Los Altos Hills is exploring hiring a full-time emergency manager to better plan and prepare for disasters, although financial questions for the position remain an obstacle.
The town is looking into a full-time position instead of its previous practice of hiring part-time consultants due to a growing need to plan, implement and evaluate emergency preparedness. Issues like wildfires, PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs events and storms are some examples city staff cited, along with addressing limitations in staff time and capacity. More hours from a full-time worker are needed to properly update emergency operation plans, city staff said.
At its Feb. 10 meeting, the council agreed that planning for emergencies was its topmost priority, but it had questions about position costs and getting more details. The council tasked staff with looking into cost-sharing the position with the Los Altos Hills County Fire District. It also asked staff to look into cost-sharing with the city of Los Altos for a full-time position, along with more information about the role.
Vice Mayor George Tyson wanted to see more input and definition for the actual responsibilities, points of contact and collaboration before he agreed to anything.
“I would not, today, and I don’t know that we could, approve this position, but I would say, I’m interested in bringing that forward after a little bit of review,” Tyson said.
The town had previously considered a cost-sharing arrangement with Los Altos. Most neighboring jurisdictions with an emergency manager have salaries ranging from $150,000 to $200,000.
Councilmember Stanley Mok said the town had been lucky to have only small disasters and felt it needed to take time to prepare for bigger, catastrophic events that could occur in the future. He suggested working with the fire district to come up with potential job-sharing options.
“I think that the responsibility should be shared in some fashion,” Mok said. “I also think that it may not be a full-time employee for us, but it will be a full-time employee for our city, that’s what I believe. I think that if we do this, we can catch up on the things we are behind on.”
The role would involve coordinating emergency preparedness, managing the town’s Emergency Operations Center and working with local and national government officials. Other issues, like training staff and updating policy, planning and mass notification systems, are also a priority. The town has relied on contracted consultants since 2012, and past recruitment has also been an issue, with previous requests for proposals for the position resulting in few qualified candidates. The current consultant, Victoria Bebee, has asked to be phased out, city staff said. The town could also maintain its current consultant emergency management role instead of hiring a full-time employee.
Council appointments
At the Feb. 10 meeting, the Los Altos Hills City Council appointed John Lewis to the Los Altos Hills Pathways Committee on a four-year term, while the council also reappointed Anita Baldwin and Viggy Mokkarala to the Open Space Committee.
