Op-Ed – Rally Points for When the Crisis is Larger than Government

This is my 2026 public comment regarding the worst-case scenario concept for Community Rally Points at the intersections of county roads when the crisis is larger than government can handle.  In 2023 I originally presented this concept to the Sheriff and County Legislature. 

This has yet to be acted upon.

Since then, there have been the Greenwood Lake fire which required evacuations and the California fire where suburban homeowners had to be evacuated without a plan or concept of how to do so in an organized manner.  The most graphic example of how unprepared they were was how most roadways were turned into giant parking lots created by abandoned vehicles which had to be pushed out of the way so fire trucks and ambulances could respond to critical locations.

Within recent history we have had two back-to-back tropical storms where many parts of Rockland County were without electricity for a week along with Covid-19 which required this concept to be initiated. 

Not to sound like Chicken Little and that the sky is falling but Space Junk can create a future even worst-case scenario.  Currently there are over 14,000 active, artificial satellites orbiting Earth, with the total number of trackable objects (including defunct satellites and debris) exceeding 31,000. The vast majority of these are in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), driven primarily by the rapid expansion of commercial satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink. In 1978 NASA scientist Donald Kessler stated cascading chain reaction collisions between objects would create too much debris making Earth’s orbit unusable for satellites and space travel for centuries.  Considering all our current technology from A to Z utilizes space satellites in some form to operate, The Kessler Effect will send us back to the stone age where life becomes violently tribal and we will have to rely upon neighbors simply to survive.

The Rockland County Legislature as the county governing body has a responsibility to prepare the citizens for scenarios when the crisis becomes larger than government.  The expectation that the current emergency management response is sufficient for all possible scenarios is unrealistic. 

We need to prepare by holding semi-annual neighborhood rally drills at the intersections of all county roads.  Public right of way law allows this to occur.  The intersections of state roads should be reserved for the National Guard and State Police.  Considering 2 pm upon the first Sunday of December and June would probably make the most sense because the weather is not oppressive and most amateur sports are off season.  Plus, by that time of day most people have accomplished their physical tasks of the day.

What needs to be created is a standing practice where during these two bi-annual days residents would congregate at these rally locations after arriving via physical power to familiarize themselves with their neighbors to ultimately create a more organized neighborhood response to a worse-case real-world scenario if it were to ever occur.

A previously chosen neighborhood coordinator will lead the current assembly which will begin with everyone introducing themselves and their thoughts with a less than three-minute public comment. 

After that process, at each drill, an odd number leadership committee consisting of an appropriate number of able-bodied residents will be chosen by consensus.  Only one member per extended family or surname will be allowed in the interests of equal opportunity at leadership.  Robert’s Rules of Order will apply.  Legal weapons will be left at home or concealed.  Below is a sample sign.  This is an inexpensive plan that we need to get started as soon as possible.

Recently I learned, because the county road I live on has no sidewalk clearly in violation of Americans with Disabilities Law that every year $30 Million is set aside for every single legislator to request approximately $1.7 million each for sidewalk repairs in their district which hardly anyone does.  This money can be used to implement this plan.  However, a sign design must be decided upon.

Matthew I. Brennan

New City, NY