DHS employee urges review of shelter activation policy after winter storm; city manager explains decision process

At the March 11 Newport News City Council meeting, Jawaan Wheaton, who identified himself as a Department of Human Services employee, urged the city to review shelter activation policies, employee compensation and communications after a February storm shelter activation.

"This experience raised important questions about what it truly means to be an essential employee," Wheaton told the council. He described a February 19 shelter activation that required staff to report during sustained heavy snowfall and urged policies to ensure timely communication, safe travel for employees, broader staff eligibility for shelter duties, and overtime pay when shelter teams are activated.

Vice Mayor Bethany asked the city manager to explain how decisions to open shelters are made. The city manager replied that the decision is made by incident command staff in the city's emergency operations center, following steps identified in the city's emergency operations plan to protect life safety during natural disasters or other emergencies.

Wheaton asked the council to review shelter operations and offered to help with policy improvements. The city manager described the command structure used to assess "overall life safety" and to activate the emergency operations center when extraordinary responses are necessary.

Why this matters: Shelter activations affect employee workloads and public access to emergency shelter during storms and other incidents. The employee's request puts compensation and communication procedures on the record for council and administration review.

What happens next: Wheaton said he is willing to participate in discussions; the city manager indicated the activation process follows the emergency operations plan. No formal council action was taken at the March 11 meeting on shelter staffing or compensation.