Mayor Nancy Backus‘ coronavirus emergency proclamation should serve as notice how quickly disasters can develop.

This current emergency did come with a warning period prior to panic. The Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, other magnitude 8-plus quakes and increasing brush fires threatening our homes will provide no such warning.

The quake panic will be instantaneous. The crisis will cover 70,000 square miles. Transportation, food supply and essential services will be compromised. Auburn’s accommodation of developer’s bottom lines luring them to fill the state’s largest liquefaction zone with multi-story, multi-family structures should be reexamined. Hopefully building in the firm mud will have a better result than San Francisco building the leaning Millennium Tower on firm sand.

The recent collapse of the retaining wall on Kersey Way during our mini monsoon should serve as another significant notice. Accommodations of lose concrete block retaining walls, walls without embedded foundations, rockeries adjacent to residences, fire code violations increasing the expanding brush fire risks and propane tanks behind barriers will exacerbate the tragedies.

There is no nastier management philosophy than what we are seeing in the 21st century; sacrificing safety and lives for economic gain. It is prolific throughout the corporate world. It is not consistent with public official’s fiduciary responsibilities. Isn’t it time for Mayor Backus to reevaluate? Preparing us for disaster will be a much better policy than preparing disasters for us.

– Bob Zimmerman