City Council sends Public Health and Safety Commission work plan back for refocus on safety element, wildfire priority

Chief Gordon briefed the Public Health and Safety Commission on direction City Council provided after staff’s March 12 presentation of the commission’s proposed 2025 work plan. Council asked the commission to revise the work plan to align it tightly with the general plan’s safety element and the city’s strategic plan, to identify specific public‑safety hazards and measurable outcomes, and to return a revised work plan by July 1.

Chief Gordon told commissioners the March 12 council discussion emphasized the need to prioritize public safety elements, including specific hazards such as pandemics, mental‑health considerations and homelessness as public‑safety issues, and to give focus to wildfire preparedness. “This motion … called for alignment with the current strategic plan and public safety element,” Chief Gordon said, summarizing Council’s direction.

Council members, the chief said, recognized the wildfire preparedness effort as a large near‑term task and pushed the work‑plan deadline to July 1 to allow that work to proceed. The commission discussed scheduling a full work‑plan review at its June 16 regular meeting so commissioners could prepare recommended changes and consider feedback from Council.

Commissioners said they would focus the June discussion on how to narrow the work plan to achievable items given the six‑month period and highlighted the need for measurable deliverables. Several commissioners asked staff to provide the current strategic plan and any council feedback on the 2024 work‑plan submission to help craft the 2025 revision. Chief Gordon said staff would share the strategic plan and work with commissioners to capture Council feedback.

The commission did not adopt a final revised work plan at the meeting; members agreed to return with a narrowed proposal at the June 16 meeting and to prioritize the wildfire preparedness project in the near term.