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Portland staff begin rewrite of outdated emergency operations plan; advisory committee formed
Summary
City staff outlined a six-step effort to rewrite Portland’s emergency operations plan, citing a statutory requirement and the last major update in 2008. An advisory committee is already meeting and staff expect a draft for committee review in late September or October.
Portland staff told the Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee on July 8 that the city is undertaking a full rewrite of its emergency operations plan to comply with state law and bring the city’s playbook up to date.
The plan rewrite is being led by a project advisory committee and contract staff. Staff said Title 37B, section 7‑83 requires municipalities to “prepare and keep a current disaster plan,” and an existing city ordinance (Chapter 2, Article 8, Section 409) requires council approval of the city’s emergency operations plan. Keith Gutrow, a contract employee working on the project, said the last formal plan revision staff can locate dates to 02/2008.
Staff told the committee the update is intended to assign responsibilities across departments, identify the city’s main hazards and risk levels, formalize mutual‑aid agreements and provide training and maintenance steps for the plan. Gutrow described the six proposed steps: form a team, understand the situation, set goals and objectives, develop the plan, review it, and obtain council approval followed by training and periodic maintenance.
Gutrow said staff have already formed an Emergency Management Project Advisory Committee, selected a traditional plan format with base, functional and hazard‑specific annexes, and completed a Capability and Risk Assessment Tool (CARET) exercise in 2024 that ranked winter ice storms higher than wildfire risk for Portland. He said subject matter experts have been identified, a communications section has been updated, and staff have begun drafting the plan. Staff reported they are slightly behind an original timeline and now expect to bring a draft to the committee in late September or early October for feedback and potential public comment before sending it to full council for approval.
Committee members and staff discussed public engagement, special populations and training. Assistant City Manager Greg Jordan and Gutrow said the plan will follow FEMA guidance on stakeholder engagement and will include analysis of the city’s demographic makeup and language needs. Gutrow noted the plan will address varied populations ‘‘that are going to be exposed to risk in different ways.’’ Jordan said the city manager’s office may propose ordinance language to allow routine administrative updates by the city manager while reserving material changes or periodic formal review by council (staff suggested intervals such as three to five years).
Councilors asked about the treatment of man‑made incidents and civil demonstrations in the hazard list. Gutrow said the definition of ‘‘disaster’’ can include man‑made events and that past large, resource‑intensive incidents influenced the risk assessment. Councilor Pelletier and others emphasized prioritizing finance and operational feasibility in exercises and maintenance.
Staff listed departments and partners on the advisory committee, including airport staff and finance, and said they will meet in coming weeks with department directors for feedback. Gutrow said the plan would include training (incident command system and NIMS) for senior staff and eventually for council members once the draft is ready.
Committee direction and next steps included continuing advisory committee meetings, completing the draft for committee review in the fall, and returning with proposed ordinance language that clarifies update cadence and administrative authority for non‑material changes.
