Public Safety Committee (PSC) Meeting Transcript – 11/3/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 11/3/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 11/3/2025 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== Please note that the following transcript is for reference purposes and does not constitute the official record of actions taken during the meeting. For the official record of actions of the meeting, please refer to the Approved Minutes. [2:00:34 PM] it's time to get ready. So I'm going to call the meeting of the public safety committee of the Austin city council to order. It is November 3rd, 2025 at 2:00 pm. We are meeting at city hall, located at 301 west second street, Austin, Texas 78 701. We have a quorum present. We have council member duchen myself, council member Laine, present in person and council member qadri joining us virtually. I am chairing the meeting today as chair. Velazquez is unavailable and we will now go to public communication. But I understand that we do not have any speakers. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay, so, colleagues, our first action today is to approve the minutes of the September 22nd, 2025 public safety committee meeting. I'll accept a motion to approve these minutes. Moved by council member duchen. Seconded by me. Without objection. The meeting minutes are approved. And now we'll take up item two, which is a briefing on citywide and [2:01:36 PM] community emergency plans from the Austin emergency management department. Thank you for being here today. >> Thank you, madam chair. Councilman duchin, councilman qadri pleasure to be here today. Apparently, this is a very lonely topic, but but we'll get through it. There's there's been a lot of change for the good this past year. And so I'm excited to share with you some of what we're doing with our, our plans. Overall, a complete overhaul of those plans. But first, I just want to reintroduce you to Austin emergency management. And it doesn't seem to be advancing on me. Yeah. Oh, here we go. Yep. Oh thank you. Okay. So our vision statement and mission is very similar to what what you're used to being that centralized agency. Thank you. Centralized agency for emergency management throughout [2:02:36 PM] the city the organization and the community, frankly. And so we adopted the motto Primus inter Paris, which is first among equals, meaning that we're we're the ones that are committed to doing the legwork, the research, the homework, to bring different organizations together, to break down silos of excellence and make sure that we have a unity of effort so we can make all of our resources put them to deployment for for full effect and otherwise make sure that we have a one team, one fight approach to everything that we're trying to do before, during, and after a disaster. We made some tweaks to the organizational structure so there is better alignment for communication and and clarity in terms of roles and responsibilities of the staff. So the one part that was missing on this structure is the addition of an assistant director. And I'm excited to say we're about to have that position filled. So that and a [2:03:36 PM] senior planner which will be working on then will be fully staffed and all all cylinders. But beyond the department, I want to introduce you to emergency support functions. You may be familiar already. Emergency support functions come from the national response framework and details which which federal agencies and supporting agencies are aligned with each emergency support function. Tdm the Texas department of emergency management has adopted them as well and added a couple of their own. And we're looking to do the same. Adding esf 21 here for emergency medical. The great thing about emergency support functions is it doesn't matter which level of government or sector you might be in, if you have a role of responsibility with transportation or interoperable communications or logistics, you can be part of this team. And with our Austin resilience network and other emergency [2:04:38 PM] management folks, we're building that team so we can leverage all the talents, the resources and expertise throughout Austin and the region whenever we're going to be faced with a disaster. There's plenty of more room. If there's any agencies, organizations out in the community who want to partner with us. It's all about sharing information, leveraging resources, and really addressing anything as one community, one team. One of the things that Austin emergency management is in the middle of right now is to capture all of this information. So when you look at the emergency support function, the really the entire annex is almost a directory. So we're identifying which agencies fall under which emergency support function, who those points of contact are the 24 hour contact information. What plans exist currently locally and regionally. So we can review all of those to make sure we have one overarching, comprehensive and complete plan. Also identifying their critical [2:05:40 PM] infrastructure, what core capabilities that they address and those core capabilities. In a minute, I'll explain how we establish what our gap analysis is. And of course, the equipment resources under which authorities they operate, and also particularly the FEMA public assistance reimbursement policies, so we can inform them on what they really need to track and how during a disaster, for for full reimbursement, the core capabilities come from, again, department of homeland security and FEMA. And they really detail what needs to be done for all the different capabilities from from response, really prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery. And this is how we are planning, making sure that all those things listed in those core capabilities are addressed, but also along with the planning and the training and the exercises, if going through those those processes, we identify a gap, then