Emeryville council studies new disaster-operations guide, emphasizes council role and training

The Emeryville City Council on Tuesday received a study-session briefing on a new City Council Guide to Disaster Operations that staff said sets out the council's role in emergency proclamations, continuity of government and public outreach. The guide, staff said, aligns Emeryville with state emergency-management recommendations and clarifies responsibilities for proclamations, ratifications and emergency ordinances. The presentation emphasized why the council matters: "The city council has a significant role in the city's response to disasters," staff member Fred said, noting the mayor serves as chair and the vice mayor as vice chair of the city's disaster council. The nut graf: staff told the council the guide is intended to help elected officials set policy for emergency preparedness, review and ratify proclamations and serve as a conduit between the city and the public during response and recovery. Staff summarized how local operations plug into regional and state systems, explaining SEMS (the Standardized Emergency Management System), NIMS and the incident command system as the frameworks Emeryville will use to coordinate mutual aid and request resources if the city's capabilities are exceeded. The presenter said the city manager functions as director of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and may proclaim or request proclamations of emergency; the council typically ratifies those proclamations. Staff described EOC organization around the five ICS sections (management, operations, planning/intelligence, logistics and finance), options for partial and full EOC activation, and a "forward-leaning" monitoring posture for incidents that could escalate. Staff noted the city's EOC is at the fire station and now supports virtual Emergency Operations Center capabilities. Training and preparedness were highlighted. Staff said FEMA courses and local disaster-service-worker training are available to city staff and recommended the council consider executive-level NIMS/ICS orientation. Fred pointed attendees to FEMA courses, saying the city offers help enrolling in "incident command system for executives and senior officials" and other online courses. Council members raised implementation questions. Vice Mayor Kerr asked whether FEMA/NIMS courses are mandatory; staff said the training is required for city staff but encouraged for council members. Council member Pryforce asked about integration of drones into response and was told staff plans a drone study session in September. Pryforce also pressed for cybersecurity preparedness; staff said they are coordinating a cyber tabletop exercise with CISA and local IT staff. Staff asked council members to prepare personal and family readiness plans and to coordinate with the city manager before visiting incident scenes during an activation. The presentation closed with an overview of public information coordination through the county Joint Information Center and the city's public information officer. Ending: Staff did not present new regulations for council adoption during the session; instead, they presented the guide, listed training resources and said additional briefings and exercises will follow, including a planned drone study session and a tabletop on cyber incidents.