City manager proposes merged Emergency Management and Communications department with new director
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Summary
City Manager David Hugg proposed creating an Emergency Management and Communications department to reduce single‑point dependency in the city’s emergency response and to centralize certain communications and safety functions.
City Manager David Hugg proposed creating a new Emergency Management and Communications department that would combine the city’s existing emergency management functions with communications and parts of the fire marshal’s office, with the stated aim of strengthening emergency response capacity, internal safety oversight and staff career paths.
Why it matters: Hugg told the council the city’s emergency management capability heavily depended on a single person and lacked redundancy for prolonged operations or absences. The new unit would add a director and a deputy (drawn from an existing fire marshal) to expand certifications, training and day‑to‑day safety work across departments.
What the proposal would do Hugg outlined the rationale: “for many years…our entire emergency management response capability relies on 1 person,” and the proposed reorganization would “create some additional opportunities for people to get certifications in emergency management” and “augment our internal safety program.” He said the position would also handle public communications that are part of an emergency management sequence and interagency command processes.
Salary and staffing Hugg told council the director’s salary would be “about…$135,000,” and the proposed deputy would be “just above” $100,000, noting the total compensation picture would be similar to the current unionized pay plus prior overtime for the incumbent. He said shifting a current fire marshal into a deputy role would create a second level of management and modest handbook‑based pay adjustments.
Council questions and clarifications Council members asked whether the communications work would overlap with departmental public information officers. Hugg and staff said routine departmental outreach (for example, Water Resources educational materials) would remain with departments, while policy‑level public information and emergency communications would be coordinated through the new unit. Staff emphasized the proposed change would not remove public information responsibilities from police or fire but would integrate them into incident command when needed.
Ending: The proposal remains at the budget review stage pending council direction and final job‑spec approvals. Council asked staff for details on the new director role, pay band and operational boundaries between the new unit and existing departmental communications positions.
