewarded for their efforts.    

On September 8 2011 CARRI announced the seven leading communities that will serve as initial pilots of the Community Resilience System: Anaheim, CA; Anne Arundel County and Annapolis, Maryland; Charleston and the Tri-Country Area, SC; Gadsden, Alabama; Greenwich, CT; the Mississippi Gold Coast; and Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The announcements were made at an awards ceremony and dinner at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit-Remembrance, Renewal and Resilience held at the Newseum in Washington, DC.   These leading communities will be the first to use the Community Resilience System—a web based system that helps communities assess their capacity to withstand significant disturbances and create an approach for recovery. These leading communities will provide feedback to CARRI and make it even more useful to all American communities.  The Town of Greenwich, under the outstanding leadership of Peter Tesei, is honored by this worthy recognition. Thank you to the First Selectman’s Team, Greenwich Police, Fire, GEMS and Emergency Management Departments for your amazing dedication and service.    

Julia Chiappetta