Coastside Tsunami and Disaster Response Coordinator: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, City of Half Moon Bay and Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Important note: The following recommendation was approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 23, 2013:

To: Honorable Board of Supervisors

From: John L. Maltbie, County Manager

Subject: Measure A Report: Coastside Response Coordinator

Recommendation:

Direct Staff to appropriate Measure A funding of $30,000 in the FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 Recommended Budget to fund a District Coordinator for the San Mateo County Coastside.

Background:

In August 2012, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) released the “Tsunami-Preparedness Assessment Report.” The report identified several areas of improvement with specific focus on the need to enhance the County’s readiness and ability to respond to disasters on the Coastside.

Discussion:

The SVCFs assessment determined, and County and City officials agreed, that a dedicated District Coordinator for the Coastside is necessary in order to improve our response plan during a disaster. Preparing the San Mateo County Coastside to respond to disasters will involve multi-agency coordination to develop formal plans and relationships that include all Coastside partners. The District Coordinator will meet with various groups, such as the Chambers of Commerce Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP), Coastside CERTs, the Medical Reserve Corps, and Puente de la Costa Sur in order to unify these resources to provide a systematic approach to compliance issues of emergency management.

Additionally, because of the geographic isolation of the Coastside, a natural disaster has the potential to shut down all access points to the coast and prevent the County from providing services and supplies to Coastside residents. This further increases their vulnerability and our need to have a strong, effective, and ready plan of action for when a disaster takes place.

Assigned to the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services and working out of the Sheriff’s Office sub-station in Half Moon Bay, the District Coordinator will be responsible for developing an aggressive community tsunami education plan, re-establishing the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program, completing and implementing an Operational Tsunami Annex report, and addressing the limited amount of emergency supplies on the Coastside.

Peformance Measures:

Measure	FY 2012-13 Actual	FY 2013-14 Projected
Percent of Emergency Operational and Mitigation Plans updated and completed	20%	80%
Number of disaster preparedness training exercises and drills	1	6
Number of Community Emergency Response Teams established and trained on the Coastside	1	3

FISCAL IMPACT

It is recommended that $30,000 in Measure A funds be appropriated for the FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 budgets to fund one District Coordinator for the Coastside. The position will cost $119,000 per year and will be shared by the Sheriff’s Office through this Measure A request, the City of Half Moon Bay, and SVCF. Each agency has committed to providing $30,000 a year for FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15.

Measure A funds recommended in this report:

Proposal	FY 2013/14	FY 2014/15
District Coordinator - Coastside	$30,000	$30,000

Important note: This is a copy of the official report -- item 12E on the Board's agenda.