I have a mole at the Department of Ed

To my commenters who can guess who it is, I ask you not to identify him/her. He/she passed me a hilarious internal memo from Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, dated Friday September 8, in which she invites Department of Ed employees to train to save the city from Katrina-like destruction. By the time this happens, hurricane season will be long over. Also, be aware that if a hurricane hits New York, approximately 2/3 of the employees the city is recruiting to save us all will be Department of Ed employees. I love public-school teachers (I know several of them), but they're already overloaded. Is the city really planning to retrain them to keep order at all of its emergency shelters?

Text below the fold.

From: Kathleen Grimm (Coastal Storm Plan)
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 8:12 AM
Subject: Action Requested - Coastal Storm Plan Registration

To: All Department of Education Employees

From: Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm

Subject: Hurricane Preparedness Registration

August 1st marked the first official day of hurricane season for New York City, and thanks to the updated Coastal Storm Plan recently announced by the Mayor, we will be prepared should a hurricane strike at or near our City. As part of our preparation, we must ensure proper staffing to implement the plan, and to that end, the City is currently recruiting approximately 68,000 of its employees.

Today, I am reminding everyone in our agency of our obligation to serve our fellow New Yorkers, just as we do everyday, but especially if a hurricane were to reach our City, and asking once again that you volunteer as part of our staff recruitment effort. It is imperative that all of us do our part to prepare and protect the people of New York City should a hurricane strike. Our agency is recruiting 45,000 employees; to sign up, please go to www.nyc.gov/coastalstorm.

The City's Coastal Storm Plan (CSP) calls for the evacuation of threatened coastal areas and may require the City to provide emergency shelter. The shelters are located outside evacuation zones in public schools and City University of New York buildings and will be run primarily by City employees. The City must draw on the talents of all of its agencies, including ours, to staff these facilities.

None of us could forget the devastation inflicted upon the people of the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita last year, nor could we forget the overwhelming outpouring of support by the people of our City who came to the aid of those ravaged by those storms. New Yorkers have a great history of helping others, and by preparing properly in advance, we can safely and effectively guide our City through a hurricane.

Please join your colleagues in this immensely important effort by becoming a volunteer today. Attached to this letter, you will find a fact sheet that should help you answer basic questions about serving in the City's hurricane shelter system. For additional information and to volunteer, go to www.nyc.gov/coastalstorm.