Councilman Greig Smith

April 26, 2007

Dear Friends:

I need your help.

I am calling on you as individuals and as groups to write my fellow Councilmembers and the Mayor and urge them to continue CERT funding, and send copies to my office.

In this tough budget year, with cuts in virtually every department, the proposed 2007/2008 City Budget eliminated funding for any future trainings for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. I am fighting to save this program and I need your help.

This is a call to action to save this tremendously valuable program. As you know, CERT can save lives and vastly bolsters our response capabilities by training residents to safely and quickly help themselves, their families and their neighbors, and assist emergency responders during disasters.

As someone who lived through the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, I know how important it is to be prepared for emergencies. In a post 9/11 world, and with another major earthquake due, we need the CERT program.

I have attached the fax numbers and email addresses of the Councilmembers and the Mayor.

We must preserve this life-saving program; it is money well spent.