Westlake Village Crisis Team Gets Budget Hike

Mindful that a natural disaster does not wait to strike until a city is ready, the Westlake Village Disaster Response Team asked for and received a budget increase to buy needed communication equipment.

The City Council agreed to allocate another $15,000 for the team last week, bringing the total budget to $20,000 for the 1996-97 fiscal year.

“We’re not looking to be greedy, we just thought about what would be necessary--given the number of people we have in the city--and went from there,” said response team Treasurer Jeff Friedman.

The team submitted a list to the City Council outlining the needed supplies and equipment, including communication, electronic and lighting materials as well as medical supplies. The estimated total was $35,000.

City staff suggested that the council also add another $15,000 to next year’s budget to purchase all the supplies, but council members made no decision or recommendation on the request.

The response team was established by the city in 1994, after the Northridge earthquake. Residents realized that, in the event of a disaster, the city might be forced to fend for itself while waiting for county relief services to arrive.

In its first year, the group’s budget was $7,000. The additional money will help beef up the supplies and enable team members to communicate from anywhere in the city, Friedman said.

The supplies will be stored in a central location--probably at City Hall--to be used in case of an emergency.

The sudden increase in funding was due to normal growing pains of an organization, Friedman said. In the beginning, the group did not ask for a large sum because members were unsure of the costs involved.

“It takes time to come up with a realistic dollar number,” he said.