From: Ali Winston <ali.winston@gmail.

com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2014 11:17 AM
To:
McElhaney, Lynette
Cc:
Darwin BG
Subject:
Media query: future funding for the Domain Awareness Center
Good morning Lynette,
I hope all is well with you. Darwin and I are working on a follow-up story on th
e Domain
Awareness Center that focuses on the lack of long-term funding sources for this
project. The port
of Oakland is bouncing back our questions regarding funding.
Darwin and I obtained a 6/20/13 email from Port Security Director Michael O'Brie
n indicating
the DAC lacks any long term funding beyond the first two years of operations (th
rough 2016).
The passage is below in italics:
"As far as City support for the DAC, we need something positive and substantial
that shows the
DAC will be sustained following the grant supported bridging strategy, which onl
y covers the
first two years of DAC ops, if approved. This MOU is a draft and subject to sign
ificant change
over the next several months. We can put the language in to hedge our bets, but
if the federal
reviewers don't see a commitment from both parties in the agreement, they may re
ject our claim
that we will sustain the operation."
I have a few questions in this regard:
-Has the council discussed the possibility of funding the DAC out of the city's
general fund or
other non-grant sources?
-Have you all been presented with a dollar amount for the potential operating co
sts of the DAC
once it is online and the grant funding stream dries up?
-Has the Port approached the council about sharing operating costs for the surve
illance center?
Please get back to me at your earliest convenience. We're going to run an item i
n the 1/22 issue
of the Express.
Best,
Ali Winston
917-334-5403
East Bay Express
@awinston
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Roberto Bernardo <rbernardo@portoakland.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 9:40 AM
Subject: RE: Media query: future funding for the Domain Awareness Center
To: Darwin BG <darwinbondgraham@gmail.com>, Michael O'Brien
<mobrien@portoakland.com>
Good morning Darwin,

Happy new year and thanks for writing. The two people who can best answer your
technical questions regarding the Domain Awareness Center are:
Renee Domingo
Director of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, City of Oakland
RADomingo@oaklandnet.com
Ahsan Baig
Director of Information Technology, City of Oakland
ABaig@oaklandnet.com
If you are unable to reach them kindly let me know and I will follow-up on your
questions.
Thanks,
Robert
From: Darwin BG [mailto:darwinbondgraham@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2014 4:00 PM
To: Roberto Bernardo; Michael O'Brien
Subject: Media query: future funding for the Domain Awareness Center
Hi Mr. Bernardo and Mr. O'Brien,
For the East Bay Express I'm doing research on the Port/City Domain Awareness Ce
nter. I'm
hoping the Port can provide some information about how the project will be funde
d in future
years.
We're set to run a story in two weeks about this topic. Our deadline is next Wed
nesday the 15th.
Specifically we're curious about the following:
The Domain Awareness Center (DAC) project was funded with federal grants that pa
y for
construction, and some future maintenance work by the contractors. But how will
the Port and
City fund the operation of the DAC?
a) How will the Port and City pay for the DAC operator and supervisor staff memb
ers who work
inside the DAC?
b) How much will operating the DAC cost the Port on a yearly basis?
c) Are there other sources of outside grant funding that will be sought, or will
the Port and/or
City make operating, maintaining, and possibly upgrading the DAC part of future
budgets from
own-source revenue?
d) I've seen references to allowing some of the terminal operators and shipping
companies to
access the DAC system. Might these companies be charged for this service?
Please give me a ring at 504-322-3409. Thanks in advance,
Darwin

--

---------------------------Darwin BondGraham
Journalist
(504) 322-3409
darwinbondgraham@gmail.com
----------------------------

----------------------------Darwin BondGraham
Journalist
(504) 322-3409
darwinbondgraham@gmail.com
----------------------------