San Fernando reconvenes Disaster Council, directs staff to pursue CERT training and preparedness outreach
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Summary
At a Feb. special meeting, Mayor Joe Fajardo and city staff reconvened San Fernando's Disaster Council, reviewed municipal code duties and instructed staff to update preparedness resources, coordinate CERT training with LAFD, work with Red Cross on shelter and staff training, and engage LAUSD on school safety plans.
San Fernando leaders reconvened the city's Disaster Council at a special meeting to re-establish the council's responsibilities and set a series of preparedness steps, including community CERT training, updated emergency messaging and a resource fair.
Mayor Joe Fajardo opened the meeting at 4:32 p.m. and acknowledged that the meeting would proceed as a city council session while confirming the disaster council's membership would be introduced. "We do have a quorum," Fajardo said as the meeting began.
San Fernando Police Chief Fabian Valdez, who led the disaster-council introductions, told the council this was the first disaster council meeting since 2021 and reviewed the municipal code sections that establish the council's duties. "San Fernando municipal code section 26-31 establishes the creation of the city's disaster council," Valdez said, summarizing the council's charge to develop the city emergency plan and coordinate public and private resources for emergency response.
Council members and agency partners discussed immediate priorities. Council member Salorio urged the city to model its public messaging on neighboring cities and to use short, clear online messages directing residents to a single authoritative source during an emergency. "Go to this website in order to get updates," Salorio said, describing a short video approach used elsewhere.
Commander CJ Chaseon, the coordinator of emergency services with the San Fernando Police Department, said the city is renewing its Everbridge contract for mass notifications and has been added to LA County OEM's Genesis evacuation and mass-notification system. He also recommended bolstering community-level communications through CERT and alternative radio plans so neighbors can communicate if cellular or internet service fails. "If the system that we're so reliant on goes down, one of the goals ... was GMRS radio systems," Chaseon said, describing options for neighbor-to-neighbor contact.
Mary Medina, disaster program manager for the American Red Cross, offered the Red Cross's training programs for the public and staff, including earthquake and wildfire trainings, hands-only CPR at no charge and sheltering support and staff training so city employees can manage shelters if volunteers cannot arrive immediately. "We can train you all how to set up a shelter," Medina said.
Los Angeles Fire Department Operations Valley Bureau Commander Louis Aldana described additional LAFD support, including linking the city with active CERT leaders, organizing community CPR sessions and prepositioning "disaster caches" in park locations for rapid neighborhood response. Aldana said LAFD is coordinating with LAUSD emergency management for schools located in high fire-severity zones and floated options such as relocating students on red-flag days to avoid large-scale evacuations.
Council member Mary Mendoza emphasized equipment readiness and earthquake-specific planning, asking staff to consider whether necessary communications and response gear will be available and budgeted. "We need to develop teams within our city and prepare and have various teams in various areas," Mendoza said.
After discussion, city staff summarized the council's direction and agreed to several follow-ups: update the city website with preparedness resources; schedule CERT training in coordination with LAFD; work with the American Red Cross to provide shelter and staff training; include gas-shutoff and utility guidance in public training materials; and return to council with proposed dates and a draft plan. Staff said they would consult the city attorney to ensure any committee work complies with Brown Act rules.
Two procedural motions recorded in the transcript: Mayor Fajardo moved to approve the meeting agenda, a motion seconded and announced as carried; at the meeting's close Fajardo moved to adjourn both the special City Council and disaster council meetings at 5:13 p.m.; the motion was seconded, an objection was voiced, and the mayor announced the motion carried.
The council asked staff to return with a draft plan and proposed meeting dates. The meeting record shows the city intends to combine existing county and regional tools (Everbridge, Genesis), partner with LAFD and Red Cross for training and caches, and update public communications so residents have a single, clearly promoted source for emergency information.