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Council approves homeland-security grant and professional communications contracts
Summary
Council accepted a $140,000 state homeland-security grant for an emergency vehicle and anti-vehicle barriers and approved two communications/PR contracts (Merino Group for crisis communications; Blue Icon Communications for day-to-day PIO and AI-supported outreach).
The Huntington Park City Council approved three separate items affecting public safety and communications.
Police staff said the city was awarded $140,000 from the State Homeland Security Program for grant year 2023. Staff proposed using $100,000 toward a specialized emergency operations vehicle (outfitted with lights and equipment), and the remaining funds toward portable anti-vehicle barriers for large events. Staff said the barrier package as described in the grant would require additional county funding to achieve a full set; if county funds are not approved, the city will acquire a partial set now and seek additional funding next year. The council approved accepting the grant and the associated subrecipient agreement.
Separately, the council approved two professional service agreements recommended by staff: one with the Merino Group to provide crisis-communications planning and rapid response support and another with Blue Icon Communications for public-information officer (PIO) services, digital asset management and implementation of AI-enhanced workflows. Staff said the Merino Group had been assisting the city on crisis communications since April and recommended continuity for those services; Blue Icon was recommended for its technology-driven approach to day-to-day public information and bilingual communications.
Councilmembers raised concerns about over-reliance on AI-generated materials and insisted on human review of final products. City staff and the proposed firms said AI would be used to support workflows and not to replace human oversight; they emphasized the contracts require human review and bilingual communications capacity. After discussion, council approved both agreements.
The council’s votes cleared the grant acceptance and both professional-service agreements.
