Contra Costa Hazmat operations committee finalizes logistics for Sept. 11 public forum

The Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Commission’s operations committee on Aug. (during an operations committee meeting) focused its session on finalizing logistics for a public forum scheduled for Sept. 11, agreeing on volunteer roles, outreach materials and deadlines while clarifying how the public should report hazardous-material incidents.

Mary L. Bortz, chair of the operations committee, opened the discussion by identifying the forum planning packet and a promotional flyer and asking staff to walk through the proposed agenda and logistics. Committee staff led the operational decisions: Adam Springer, assistant director of Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials programs, said staff will manage webinar hosting, run a dry-run with IT ahead of the forum and post presenters’ slide decks on the County website if they are submitted on time. “We’re gonna do a dry run again with the IT here,” Springer said, noting the county will test camera focus and the Q&A workflow before the event.

Why it matters: the forum is designed to connect residents directly with county and partner resources for hazardous-waste questions and non-emergency concerns, while giving attendees the ability to follow up individually with agencies at info tables after the presentations.

Major decisions and deadlines. Committee members asked presenters to submit materials early so staff could post presentations online and prepare printed handouts. Springer said presenters should provide materials by Sept. 4 to be agendized and that any documents needing county printing should be emailed in one bundle by Sept. 5 to allow copies to be produced.

Volunteer roles and event flow. Committee members signed up to staff greeter and floater roles and to help collect index cards with audience questions. Jamin (a commissioner volunteer) was identified to consolidate and read both in-room index-card questions and written questions submitted through the webinar Q&A. Adam Springer confirmed county staff will run the webinar from a county account and provide a webinar assistant to move consolidated questions to the reader.

Remote participation and Q&A rules. The committee agreed remote attendees will not speak live; instead, they will submit questions via the webinar Q&A box and staff or a commissioner will consolidate similar items. “We were not gonna allow questions on Zoom. We were going to have them use the Q and A feature. No, no speaking, no chat,” Mary L. Bortz said to clarify the format. The committee emphasized consolidating duplicate questions into themes to use time efficiently.

Info tables, materials and outreach. The operations committee confirmed the county table and partner tables will display brochures, QR codes and limited printed materials. The Center for Creative Land Recycling will supply brochures, and staff will coordinate with sanitary districts (Central San and Delta Diablo were mentioned) and other partners to collect localized hazardous-waste collection information. The committee requested a simple one-page description of the commission and agreed outreach materials should include Spanish-language flyers; the county’s PIO said Spanish versions will be produced and social-media distribution is being scheduled.

Ombudsperson role and incident reporting. Committee members sought clarity on whom residents should contact about odors or suspected releases. Springer clarified the ombudsperson (identified in the discussion as Lisa Radello, a deputy health officer tied to the county’s ombuds role) is a facilitator for non-emergency community concerns—not a first responder. “The ombudsperson is not to be contacted for a hazardous materials release,” Springer said, adding that for emergencies residents should call 911 and that odor or emission complaints are typically reported to the Air District or emergency dispatch depending on the circumstance. The committee asked staff to include links to the ombudsperson page and the Air District’s odor-complaint portal on the commission resources webpage so the public can find appropriate contacts.

A/V and room setup. Because cameras in the board chamber are being upgraded, staff said they will test camera framing during the dry run with an emphasis on focusing on the panel as a whole rather than individuals. The committee decided presenters will sit at the dais and that tent cards or name placards should be prepared; staff agreed to make tent cards for up to 10 presenters and to provide two-name cards when a presentation has co-presenters.

Next steps. Staff will circulate a signup to the full commission for volunteer roles, confirm which tables and presenters will be in Room C, run a technology dry run prior to the event, and post materials to the county website once received. The committee scheduled an ad hoc meeting by Zoom on Aug. 25 to refine final details and planned an operations post-forum debrief on Sept. 12.

Votes at a glance. The committee approved the minutes of the July 11 meeting by voice assent earlier in the session (motion passed; mover not specified in the transcript). The operations committee adjourned at the meeting’s close.

The operations committee will reconvene for an ad hoc review on Aug. 25 and the full commission will receive event publicity and schedule updates once finalized by county PIO.