Presenter Upset To Find Expo Was For Extremists

I spent my first weekend in Spokane earlier this month. It turned out to be controversial, educational and disconcerting as I unwittingly was involved in the “Self-Sufficiency and Preparedness Expo” at the Spokane Convention Center.

I have spent 16 years as an author, educator and consultant in the field of disaster preparedness for individuals, families and communities. For eight years, I was a volunteer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

I normally attend conferences with titles like that held in Spokane. They usually involve groups such as the Red Cross, police and fire departments, utility companies and survival food and supply vendors as well as educators like myself.

So when I was approached to present a one-hour seminar in Spokane, I was satisfied that it would be a typical family disaster-preparedness show. I made my usual preparations and was looking forward to meeting the people of Spokane.

My wife and I set out on Jan. 31 from just west of Missoula and stopped in Kellogg for breakfast. I picked up a copy of The Spokesman-Review and was totally unprepared for the news story about “hatemongers” at the Convention Center. I was concerned but decided I easily could provide a counterpoint to the three speakers mentioned, so we continued our journey.

Upon arriving at the Convention Center, I saw the true severity of the situation. Only four of the approximately 20 speakers spoke on the type of disaster preparedness I teach. You may have seen me saying in two local television interviews that knives and paramilitary paraphernalia have no place in family and community disaster-preparedness shows, and had I known that this group of individuals would be present, I would not have participated. These people do not represent the philosophies of what I teach.

What frustrates me more is that the promoter used a preparedness show as a platform for known dissidents, thereby cheating the good people of Spokane of much-needed disaster-preparedness information. Because of the presenters involved and the press coverage that surrounded the show, families who need information on how to prepare for natural disasters - the kind of information I and other misled vendors prefer to deliver- did not attend. Small wonder why.

MEMO: “Your Turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your Turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your Turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.