By: Priya Jhingan
Lady Grizzly, a.k.a. President Colette Lay, kicked off the meeting by mentioning the R.I. President, Mark Maloney, and this year’s theme of “Rotary Connects the World”. She then introduced our fantastic greeter, Mike Thelen, who brought us two quotes for this thought of the day:
There is no discount at the counter of success: you have to pay ahead of time, and in full.
The aim of an argument or discussion is not victory, but progress.
After leading us through God Bless America, Mike told us that he was born and raised in Alameda, and moved to San Ramon in 1978 from the San Leandro area. He and his wife Donna live a block away from the school where she taught for several years.
We had no visiting Rotarians, but we did have two guests: Naim Katiby’s neighbor and first-time guest Matt Scanlan and returning guest Aruna Somani, a resident of San Ramon for 15 years looking to get involved in serious community projects.
Announcements
Lady Grizzly announced several upcoming events, some of which have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Please note that Gianni’s Tips for Change dinner on 3/16 has been canceled, and the 6-club dinner on 3/25 has been postponed. We are still dark on 3/26. In addition, the District Assemblies scheduled on 3/21 in Red Bluff and 4/4 in Fairfield will NOT take place. Everything else remains scheduled as of this moment, but please look out for announcements regularly as the status may change. Stay healthy, everyone!
Colette also mentioned she has two tickets for the Harmony and Healing concert in Livermore on 3/28. Please check with her if you’d like the tickets, if the event is still on. Colette also reminded us that March is water sanitation month for Rotary, and that in 2 weeks, Ana Dominguez will provide an update on the Bolivia water project. To learn how you can give someone clean water for $25, contact Colette.
Program - Fire Chief Meyer
We were honored to have Fire Chief Meyer give us an update on SRVFPD. Chief Meyer had always dreamt of being a firefighter, and started in Stockton as a volunteer firefighter. He told us about how he “accidentally” became Fire Chief in Vallejo, when the city went bankrupt and a bunch of people left. The rest is history!
Chief Meyer updated us on 3 topics:
Coronavirus - Firefighters are erring on the side of caution in terms of behavior and practices, but they should face little risk if they’re taking proper precautions with their fire gear.
Being sued by PG&E - PG&E had been doing construction work in high fire hazard zones without alerting the SRVFPD, and this has been extremely dangerous and resulted in a lawsuit. In August, San Ramon passed a local ordinance mandating a few things, including that for hot work in a high fire risk area, the utility company needs to give the fire department at least 48 hours notice.
The fire department’s financial situation - SRVFPD is in a good financial situation, but the one new liability that’s been created is workers’ compensation.
A few Rotarians asked amazing questions. Gary Sloan asked if it could be viable for all the fire chiefs in the community to get together and collaborate with PG&E. Chief Meyer responded that politics get in the way, as a couple of the other fire chiefs have been known to receive money from the utility. Guy Greco noticed that there are wires running through dry trees all over this area, and Chief Meyer agreed that more of the money available should be spent on maintenance. Finally, Colette asked if there’s anything homeowners can do to prevent disaster, to which Chief Meyer shared 3 tips:
Know CPR!
If you’re in a hazard zone, prepare your home.
Get at least one person in the family in the CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team). There were talks of bringing back some training to our Rotary Club - this would be valuable!
Thank you, Chief Meyer, for sharing this update!
Raffle and ending announcements
Julie McKinney came up to administer recognitions. The following Rotarians were recognized for their birthdays: Norbert Walz and Ray Giles (it was their birthday on our lunch day!), Naim Katiby, and Mike Thelen. Happy birthday, fellow Rotarians!!! Also, Julie McKinney recognized herself for her 1 year anniversary as a Rotarian, and recognized the anniversary of Gary Sloan. Finally, John Tatum was “recognized” for not having his phone on silent.
Dennis Harvey won the greeter’s gift of an ultra-cool looking SRVFPD baseball hat, and birthday boy Ray Giles had a chance at the pot, but picked a blue marble and also walked away with a cool SRVFPD hat.
Stay healthy, stay safe!
