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Agoura Hills council approves revised community wildfire risk survey, adds sign-up link for emergency notifications
Summary
The Agoura Hills City Council on Feb. 12 approved a revised Community Wildfire Risk Assessment (CWRA) survey, moving wildfire-experience questions to the front of the survey and adding a link for residents to opt in to emergency notifications. The survey will run at least one month and results will be shared at a later community meeting.
Agoura Hills — The Agoura Hills City Council voted 5-0 on Feb. 12 to approve revised community survey questions that will be used as part of the city's Community Wildfire Risk Assessment (CWRA).
The council approved the survey after hearing a staff presentation and edits made by the council's law enforcement, fire and emergency response subcommittee, including input from the Agoura Hills Fire Safe Council and consultants from Jensen Hughes. Councilmember Deborah Klein Lopez made the motion to adopt the revised questions; Councilmember Chris Anstead seconded. The roll call vote was: Kate Anderson, Chris Anstead, Deborah Klein Lopez, Jerry Wolf and Mayor Sylvester — all voting aye.
The survey edits shift demographic questions toward the end and place wildfire and wildfire-experience questions — including more general wording than references to the 2018 Woolsey Fire — at the beginning to reduce respondent fatigue and improve data relevance. Jensen Hughes will host the survey via SurveyMonkey on the city's dedicated CWRA web page and work with the city's communications manager on outreach. Staff recommended the survey remain open for a minimum of one month.
Deputy City Manager Louis Solea told the council that the subcommittee and consultants modified question order, added conditional logic in places to skip irrelevant items, and removed some response options to streamline participation. Jensen Hughes representative Amelia Pluto said there would be a final-page link to register contact information for emergency notifications — an option councilmembers requested so residents could opt in to the city notification system (e.g., CodeRED) for email or cell alerts.
Agoura Hills Fire Safe Council member Jay Crutcher urged the council to move quickly on implementation and noted state-level activity on wildfire rules, citing Governor Newsom's recent executive order and pending Cal Fire regulations. Crutcher referenced state legislation by name during public comment: Assembly Bill 3074 and Senate Bill 63, both of which he said directed Cal Fire to issue updated regulations and hazard maps (he described their passage and vote margins). The council did not adopt any new ordinance; the approved action is limited to releasing the survey questions for public response.
Councilmembers said the timing is appropriate given recent fires statewide and locally, and they thanked Jensen Hughes and local Fire Safe Council volunteers for their input. Councilmembers also suggested setting up in-person assistance (for example, at senior centers or community events) so residents who need help with online tools can complete the survey.
The council directed staff to publish the survey link, begin outreach (including printed copies and in-person assistance), and return later with summarized results at a community meeting. No budget appropriation or regulatory requirement was enacted through this vote; the action authorizes release of the survey only.
