Ripon Residents Lead Manteca Pandemic EOC Team

Photo Credit: Glenn Kahl

Several Ripon residents occupy key seats behind the locked doors of the Manteca City Council in that city’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) monitoring the city and county’s involvement in the current corona COVID-19 Pandemic epidemic.

He keeps updates of new cases in the city by city and the county posting the totals of those cases and deaths within San Joaquin County.

Manteca Fire Department Battalion Chief David Marques of Ripon has been tapped as the city’s operations manager and EOC coordinator. His wife Pennie Arounsack is the Logistics Section Chief in charge of acquisitions in ordering supplies and equipment needed to support the operation.

The team was formed March 9 with Chief Marques working 12 hours a day, seven days a week for some70 hours a week in the job. He is charged with coordinating and writing policies for what happens in the operation from 8:30 in the morning until 5 p.m. in the afternoon. Handling conference calls with internal departments, the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services and the League of California Cities are just a portion of his duties.

Marques’ daily updates a whiteboard displaying the number of virus cases in each of the county’s communities and the deaths in those locations.

“Manteca has been at the forefront of the fight since the beginning,” he said.

Police Lr. Paul Carmona is in charge of Operations and fire department Administrative Chief Lantz Rey is serving as the public information officers, Marque noted.

From the Fire Department Lantz Rey from the police department Sgt. Stephen Schluer is serving as the public information officers for the program.

Others on the team include Toni Lundgren, section chief for planning, acting police chief Mike Agular, Fire Chief Kyle Shipherd of Ripon. City Attorney John Brinton is in charge of legal questions that might appear in the program.

As of Saturday, April 11, Marques posted on his board with 258 cases county-wide and 42 for Manteca. Not being listed to date are the numbers for Manteca that have passed.