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SR 11-28-2017 3J City Council Report City Council Meeting: November 28, 2017 Agenda Item: 3.J 1 of 3 To: Mayor and City Council From: Katie Lichtig, Assistant City Manager, City Manager's Office Subject: Readoption of the Area A Disaster Management Organization Joint Powers Agreement Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council: The City of Santa Monica readopt the Joint Powers Agreement governing the Disaster Management Area A Board in order to regain its board member position and voting status on regional disaster and emergency preparedness and management decisions. Executive Summary The impacts of natural and human disasters and major emergencies are seldom bound by city borders – and the responses almost never involve only a single agency. In Los Angeles County, shared responsibility for emergency and special event management, planning, and preparedness is organized through the framework of cooperative Joint Powers Agreements. Santa Monica is located within Disaster Management Area A comprising Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Culver City, and West Hollywood. While Santa Monica seceded from the Joint Powers Agreement in 2013 (Item 3-F, 3/19/2013), our city has continued incident planning, trainings, and grant funded programs with Disaster Management Area A emergency managers. Although engagement and coordination have continued, Santa Monica is currently lacks voting power on the decisions made by the Disaster Management Area. The Joint Powers Agreement is executed by the Mayor of each jurisdiction. The City Manager oversees the City’s participation in the Joint Powers Agreement and its related emergency management activities. Each City Manager is asked to attend one annual meeting where he/she is provided an update by Operational Area A Emergency 2 of 3 Managers. Currently, the City Manager of the City of Santa Monica is invited to the meeting but is not allowed to participate or vote due to Santa Monica’s departure from the agreement. Background In the 1950s, Los Angeles County was divided into civil defense areas, which were established for the purposes of coordinating disaster training, exercises, and planning activities throughout the County. The County was divided into eight separate civil defense areas; now known as “Disaster Management Areas”. A Joint Powers Agreement was developed by the Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management along with the federal Office of Civil Defense, currently the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to provide a formalized structure of responsibilities for emergency planning and operations. It also provided a vote to each Disaster Management Area on County-wide emergency management policies and finance- related matters. On October 12, 1999, the City of Santa Monica entered into the Agreement to facilitate inter-agency cooperation with its Disaster Management Area partners during natural or man-made disasters (Item 6-E, 10/12/1999). In February 2013, the City of Santa Monica dissolved its formal adoption and participation in the Joint Powers Agreement. The decision was made with the thinking that the Joint Powers Agreement was no longer necessary to ensure coordination or provide grant funding, and that Area A cities would be able to operate in a more efficient manner outside of the Joint Powers Agreement. However, leaving the Agreement has not increased the efficiency and also has not created vulnerabilities within the Office of Emergency Management’s emergency planning or response practices. Moreover, withdrawing from the Joint Powers Agreement removed the City of Santa Monica from serving as a Disaster Management Area A board member and its voting power on Area A decisions. Discussion 3 of 3 The Joint Powers Agreement has accomplished a great deal in regards to emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and disaster mitigation. Examples of recent JPA coordinated accomplishments include implementation of Family Assistance Center plans and training, joint participation in the Los Angeles County Operational Area Communications Drill, and collaboration during the 2017 winter storms. At this time, it is staff’s recommendation that Santa Monica readopt the Joint Powers Agreement in order to regain its board member status and voting power as well as maintain participatory collaboration among the respective parties. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions There are no financial or budgetary impacts to the dissolution of the Joint Powers Agreement. Prepared By: Alfredo Gonzalez, Staff Assistant III Approved Forwarded to Council Attachments: A. OEM JPA Withdrawal Staff Report REFERENCE – AGREEMENT NO. 10590 (CCS)