Oxnard fire chief urges council to introduce ordinance updating Disaster Council rules

Alex Hamilton, Fire Chief for the City of Oxnard, told the Community Services, Public Safety, Housing and Development Committee that the committee should recommend the City Council introduce an ordinance to amend Chapter 6 of the Oxnard Municipal Code to update the city's Disaster Council provisions and align them with current emergency management practice.

Hamilton said the proposal is largely housekeeping. "We're doing some sort of clean up, some some house cleaning and updating this document to reflect what currently goes on," he said, describing the draft changes as a modernization of language and structure to match the city's Emergency Operations Plan.

The updated ordinance would list the Disaster Council's membership and formalize its duties. Hamilton said the council would include the director of the Office of Emergency Services (OES), the fire chief, the police chief, the emergency services manager, section coordinators named in the emergency plan, and the public works director. Under the draft language, the Disaster Council would develop and recommend emergency response plans, mutual aid plans, and any rules, regulations or agreements necessary to implement those plans. Hamilton also noted the existing text requires the council to meet at least once per year to review plans, policies and ordinances.

Hamilton told the committee the changes would remove outdated procedural requirements that no longer reflect contemporary emergency management practice and would "clarify the Disaster Council roles and responsibility for emergency planning coordination." He said the revisions would more closely align the city's emergency governance structure with the Emergency Operations Plan and with practices used by peer jurisdictions.

Hamilton said the item has no fiscal impact. "This item has no fiscal impact," he said, and described the work as routine maintenance tied to the Emergency Operations Plan and the local hazard mitigation plan.

Hamilton closed by offering to take questions from the committee and noting that Emergency Services Manager Candy Campbell could also respond to technical questions. The recommendation before the committee, as Hamilton described it, was that the committee recommend the City Council introduce the ordinance by title only and waive further reading; no committee vote or council action appears in the transcript excerpt provided.

If the committee carries the recommendation forward, the next procedural step would be presentation of the ordinance to the full City Council for introduction and subsequent readings or action per council rules.