SR 12-15-2020 3H
City Council Report
City Council Meeting: December 15, 2020
Agenda Item: 3.H
1 of 5
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Bill Walker, Fire Chief, Fire Department
Subject: Accept 2019 State Homeland Security Grant and award RFP to provide
professional services to assist Los Angeles Area Fire Chief’s Association
Regional Training Group Fire Service Training Officer hosted by Santa
Monica Fire
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant awarded in the amount of $936,711
from the 2019 State Homeland Security Grant Program;
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to accept the
grant and all grant renewals;
3. Award RFP#270 for professional services to Fire Resources LLC, to assist Los
Angeles Area Fire Chief’s Association Regional Training Group hosted by Santa
Monica Fire Department;
4. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional service
agreement with Fire Resources LLC, in an amount not to exceed $370,000 for a
twenty-four-month period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget
approval and state homeland security grant funding; and
5. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
section of this report.
Summary
Each year, the Federal government allocates grant funding to enhance regional
preparedness for disasters, emergencies and other threats to homeland security. In
2019, $936,711 was awarded to the Santa Monica Fire Department as a part of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency's
(FEMA) State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) grant. Staff recommends
that Council authorize acceptance of the 2019 SHSGP grant funds and execution of a
subrecipient agreement with the County of Los Angeles for a performance period of
September 1, 2019 to May 31, 2022. The 2019 SHSGP grant funds are administered
by the County of Los Angeles on behalf of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Urban Area,
which includes Santa Monica. The Fire Department was awarded 2019 SHSGP funds in
3.H
Packet Pg. 187
2 of 5
the amount of $185,000 for a professional services agreement to assist the Los Angeles
Area Fire Chief’s Association (LAAFCA) Regional Training Group (RTG) for an initial
term of two years.
Discussion
The SHSGP program focus is on enhancing regional preparedness and capabilities in
major metropolitan areas. The Santa Monica Fire Department was asked to host funds
to assist the RTG with facilitating county-wide trainings that support Fire’s core public
safety missions as well as regional homeland security goals. The following are the ten
major regional homeland security focus areas of the SHSGP grant program, known as
Investment Justifications (IJ):
lJ # 1: Strengthen Capabilities of the State Threat Assessment System;
IJ # 2: Protect Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources;
IJ # 3: Enhance Cybersecurity;
IJ # 4: Strengthen Emergency Communications Capabilities Through Planning,
Governance, Technology and Equipment;
IJ # 5: Enhance Medical and Public Health Capabilities;
IJ # 6: Preventing Violent Extremism Through Multi-Jurisdictional/Inter-
Jurisdictional Collaboration and Coordination;
IJ # 7: Enhance Community Resilience, Including Partnerships With Volunteers
and Community Based Organizations and Programs;
IJ # 8: Strengthen Information Sharing and Collaboration;
IJ # 9: Enhance Multi-Jurisdictional/Inter-Jurisdictional All-Hazards Incident
Planning, Response & Recovery Capabilities; and
IJ #10: Homeland Security Exercise, Evaluation and Training Programs
The SHSGP program directly supports the national priority of expanding regional
collaboration within the National Preparedness Goal, which defines what it means for
the whole community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies. The
SHSGP grant is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated
regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery from natural or
man-made disasters.
3.H
Packet Pg. 188
3 of 5
The 2019 SHSGP program’s agreement was just received by the City since it takes the
County of Los Angeles and the State the first year of the performance period to
negotiate the workbook and approve the numerous regional projects before subrecipient
agreements can be processed. The program will fund projects in 29 high-threat, high
density areas selected by DHS. The County of Los Angeles is the region's grantor for
the SHSGP grant and allocates funds to the City of Santa Monica. A regional working
group and approval authority, made up of SHSGP stakeholders from throughout the Los
Angeles-Long Beach Urban Area, are the governance bodies that determine which
regional projects to submit to DHS for grant funding.
The SHSGP grant program is 100% federally funded by DHS and managed through the
State of California's Office of Emergency Services. There is no requirement of a local
match. The City of Santa Monica has received close to $20M in federal security grant
funding since 2003. These funds have been used to purchase necessary interoperable
communication and infrastructure equipment, supplies, and training in direct support of
overall regional goals to promote effective information gathering, sharing, and response
to threats and/or acts of terrorism.
The City of Santa Monica Fire Department has recently been awarded funding to host a
professional services contract with a subject matter expert to assist in fulfilling the Los
Angeles Fire Chiefs’ Association (LAAFCA) Regional Training Group’s (RTG) mission to
provide unified, innovative, quality training to enhance firefighter safety and responder
effectiveness. The contractor will develop, direct, and execute strategies to ensure
effective delivery of training to and for Los Angeles area fire service agencies and
stakeholders. The contractor will assist with, support, and further develop the training
and response readiness of Los Angeles area fire agencies for incidents of national
significance including, but not limited to: acts of terrorism, natural disasters, public
health threats and other large-scale incidents that pose a threat to public or first-
responder safety. The contractor will perform detailed and comprehensive research,
collaborate on, develop, and disseminate periodic and regular finished reports,
3.H
Packet Pg. 189
4 of 5
advisories, bulletins, presentations, and briefings for executive and other fire service
audiences on relevant fire service issues.
