Homeland security at the grass-roots level

One woman pleaded for more details about the safety of a biomedical research facility to be built near the Boston University campus. A Revere police officer asked how his department can fulfill homeland security requirements in the face of personnel trims. Others wanted to learn about emergency-alert plans - how to contact and be contacted in the case of a disaster.

They are questions that could be posed in any city or town across the country. In fact, as a bipartisan commission in Washington hashes through who-knew-what upon the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, residents at a forum in Boston raised their own concerns about what homeland security - a term that to many feels like an intangible patchwork of plans and purchases - means for them.

The efforts Boston has made, the challenges it faces, and the uneasiness its residents still sometimes feel - especially after attacks like the Madrid bombings - typify the atmosphere in cities throughout the country.

"There are critical issues [here]," says Patricia McGinnis, president and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government, which sponsored the forum at Fenway Park last week. She cites transportation, the city's high tech industry, and its port - recently drawn to attention since former US counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke claimed in his new book that Boston and its liquefied natural gas tankers could have been a point of entry for terrorists. There are Boston's Hancock Tower and Prudential building to protect. And the city is expecting to host 35,000 visitors at the high-profile Democratic National Convention this July.

Boston, long proud of its hub of innovation and learning, is also acutely aware of its role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - two of the hijacked planes hijacked took off from Logan International Airport - and has spent the past two years readying its emergency response. There are more vaccines, equipment, and training programs in place. The city just named its first director of homeland security this month. Most important, experts say, is a spirit of cooperation.

Last week's meeting was the fifth in a six-city national tour including St. Louis, Miami, San Diego, Houston, and Seattle. It brought together Gov. Mitt Romney, Mayor Thomas Menino, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole, and local officials, firefighters, police officers, and other first responders.

This step toward community cohesiveness is a part of the national Homeland Security from the Citizens' Perspective initiative. The Council for Excellence in Government has launched a website, www.citizensecure.org, that it hopes will become a nationwide forum to respond to citizens' concerns and offer recommendations to local and statewide officials when preparing for or responding to emergencies.

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