Subcommittee approves updated Chapter 11 emergency management language, sends plan to full council
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Summary
City staff recommended clarifying Chapter 11 of the City Code, renaming the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to the Office of Emergency Management, and adopting an updated Emergency Operations Plan (EOP); the subcommittee approved forwarding the updates to the full council for final action.
City staff presented proposed updates to Chapter 11 of the City Code and an updated Emergency Operations Plan and the subcommittee voted unanimously to forward the changes to the full City Council for consideration.
The presentation, given by Executive Assistant Chief Tim Scribe, Emergency Management Coordinator Rudy Perez and other staff, proposed renaming the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to the Office of Emergency Management and recommended defining “great emergency” to match the city’s definition of “local emergency” and Arizona Revised Statute language. "Staff recommends that the office be renamed the Office of Emergency Management," Scribe said during his briefing.
The nut graf: the updates clarify roles and terminology and adopt a revised Emergency Operations Plan that staff says reflects multi-department and whole-community planning completed since the previous plan was approved in 2018.
The EOP overview described the document as the "foundational document that guides how the city prepares for and responds to and recovers from emergencies and disasters," Perez said. The revised EOP, staff told the subcommittee, updates command-and-coordination structures, incorporates recently created city departments (for example, the Office of Public Health and the Office of Homeless Solutions) and adds or refines support plans including family reunification, community assistance centers and shelter operations.
Staff stressed that the recommendation does not change the mayor’s or council’s statutory authorities related to emergency declarations; the presentation referenced Chapter 5, Section 4 of the city charter and a city definition aligned with the Arizona statute cited in the briefing (, as read during the meeting: "Arizona revised statute ARS 20 six-three 0 1"). The presentation also walked through what declaring a local emergency enables the city to do, including putting the EOP into effect, accepting outside support and authorizing temporary regulations where necessary.
Chairman Robinson asked for questions and there were none. A motion "to approve item 2 as presented" was made and seconded; the subcommittee voted unanimously to forward the Chapter 11 updates and the updated EOP to the formal council meeting on October 15 for final consideration.
Ending: The subcommittee took no additional policy changes beyond the clarifications staff recommended; the item will be considered next by the full City Council on the date staff proposed.
