Thanks so much for weighing in!

The Soberanes Fire is still raging, over 116 square miles now and 60% contained. The battle for Big Sur continues. Highway 1 is intermittently closed because of rocks and trees falling onto the roadway, and over 4700 firefighters and National Guard people as well as armies of PG&E and AT&T continue to work tirelessly both to battle the fire and to help jump-start recovery for those injured by it. It is an amazing effort. Meanwhile Monterey Car Week is now well underway, and it's time to shut down this petition since it has done what it could. 1390 signatures is a pretty good showing! I think our voices have brought important attention to the issues of emergency access during these events and helped urge the pressing need to PLAN AHEAD to avoid significant crises. It has also helped bring light to the costs as well as the benefits of Car Week, and the pressing need for these burgeoning events to be coordinated and managed through an open and public planning process in years to come so there is better information and ability to respond to major emergencies like this one. The good news is that event organizers have voluntarily taken some steps they believe will address our concerns. Let's sincerely hope they will be successful and that Car Week traffic will not interfere with firefighting efforts or supply lines that must pass through the areas where events are occurring. If in your travels around the region you see a situation developing that has the potential to cause any such problem, please take it upon yourself to report it. In any emergency situation, call 911. Otherwise California Highway Patrol (CHP) may be contacted at 831-797-2100. This is the main office number and is automatically forwarded to CHP dispatch center after business hours and weekends. The Sheriff's office can be contacted at 831-647-7911. With respect to non-emergency issues, please know that Monterey County enforces codes reactively. If a complaint is received and they identify a violation, then they enforce the codes as appropriate. They do not presume a property owner will violate the code, and unless a complaint is filed they assume they haven't done so. Complaints can be filed with Monterey County Code Compliance division. Information for filing a complaint can be accessed at http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-i-z/resource-management-agency/building-services/building-services/code-compliance/code-compliance-complaint. Please do file complaints if they are justified: it will help us build a record of issues that need to be addressed going forward. And, whether or not this year's efforts succeed in keeping area roads passable for emergency vehicles, let's pledge to hold all future events to a standard that does! Thank you all again for your support. Sharing our voices makes each of us many times stronger than any of us can be alone!