Contingency plans for loss of city personnel through injury or death are also addressed, Stuart noted.The plan also has a listing of 17 “various scenarios that can play out,” involving disasters and emergencies, and “10 out of those 17 have occurred at some level in Santa Paula.”Stuart added that at some point “we will bring back more detailed [plans] based on current events in our country,” more scenarios regarding terrorism.Stuart reminisced about a mega-storm that hit the city, the El Nino of 1998, when part of the Santa Paula Creek levee was being washed out.“We opened up our Emergency Operations Center here in council chambers, and the mayor and new city manager walked in and asked if we could have the council meeting in this room,” scheduled for the evening. “I turned sheepishly to the city manager and said we had just evacuated a third of the city. . .”City staff has been well trained for emergency response, Stuart noted, including assuring their own families are safe before they report to work.The city’s plan has been approved by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Office of Emergency Services and now will be reviewed by the state.
City Council approves updated emergency operations plan
October 09, 2002
Santa Paula City Council
Whether it be natural disasters, technological incidents or national security emergencies, the city is prepared to meet them after the City Council formally adopted the updated Santa Paula Emergency Operations Plan at the Sept. 3rd meeting.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesWhether it be natural disasters, technological incidents or national security emergencies, the city is prepared to meet them after the City Council formally adopted the updated Santa Paula Emergency Operations Plan at the Sept. 3rd meeting.Although a consent calendar item, City Councilman John Procter asked Building & Safety Director Steve Stuart to give a “short scenario” of the plan, noting that “it’s worth mentioning that Steve is well known throughout the state for this kind of thing. . .”Stuart noted that the state-required plan update - the last occurred a decade ago - was a joint effort between department heads.The plan addresses the planned response to extraordinary situations associated with natural disasters, technological incidents or national security emergencies, and does not address “normal day-to-day emergencies or the well-established and routine procedures used in coping with such emergencies,” according to Stuart’s report.Instead, the plan is focused on “potential large-scale disasters that can generate unique situations requiring unusual emergency resources.”The plan has three major components: general information regarding the basic plan, threat summaries and assessments, references, as well as plans adopted by the county.
