Independent Hagerty review urges formalized plans, training and a citywide preparedness framework after Richmond water incidents

Stephen Willoughby, director of emergency communications, preparedness and response, introduced Hagerty Consulting’s independent incident-response assessment to the Organizational Development Standing Committee on June 23, saying the firm was engaged early after the city’s January water crisis.

"We asked Hagerty to perform an independent assessment and an after action review of the city's response to this crisis," Willoughby said. "They have spent months observing, performing document review, conducting interviews with individuals both internally and externally that were involved in the response, collecting and fact checking observations."

Aymah Marino Mazza, Hagerty project manager, and Jaisa Rogers, preparedness planning specialist, summarized the review. Marino Mazza said the consulting team engaged up to 88 stakeholders, conducted 57 interviews, ran surveys and completed a document review. The team produced 72–74 targeted recommendations aligned to FEMA core capabilities and organized them so the city can prioritize improvements.

"The ultimate goal really is to provide a document that is of use to the city," Marino Mazza said. "We developed 74 targeted recommendations…we understand that these recommendations cannot be carried out overnight."

Key findings and recommendations Hagerty highlighted included: updating the emergency operations plan and point-of-distribution (POD) plans; creating a citywide integrated preparedness plan and a timeline for mandatory trainings and exercises; clarifying roles, command structures and staffing shifts in operational coordination; and establishing formal public-information protocols, including a joint information center for coordinated messaging with regional partners.

Hagerty and city staff told the committee some recommendations are already underway. Jaisa Rogers said the city has implemented and tested a new emergency notification system — marketed as Richmond Ready and powered by Everbridge — and that the city has enhanced policies around Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) for mass notifications. Rogers also said the city has completed recommendations related to a citywide recovery framework and cost-tracking mechanisms.

Council members raised questions about stakeholder outreach, prioritization and costs. Council member Lynch asked whether Hagerty had developed a detailed phone-tree list of whom to notify (restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.). Marino Mazza replied that the report recommends the city build a crisis communications plan that will include such a list because the required stakeholders can vary by incident.

Council member Gibson asked when Richmond Ready testing occurred and whether the city now has the infrastructure to use WEA for future boil-water advisories. Willoughby said Richmond Ready had been tested and that the city has implemented policy changes to make WEA the default for future boil-water advisories. "In May, that information only went out via Richmond Ready. I have since put in place the policy that any future boil water advisories, we will use the WEA option," Willoughby said.

On costs, Council member Gibson cited an earlier departmental summary that placed total incident-related costs at about $6.465 million, with roughly $1.2 million to consultants. City staff said the figures the council received included encumbered, projected and not-yet-finalized amounts; some costs may be covered by insurance and some may be eligible for state or federal reimbursement, but the city determined at the time that thresholds for federal assistance were not met.

Willoughby said the city will treat the report as a work plan: the Office of Emergency Management will post the recommendations on the city website and create a tracker for progress. He said the city will begin work on an integrated preparedness plan within 30 days and start updates to the emergency operations plan in roughly 60–90 days.

The committee heard the report and engaged in a question-and-answer session; Hagerty’s recommendations will guide follow-up work and periodic progress updates to council.