San Leandro council receives emergency-management briefing on EOC roles, communications and neighborhood preparedness

San Leandro elected officials received a briefing on emergency management during a Feb. 11 city council work session focused on the roles of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), incident command systems and communication during incidents.

Emergency Services Specialist Libby Basman led the presentation, telling council members the training was aimed specifically at elected officials and that “the way we train is the way we perform.” She reviewed the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS), described the EOC’s purpose, and outlined what she said elected officials should do before, during and after an incident.

Basman said local officials and staff must follow established processes to secure federal reimbursement: “If we don't follow process, we will not be reimbursed,” she said. She told council members the primary role of elected officials during an incident is to support first responders and the EOC director, and urged them to “stay home. Stay safe.”

Why it matters

Basman framed the training around San Leandro’s capacity: she noted about 90,000 residents and “a couple of hundred” city staff, and said neighborhood-level self‑sufficiency and block-level planning are essential because the city cannot immediately reach everyone during an incident.

What the briefing covered

- Systems and authorities: Basman reviewed NIMS and ICS as standard, scalable systems that enable multi‑jurisdictional response and mutual aid. She also told council members the California Emergency Services Act enables local emergency proclamations, mutual-aid agreements and state assistance.

- EOC functions and locations: Basman identified two planned EOC locations in San Leandro — Sterling Grant (the city’s preferred “warm” EOC) and the senior center — and said the EOC provides coordination, resource tracking, public information and recovery planning.

- Roles and succession: Basman said the EOC director is responsible for setting objectives and coordinating the EOC; she told the council there is a three‑deep org chart for the EOC director position and named the first three contacts: Janelle (first), Mike (second) and Tom Liao of Community Development (third). City Manager Janelle (first name used in the meeting) said the director role can rotate during long incidents and that staff will notify council members when leadership changes.

- Communications expectations: Basman said the EOC aims to issue an initial vetted update within the first hour after an incident is elevated to an EOC event, and then to set expectations for the timing of subsequent updates. She and City Manager Janelle discussed using Nixle (reverse‑911/text/email/phone) and social media as primary notification channels.

Council discussion and after‑action items

Council members pressed for clarity on who would contact them in a real‑time emergency, how frequently the EOC would issue updates, and how to reach residents who lack smartphones. City Manager Janelle said the EOC will contact council members directly when their districts are affected and noted that citywide updates and email notifications will be used for broader incidents.

Fire Chief Bowie addressed evacuation and preparedness questions, saying evacuation routes and actions are highly incident‑dependent and emphasizing household and neighborhood planning (go bags, family communications, CERT and FEMA training) as the most reliable preparedness steps.

Basman and Chief Bowie summarized after‑action findings from a recent gas leak that the council discussed: the city reached about 58,000 residents via Nixle during that incident, but an auto‑call feature was not used and translation of messages lagged. They said the city will work to make evacuation maps more readily available in future messages and to improve multilingual outreach.

Public comment and community concerns

Members of the public raised evacuation and equity concerns. A resident from Bayo Vista said the neighborhood has roughly 3,500 residents, many with mobility needs and limited smartphone access, and urged the city to plan block captains, evacuation routes and transport for vulnerable residents. Other commenters asked for prerecorded multilingual messages for public‑address announcements, clearer single-source evacuation maps, and more testing or public information about sirens.

City staff responses and operational tools

Staff described multiple notification and outreach tools used during recent incidents: Nixle (email/text/phone), PA announcements, door‑to‑door checks, reverse‑911 to landlines, on‑camera media updates and coordinated PIO messaging with regional media. Director Marquesas (as referenced in the discussion) said she would follow up on the status and testing schedule of outdoor sirens.

Tabletop and exercise

The meeting concluded with a short tabletop exercise in which council members were given a tanker‑truck chlorine plume scenario requiring shelter‑in‑place. Council members reiterated they would rely on the EOC director for information and would share EOC‑approved messages with constituents rather than attempting independent operational action.

What the city said it will do next

Council members and staff identified follow‑up items discussed in the meeting: improve use of Nixle (including auto‑call features), provide evacuation maps in initial public messages, expand multilingual translations for outreach, evaluate siren coverage and testing, and explore neighborhood‑level planning (block captains/resilience hubs). No formal council actions or votes were taken at the work session.

Ending

Basman closed by thanking council members for the opportunity to provide targeted training and said she planned follow‑up work on technology upgrades for the Sterling Grant EOC and on public‑facing materials to aid neighborhood preparedness.