Monthly Archives: April 2008

Crisis Getting a Little Close for Comfort

Published on 26th April 2008 by . Leave a Comment

This fire is burning just a couple of miles from our home, making things a little warm for this here crisis manager. Fortunately the wind is not blowing our way, but we just got word that the fire may have jumped to another, closer ridge and a family we know has asked if they can stay at our house, as they’ve been told they are likely to have to evacuate. Of course we said yes.

I’ve tried to be the good news hound and sent an update “from the scene” to an LA Times reporter covering the story. Guess I’d better go read more of the articles at my business website, huh?

Jonathan

UPDATE: Just updated the link for this story, darn fire is getting uncomfortably close, evacuations ordered just 1/2 mile “uphill” from us.

UPDATE 4-27-08 2:30 pm pst from City of Sierra Madre:

Fire Update, Sunday, 2:30 pm – Schools Closed, Evacuations Remain in Place
Sunday, April 27, 2008, Update 2:30 PM
All Sierra Madre public and private schools have been cancelled for Monday, April 27, 2008.

Evacuations are to remain in place through Monday, April 27, 2008 at 6:00 a.m. provided that the fire conditions remain steady. All residents are still strongly urged to leave their homes if they are in the mandatory evacuation area.

Background – new information in boldThe Santa Anita Fire began on Saturday, April 26th has currently burned under 400 acres of wildland urban interface. The only structure damaged at this time is a small out building off of Lotus Lane.

Two firefighters have been injured, one was stung by a bee yesterday afternoon; the other strained his knee working in the steep terrain.

The fire is 5% contained and we are looking at 4-5 days for full containment.

Approximately 1000 people have been evacuated from Oak Crest Drive across Carter Avenue to East Mira Monte Avenue, continuing down Mountain Trail Avenue, across Grandview Avenue to Santa Anita Avenue.

The American Red Cross has opened a shelter at the Hart Park House, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. The number for the American Red Cross is 626-799-0841 x270.

The Sierra Madre City Council held an emergency meeting at 12:10 a.m. on Sunday, April 27th to declare the City in a state of emergency.

Air support began again Sunday morning at approximately 6:30 am. We anticipate having 2 helicopters, 3 air tankers, and over 400 firefighters on the ground. There are over 500 logistics and operations people

The difficulty of this fire is the terrain which is steep and difficult to access. Additionally, some of these areas have not burned in over 40 years. So far, the weather has been on our side, and although there will still be intense heat today, we expect little wind and rising humidity.
A wedding party of approximately 50 people was separated 3 ½ miles from the Chantry Flats Ranger Station. The party had driven up Saturday night to camp and celebrate the nuptials. Upon receiving word that the party was still in the mountains, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue lead the evacuation operation coordinating with LA County Sheriffs. It took five helicopter trips to take the party back to their cars at the Ranger Station where Los Angeles County Sheriffs escorted everyone back down the mountain safely. There were no reported injuries during this operation.

We are asking residents and visitors to stay off the streets, keep areas clear for fire department access and to stay attentive. Immediate updates can be found on cityofsierramadre.com and SMTV3, channel 3 on Time Warner.

For more information or media updates, please call 626-355-7135. The next media briefing is schedule for 6:00 pm (1800 hours) at the east side of Sierra Vista Park, 611 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre.

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A fight against eminent domain ruling in New Jersey

Published on 20th April 2008 by . Leave a Comment

Inc.com published an article in December 2006, Bill Van Ness’s Instinct Was to Fight the Plan to Build a School Next to His Factory, explaining that in May 2005, Bill Van Ness, owner of Van Ness plastic Molding, received notification that the Board of Education for the city of Clifton, NJ, wanted to buy a neighboring property he had only recently purchased for company expansion. It was made very clear that if he didn’t agree to the purchase, the property would be condemned and siezed using the power of eminent domain. And so the battle began.

Faced with losing his property either by selling or having it taken from him, Van Ness went to his lawyer only to be told to not bother going to court. Rather, he was advised to take his battle public, to gather support from the public to vote against the school bond issue that would pay for the land and the school to be built on the land.

Van Ness experience some success in his campaign — the voter turnout was more than double and the referendum lost by a 3-to-2 margin. But there was still a variance to be decided (read the full story of his public relations efforts).

While the campaign was well-prepared and a better choice than going to court, the article pointed out that communications expert, Jonathan Bernstein, felt there was a missing element. “There are only two choices when a situation is being widely discussed already: Control the message yourself or let the rumor mill control it. By keep his staff out of the loop, Van Ness denied himself a force that could have worked to his advantage.”

In a follow up article, The Fight of His Life, dated April 2008, Inc.com reports that Van Ness has been able to turn his parcel into a tractor-trailer entrance and expanded employee parking as he had originally planned. The cost was high, however, with over one-third of his time and $300,000 devoted to defeating the plan of the School Board. While it is rare to win an eminent domain fight outside of court, I will say again, that if Van Ness had gotten their employees involved, those employees could have taken the message outside the company.

Oddly enough, the battle is not over. Van Ness is still fighting the Board of Education’s next plan which is to build the school two doors down from Van Ness’s property. Van Ness says, he has “remained in the fight on principle; he feels that the new school shouldn’t be built in an area that was originally zoned for industry.” Read the complete story on Van Ness’s public relations campaign.

At our website, there are several articles that outline various strategies for crisis prevention, crisis management and crisis communications.

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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Crisis Communication reality reveals a sad state of affairs

Published on 14th April 2008 by . Leave a Comment

An article published on BizCommunity.com outlines that with chaos abounding in the world, “research shows that within the next ten years, it’s unlikely that the majority of corporations would have engaged in comprehensive crisis preparedness and planning.”

As the article states, “A company’s reputation is its greatest asset. It can take years to build, but seconds to destroy.” As I have consistently recommended, “a vulnerability audit is a thorough self-inspection designed to identify potential crises before they occur, and pave the way for the creation of a crisis communications plan that will allow an organization to avoid, or at least minimize, the negative impact of such crises.

Even though these recommendations are clearly needed for any public corporation, less than 5% of businesses that I’ve encountered have undergone the crisis vulnerability audit and crisis plan creation process.

Read the full article, Crisis communication reality reveals a sad state of affairs, for steps that can be taken for crisis communication and prevention.

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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