Mayor Sam Adams

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

In recent months, City staff have been working on a Request for Proposals (RFP) that would result in the creation of an alert system for Portland government employees, the public and businesses.

It is a complex undertaking. There are few existing comprehensive public-alert communication services to guide us. Regardless of the unknowns and difficulties, recent events like last year’s winter storms and the Water Bureau’s E. coli scare underscore the need to push ahead even more swiftly.

We have received numerous offers of help in implementing a comprehensive public-alert communication system in the wake of the recent E. Coli event. We have also received feedback from community members about how they would want to be notified of future potential public health and safety concerns. We want to take advantage of both the expertise and the interest that our community has shown in this important topic.

Here are two ways to provide further input as we move forward:

1) Take this very brief survey about public alert notification preferences. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to complete, and your feedback is vital.

2) If you have expertise in emergency communications, please take the opportunity to provide comments on this DRAFT RFP.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an active Request for Proposals (RFP). We are not yet soliciting proposals or responses. Instead, this is a draft RFP. We want your comments to make the final RFP as comprehensive as possible. Is what we are asking for realistic? Cost effective? What is good? What is missing? What is wrong? What is unclear? By Friday, December 18, 2009, please e-mail your comments to Warren Jimenez, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Adams, at Warren.Jimenez@ci.portland.or.us. Potential bidders may provide comments. Also, potential bidders are encouraged to sign up to be on Portland bid email notification list at: http://cityofportland.ebidsystems.com

Thank you in advance for your assistance in helping us design and implement the most effective public alerts system possible. We look forward to your insights.

Sincerely,

Mayor Sam Adams

Commissioner Randy Leonard