responsibilities for preparation and response cut across normal lines
of authority. Further complication arises from the large areal extent
of the impacts expected from a major earthquake, affecting literally
dozens of government entities. The emergency services coordinator at
any level of government is effective only to the extent he or she is
backed by the political leadership at that level. This is especially
true when preparedness activities must be done, for the most part,
within existing resources. City and county officials must increasingly
accept their share of the responsibility for preparedness, but
commitment by State or Federal leaders is also essential. The general
tendency among elected officials and the public is to ignore the
existing hazard problem. Experience, however, teaches that effective
response mechanisms must be in place before the disaster; they cannot
be developed in the time of crisis. Overcoming this apathy and
developing the organizational arrangements among Federal, State, and
local government and volunteer agencies--together with the private
sector and the general public will require, above all, leadership.

=Issue=: The leadership role of the Federal Government in
preparing for a catastrophic earthquake in California and
how this leadership role is to be exerted require
clarification.

=Action=: The President has communicated with the
Governor of California to indicate the results of this
review, to express concern about the need for cooperative
leadership to prepare for the event, and to offer to
increase the Federal effort with the State of California
and local governments in the cooperative undertaking to
prepare for a catastrophic earthquake. He stressed that