that's really going to identify and otherwise inform either grant [2:06:41 PM] investments that we're going to apply for, or a contract or mutual aid prescriptive requests so that so that gap is bridged. And we can make sure that we meet all the things that we need to for any disaster response. So for example, there's capability targets for public information and warning. And it really allows us to set what that metric is. By what time. How soon should we be able to alert the community of whatever the disaster is, once we find that out? And how many people can we notify and if they have access and functional needs and also English proficiency or or non-english speaking peoples. Same thing with mass care. After notification of a disaster, how quickly can we get folks to food, the water, the shelter, the basic needs that they have? Once we establish those metrics, we're making sure that we meet those metrics either in the plan, leveraging resources throughout the community, or establishing [2:07:41 PM] whatever contracts, mous, agreements that we can establish. That way, our plans are informed and not just check the box, but we're truly meeting the needs of the community, because not only are we establishing these capability targets, we're writing our plans with the community at the table. So here's the new suite of plans as we're as we're pulling them out after the complete overhaul, you'll see that the the top left is going to be our basic plan. The city of Austin emergency operations basic plan is the foundational document that we're going to use to respond to any disaster, natural or man made. It talks about the authorities under which we operate, how we work with the county, how we work with the state. Again, through through the initial awareness of the disaster all the way through until we jump over to our, our, our long term recovery plan. But it's it's the basic plan. We're going to [2:08:42 PM] pull off the shelf for any disaster. The bottom left. You just see esf for emergency support function for which is firefighting. But we're going to have 21 of those. We're going to have many, many hazards specific annexes that speak to the nuances of of whatever the threat is that we're facing. Wildfire, obviously, is a high priority, as is winter storm, as is flooding active threat. We're going to have the hazard specific annexes for for many things. If it's listed in our hazard or, excuse me, our hazard mitigation action plan, it's going to have hazard specific annex as well. And then the all hazards protective action plan is an example of our functional annexes. So the all hazards protective action plan is our evacuation or shelter in place plan. So whether we're dealing with wildfire or a hazardous material spill or flooding event, whatever it is, we're going to be able to notify [2:09:43 PM] folks based on that particular plan, which is really a communication plan to make sure folks get the alerts and the warnings that they need throughout. So right off the bat, this is our this is this is our recipe for recipe for disaster, if you will. So we're going to use the basic plan as a foundational document. We're going to figure out in our planning process who needs to be brought at the table. We do that through the emergency support functions. And then for the wildfire plan we we tack that on to the basic plan, because that speaks to the nuances that each disaster brings. And if something further is needed in terms of evacuation, shelter in place, crisis communications, shelter operations, the temporary assembly point, whatever it is, there's a functional annex for all those things. And then the last on the bottom right in the red is our supporting annex. How do we log into voc? How do we log on to the state's web eoc. How do we activate eoc. Just those simple things that if, if, if we're if we're relying on a team to come in to [2:10:43 PM] assist, they can see that document and do exactly what we can because a really written with external folks in mind and the entire community in mind, all of these plans, we are wanting to make community accessible online so they can challenge the plan so they can contribute to the plan and otherwise ensure that it reflects their their use, their lived experiences. Because we know that in emergency management, we don't have all the answers. We don't know all the needs throughout the community. And it's a one team, one fight approach to ensuring that that our plans are are effective. So again, alerts and warnings is one of those functional annexes that that we're really committed to, to making sure we get right. And so it talks about the importance of Warren, central Texas and for what information that would be used for versus what the integrated public alert warning system and the wireless emergency alert system that that you may know as amber alerts, how we would use those, as well as the the accessible [2:11:43 PM] hazard alert system for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. These are our tools to alert and notify folks of disasters, and we will communicate often the need to to stay registered for Warren, central Texas, which does rely on subscriptions. Ipaws and the wireless emergency alert system does not. But FCC mandates for what we can send alerts on through ipaws and wireless emergency alert, and we can provide a lot more information surrounding an incident with the Warren, central Texas. That's just a a snapshot of what our our suite of plans is going to look like. And to be sure, they're not technical documents. They're not written to be technical documents. They're written to be developed with and not for the community. So the community is at the table. One addition that we've made to the basic plan is a definition of really the makeup of the community using social [2:12:44 PM] vulnerability indices, using information regarding heat, heat, islands, all kinds of things where we know where the vulnerability might be the greatest, which should