EMC098 ACS & the Mayor of SF 
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC098 ACS & the Mayor of SF         For release 9/22/98


CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
DISASTER COUNCIL MEETING
April 22, 1997

Remarks by Willie Brown, Mayor:

"...I must also tell you that I have been frankly fascinated
with that unpaid group of people with those ham radios, the
Auxiliary Communications Service. Now they are maybe the most
active of all the volunteers. They are virtually over at the
office every time I go over there. And I suspect that they hang
out there. Now they're an interested group of people.

"It is a communication system though, that I think now covers
practically every community in San Francisco, and in some cases
damn near every block in San Francisco, for emergency
communication purposes, which means that a wireless system that
seldom if ever can be totally disrupted by a disaster is within
our grasp, and we are able to use.

"Obviously the cell phones play a role in that now, but the ham
radio operators are the heart and the soul and the life blood of
that system. And so we do have a system that is virtually
communications disruptive proof in terms of being able to do the
communications that we may need to do.

"There is also, I think, a level of training enjoyed by these
people to carry out their task, and some method to identify them
visibly in case of a disaster when they go into their operations
mode."

-----
The above was submitted to the ACS Newsletter by Peter Dunckel,
from the City & County of San Francisco OES ACS.

The ACS newsletter is sent to those who indicate an interest in
emergency communications by the way they respond to the ACS Web
page (see below.) 

In the issue in which the above was published, the following
also appeared:

"One of the biggest concerns we have is the ability for the
government to recognize the efforts of the local volunteer
community BEFORE the emergency takes place. I think it's pretty
safe to say that the San Francisco ACS IS recognized. Our
compliments to San Francisco for a job well done!

--Dave Larton, Training Officer  (larton@garlic.com)
Auxiliary Communications Service
Information Technology Branch
Governor's Office of Emergency Services"

                                  ---
ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov       FTP archive:
ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for new
bulletins and ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races for earlier ones
ACS Landline BBS 916-262-0856 (graphical or standard access)
OES ACS staff manager Stan Harter :Stanly_Harter@oes.ca.gov 
State Chief ACS Officer       Cary_Mangum@oes.ca.gov

EOM EMC098