Taos council reviews plan to expand emergency management and regional tabletop exercises

The Taos Town Council heard a presentation on Jan. 27 on developing a town emergency and disaster preparedness plan and next steps to increase regional coordination and exercises.

Resilience Emergency Management consultant David Elliott told councilors the town should treat emergency management as “a resource thing” that organizes people and assets in novel ways when ordinary operations are insufficient. He described a planning framework (planning, organization, equipment, training, exercises — POETTE) and recommended a mix of all-hazards tools and hazard-specific training (wildfire, dam incidents, large events). Elliott said exercises should be frequent and designed to reveal gaps: “a tabletop is disaster dungeons and dragons — we’re just gonna role play through something.”

The presentation emphasized community collaboration and sustaining “muscle memory” through regular exercises and trainings so first responders, elected officials and key departments can fall into roles during a real incident. Elliott also reviewed past town efforts during COVID and, he said, Taos’ event plans have been used as templates by other jurisdictions.

Deputy Town Manager Mark Flores and the town’s former emergency manager described steps the town already has taken: creation of an incident management team, monthly internal meetings of chiefs and department heads, hazard analyses and work to schedule tabletop exercises that include the county, neighboring municipalities, hospitals and schools. Flores said the town will meet monthly internally at minimum and that elected officials are being invited to participate in exercises.

Councilors pressed for joint town–county tabletop exercises and for a schedule of training and funding. Council Member Fambro requested a twice‑a‑year regional tabletop; several councilors urged the town to lead convening because the county is the jurisdictional authority for emergency management but may not always include municipalities in planning. Elliott and staff discussed grants and contract options to pay for planning and training; councilors suggested looking for outside funding and using the town’s existing contract process to secure more consultant time.

Ending: Councilors supported holding a guided, exercise‑light tabletop in summer to convene county, municipal and other regional partners. Staff said they would draft an approach (scope and contract options) and return with dates, potential budget implications and a plan for inviting county and regional partners.