Title
Introduce, waive first reading, and set December 6, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. as the date and time to consider adoption of an ordinance amending Chapters 2.12 and 2.68 of the Monterey County Code to establish a Director of Emergency Management and Department of Emergency Management.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors introduce, waive first reading, and set December 6, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. as the date and time to consider adoption of an ordinance amending Chapters 2.12 and 2.68 of the Monterey County Code to establish a Director of Emergency Management and Department of Emergency Management.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Pursuant to Monterey County Code Section 2.12.040, the County Administrative Officer (CAO) is authorized to recommend desirable rearrangement of departments and functions to the Board of Supervisors. The County Administrative Officer is recommending the creation of a Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and to create the classification of Director of Emergency Management. The current and proposed organizational charts for the County Administrative Office and new Department of Emergency Management are included as Attachments B, C and D.
In recent years, the County has responded to several catastrophic events including the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, 2021 Drought, 2022 Colorado Fire and the 2022 Abbott Fire. These emergencies have proven to be disastrous and life-threatening, and the need to create a department is critical for our County to improve overall operational effectiveness and ensure public safety and timely responses to any emergency. Not only will a Department of Emergency Management elevate the County’s stature in dealing with external agencies such as California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but will also facilitate peer to peer coordination among Monterey County department heads generally. In addition, creation of a Department of Emergency Management has been a goal of the CAO and reviewed previously with the Board of Supervisors. Finally, it is important to note that, although the Department of Emergency Management will have a small permanent staff of 8, during activations, the number of staff under direction of the Director of Emergency Management will grow to between 50 to 150 individuals, all under the management direction of the Director. To this end, the County Administrative Office requested the Human Resources Department to conduct a classification study to create a position that is commensurate with the level of authority and complexity to direct and oversee the County’s Emergency Management operations.
The Human Resources Department conducted a classification and base wage compensation study with the County’s comparable agencies and found there were three matches within the labor market to recommend a salary range for the Director of Emergency Management. It is recommended to create the new classification of the Director of Emergency Management and to set the salary at the labor market average of the comparable classifications as indicated in Attachment A.
It is further recommended the establishment of the Department of Emergency Management, creation of the Director of Emergency Management and the technical aspects of the transfer of positions, appropriations and units as well as the creation of the new department accounting structure and levels of appropriation control be implemented effective July 1, 2023.
The Human Resources Department will be bringing forward a Resolution on December 6, 2022 to establish the department of Emergency Management and Director of Emergency Management.
The proposed ordinance amends Chapter 2.12 of the Monterey County Code to authorize the County Administrative Officer to be the Appointing Authority of the newly established Director of Emergency Management position and clarifies the authority of the CAO over appointed County department heads.
The proposed ordinance also amends Chapter 2.68 to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of persons and property under County jurisdiction in the event of an emergency; the direction of the emergency organization; and the coordination of the emergency functions of County government with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations, and affected private persons. The ordinance creates a Department of Emergency Management and clarifies the authority of the Director of Emergency Management, including approval and coordination of mutual aid requests made within the County. The ordinance also authorizes the Monterey County Disaster Council to consider emergency mutual aid plans and agreements and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. The makeup of the Disaster Council is identified in the County Code. This ordinance amends the existing code to clarify and update the positions that comprise the Disaster Council.
Minor non-substantive changes have also been incorporated into the current draft ordinance before the Board of Supervisors.
The proposed ordinance is attached to this report as Attachment E. Additionally, a redlined version of the ordinance showing the proposed changes is attached as Attachment F.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The County Administrative Office has reviewed and concurs with the recommendations. The County Counsel’s Office has reviewed the ordinance as to form.
FINANCING:
The salary and benefits increased costs for Office of Emergency Services Budget Unit 8506 - Fund 001 - Appropriation Unit CAO005 for the remainder of FY 2022-23 is approximately $151,708 or $281,743 annually.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
The proposed recommended actions address the Board of Supervisors Administration Strategic Initiative. These changes support Monterey County’s Strategic Initiative Policy Areas in engaging public safety stakeholders, partners, and whole community in resiliency building activities including emergency reporting, disaster preparedness, mitigation response and recovery.
__ Economic Development
X Administration
__ Health & Human Services
__ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by: Kim Moore, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Approved by: Irma Ramirez-Bough, Director of Human Resources
Approved by: Charles J. McKee, County Administrative Officer
Attachments:
Attachment A: PPPR & FY 2022-23 Allocation Amendment
Attachment B & C: Current and proposed organization charts for the County Administrative Office
Attachment D: Proposed organization chart for the new Department of Emergency Management
Attachment E: Draft ordinance amending Chapters 2.12 and 2.68 of the Monterey County Code (clean version)
Attachment F: Draft ordinance amending Chapters 2.12 and 2.68 of the Monterey County Code (redlined version)