Encinitas panel adopts wildfire outreach schedule, directs staff to draft public survey

The Encinitas Public Health and Safety Commission voted unanimously to adopt a schedule of public meetings and to direct staff to draft a public survey to collect residents' concerns about large wildfires, evacuation routes and preparedness.

The action, taken after more than two hours of discussion and one public comment, responds to a city council request that the commission "investigate potential wildfire risk and concerns" and provide findings in time to inform the city’s May–June budget process. Chair Morton framed the commission’s task as: "Hold public meetings to gather what issues of concern to the public regarding a conflagration."

Commissioners and staff said the survey and outreach will focus on a small number of themes and be kept short so people will complete it. Fire Chief Gordon told the panel that a practical survey structure would include "3 to 5 themes with 3 to 5 questions each," and staff said they would aim to keep the instrument to roughly 15 questions or fewer.

Among the topics commissioners and staff identified for the questionnaire and public outreach were: awareness and use of emergency notification apps and city alert systems; knowledge of evacuation routes and destinations; household and property preparedness (for people and animals); concerns about water and hydrant availability and fire department staffing; and special needs populations (seniors, people with limited mobility, homeless residents). Commissioners also asked for a question that captures free-text input on "other fire hazards" residents see in their neighborhoods.

Public comment and commissioners’ discussion stressed geographic differences within Encinitas. A resident who identified herself as Molly, District 2, told the commission: "I can't find the evacuation plan for Encinitas... I really feel like a map," and urged outreach and workshops tailored to individual districts. Commissioners said they want the survey distributed widely — by QR code at events, via the city website and social media, and through community groups such as the local fire-safe council, which staff said has an email list of about 1,300 people.

The commission discussed a draft meeting schedule and outreach plan that staff will execute and return to the commission for approval. The calendar discussed on the record includes: a regular commission meeting on March 17 (recommended time 4–6 p.m.), a wildfire preparedness workshop at the Encinitas Community Center on March 22 (9–11 a.m.), a meeting to synthesize public comment at the end of March, a mid-April meeting for the fire department to respond to the commission’s summary, and follow-up deliberations in late April leading to a final report. Staff said they will close the survey before the March synthesis meeting so commissioners have cross-tabulated results to review.

Commissioners were advised on Brown Act constraints for attending public events. City staff and counsel noted that commissioners may attend public workshops but must avoid serial communications that could be treated as an unauthorized meeting; staff recommended staggered attendance (no more than three commissioners at a time) or using the commission’s regularly agendized special meetings for formal discussion.

The motion adopted by the commission directed staff to: draft survey content based on the themes discussed, create a QR-code link and web form, distribute the survey through city channels and partner organizations, and return a draft survey and outreach plan for the commission’s review before the March 17 meeting. Commissioners also agreed informally to pair up for outreach work in the community so individual pairs could attend events and gather input without creating a serial meeting.

During the meeting staff noted a related administrative item: Commissioner Robin Sales had resigned; staff said the city council would manage the replacement process.

The vote on the meeting schedule and staff direction carried unanimously among members present; Commissioners Andrade and Sales were recorded as absent earlier in the meeting. Staff will return a draft survey and outreach plan to the commission for formal review at the next scheduled meeting.