Pacific Police Chief Shares Gratitude for Community

Pacific Police Chief Craig Schwartz offered the following words of gratitude to the City of Pacific community in this week’s Pacific Pulse:

Now that 2020 is in our rear-view mirrors I wanted to take a few minutes to wish you all a better 2021. I also want to express my gratitude for all the people in our community who did what they could to make things a little better for someone else over the last year.

I remember when we were suffering through the wildfires of 2017 in my former hometown that we talked about how everyone was a first responder the night the firestorm burned through town. The last year has been a more enduring example of that idea thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our typical idea of “first responders” has grown to include many more “essential workers” who have gone out day after day not just to ensure public safety with emergency response, but to treat our illnesses and injuries, keep us fed, care for our family members, maintain our critical infrastructure, teach our children (online or in-person) and so many more of the tasks required to keep our society going. Thank you to all of you who serve in so many different ways.

Thank you also to the City employees and generous community members, including our own Police Department employees like Heather Malavotte, who worked to make the holiday season a little brighter for families in need. The donations we received from Valley Recycling, Noffke’s Towing Service, and others allowed employees like Heather to play Santa to several thankful community members and showed that there were bright spots even in 2020.

Here’s to a better 2021 that sees us working together to beat the pandemic and getting back to a more “normal” way of life, whatever that may be for each of us.