Vendor/Consultant Selection
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Person or
Firm and Only Bidder
Fire Resources, LLC
Bid Data
Date Posted Posted On
Advertise In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
9/1/2020 City's Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica Daily
Press
30 09/28/2020
Best Qualified Person or Firm Justification
Fire Resources LLC has over thirty years’ experience in the Fire Service and are a
subject matter expert in Fire training. Fire Resources provided excellent references
and was within the projected budget set aside for the services. Based on these
criteria, Fire Resources LLC is recommended as the best qualified vendor to provide
professional services Contractor to Assist Los Angeles Area Fire Chief’s Association
Regional Training Group for the Fire Department in accordance with City
specifications and scope of work.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to accept a grant from State Homeland Security Grant 2019
Program in the amount of $936,711 to fund equipment, training, and outside contracts.
FY 2020-21 Grant Budget Changes
Establish Revenue Budget Appropriate Funds
Account Number Amount Account Number Amount
20190001.40429B $936,711 20190001.55517B $936,711
Submittals Received
Fire Resources, LLC $185,000 a year or 2080
hours worked
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
Evaluation Criteria The proposal, Fire Resources LLC, was evaluated based on the criteria in
SMMC 2.24.190, including experience, quality control, training,
stability/references, price, and compliance with City specifications. The
City is not required to select the bid with the lowest price.
3.H
Packet Pg. 190
5 of 5
Budget authority for subsequent budget and grant years will be requested in each
budget for Council approval.
Staff seeks authority to approve funding from the Miscellaneous Grants Fund to award a
professional services agreement with Fire Resources LLC to provide professional
services to assist the LAAFCA Regional Training Group.
Professional Service Agreement
FY 2020-21 Budget
Request Amount Department Account # Total Contract Amount
$185,000 20190001.55517B $370,000
Future years’ funding is contingent on Council budget approval and future homeland
security grant funds.
Prepared By: Terese Toomey, Principal Administrative Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Fire Resources Oaks
3.H
Packet Pg. 191
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE NOTICE
NOTICE TO APPLICANTS, BIDDERS, PROPOSERS
AND OTHERS SEEKING DISCRETIONARY PERMITS, CONTRACTS,
OR OTHER BENEFITS FROM THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
Santa Monica’s voters adopted a City Charter amendment commonly known as
the Oaks Initiative. The Oaks Initiative requires the City to provide this notice and
information about the Initiative’s requirements. You may obtain a full copy of the Initiative’s
text from the City Clerk.
This information is required by City Charter Article XXII—Taxpayer Protection. It
prohibits a public official from receiving, and a person or entity from conferring, specified
personal benefits or campaign advantages from a person or entity after the official votes,
or otherwise takes official action, to award a “public benefit” to that person or entity. The
prohibition applies within and outside of the geographical boundaries of Santa Monica.
All persons or entities applying or receiving public benefits from the City of Santa
Monica shall provide the names of trustees, directors, partners, and officers, and names
of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation or revenue interest. An exception
exists for persons serving in those capacities as volunteers, without compensation, for
organizations exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3), (4), or (6), of the
Internal Revenue Code. However, this exception does not apply if the organization is a
political committee or controls political committees. Examples of a “public benefit” include
public contracts to provide goods or services worth more than $25,000 or a land use
approval worth more than $25,000 over a 12-month period.
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the City
compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the name of any
person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit” is sought by an
entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the name of every person
who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has (e) more than a ten percent
interest in the entity. Therefore, if you are seeking a “public benefit” covered by the Oaks
Initiative, you must supply that information on the Oaks Initiative Disclosure Form. This
information must be updated and supplied every 12 months.
3.H.a
Packet Pg. 192 Attachment: Fire Resources Oaks (4346 : Accept State Homeland Security Grant and Award RFP Training Professional Services on behalf
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE DISCLOSURE FORM
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the City
compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the name of any
person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit” is sought by
an entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the name of every
person who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has (e) more than a ten
percent interest in the entity.
Public benefits include:
1. Personal services contracts in excess of $25,000 over any 12-month period;
2. Sale of material, equipment or supplies to the City in excess of $25,000 over a 12-
month period;
3. Purchase, sale or lease of real property to or from the City in excess of $25,000
over a 12- month period;
4. Non-competitive franchise awards with gross revenue of $50,000 or more in any
12-month period;
5. Land use variance, special use permit, or other exception to an established land
use plan, where the decision has a value in excess of $25,000;
6. Tax “abatement, exception, or benefit” of a value in excess of $5,000 in any 12-
month period; or
7. Payment of “cash or specie” of a net value to the recipient of $10,000 in any 12-
month period.
Name(s) of persons or entities receiving public benefit:
Name(s) of trustees, directors, partners, and officers:
Name(s) of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation, or revenue interest:
Prepared by: ____________________________Title: __________________________
Signature: ______________________________________ Date: ________________
Email: ____________________________________ Phone: ____________________
FOR CITY USE ONLY:
Bid/PO/Contract # ____________________________ Permit # ___________________________
3.H.a
Packet Pg. 193 Attachment: Fire Resources Oaks (4346 : Accept State Homeland Security Grant and Award RFP Training Professional Services on behalf