drive where we pre-positioned or deploy assets immediately after a disaster, which again highlights areas of vulnerability. And they're living documents. So while we are required to submit to the state every five years, these documents will be living online, always updated, and we will keep track of of those those updates. All of our city departments will have new department plans which will reflect their continuity of operations, but also responses to immediate emergencies. So not disaster level, but how they should respond during a fire in their building or a tornado or whatever. Those things are making sure that everyone has the same information to keep their staff safe, and then focusing on long term recovery. That's that's a [2:13:44 PM] plan that's upcoming as well. And our citywide continuity of operations plan, continuity of government. I can breeze past these. I do want to share with you that community lifelines. That's what we're going to rely on post-disaster. So once we do the initial damage assessment and determine how bad is bad, it will be documented on this chart of community lifelines. And then at a glance, we can tell where we need to focus our resources and otherwise prioritize so we can get the community back up to its feet. This came from FEMA's incident stabilization guide, and it works really well at the regional and local level. So when we provide information to you post-disaster, we'll be able to really hone in on exactly where the needs are. You know, what's the issue? Why is that the issue? What are we going to do about the issue and what what are any impediments that we might have to to fulfill those, those requirements. And then we're [2:14:44 PM] going to continue to plan, train, drill, exercise with community groups, with our ngos, with the private sector, throughout the department. We we want to make sure that we we establish the muscle memory that we need so we can be as resilient as possible, responding as quickly and effectively as possible to anything that comes our way. National. Excuse me, natural or man made and special events that can turn from event to incident. So we're trying to get plans up to where we are. We're trying to get our staff where they need to be in terms of training. And again, the entire organization is is really moving in the right direction. Thank you for to your support that of the mayor, that of Mr. Broadnax, all the directors, we're really moving in the right direction so we can respond to anything that comes our way. And I believe that is my comments. >> Thank you very much for that presentation. Colleagues, do you have any questions? Councilmember duchen. [2:15:45 PM] >> Thank you, chair. I've got a couple of questions. One is when you cover the capability targets earlier in the presentation, I'm just going to go back. It looks like help me understand per disaster, we're going to be creating targets to identify needs you know and gaps. Do we have any other benchmarks other municipalities, or is it all apples and Oranges that we've got to develop our own that are all unique to Austin and the region? >> So prior to the core capabilities, there was the target capability list, 590 something pages that actually gave metrics so we didn't have to look anywhere. So industry standards, you know what we are our plans are accredited through the emergency management accreditation program. And it really details what needs to be in our plan, [2:16:45 PM] but not so much the content. So I look to those older target capabilities to determine at a baseline where we should be, because the target capabilities are designed really for larger metropolitan areas that that are more befitting to us. But then at least that starts the conversation. So it, it it won't necessarily be compared to other cities. It's really what do we determine to be success. So it's a starting point okay. >> And then when you are able to do that assessment do we publish those also. Do we have how are those used I guess. >> Well I might not I might not publish those unless there's interest. And we and we can share. My intent is to share the overarching plans okay. >> You call it a functional annex. I noticed that that's, you know, when you sent the two documents back in September, the one was the draft plan. The one was the the functional annex. What does that mean in this context? >> It's so something beyond the hazard itself. So there's during while we respond to this [2:17:46 PM] particular hazard, one function that we might have to to work on is alert notifications. And so we have a functional annex that that details how we do that who does it and all that. If we have to open up a shelter, that's another function that we're going to pull out. So it's those functions that they're not necessarily incident specific. But if the incident calls for we have a plan for for those types of things okay. >> Got it. So they're you're breaking out the all the different circumstances that we might find ourselves in and all the contingencies. And then each one of those contingencies, whether they're shelters or alerts or lack of certain people speaking certain languages, whatever those things are, they'll become annexes. Yes, sir, that we're documenting so that we can pull something off the shelf the moment that we need it. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. I think I had one more question, which was at the very end we talked about. Well, okay, [2:18:49 PM] I well, let me ask one question. You know, you've laid out these six, these six different plans as the basic emergency operation plan and the five others, are those already prepared, or are you in the process of preparing. >> Them in the process. >> Of okay, what's the what can we expect? >> I mean, throughout all of next year, we're going to be building them out, rolling them out. So the highest priority would be the basic plan, since that's the foundational document. >> That the one that we got in September. That's the draft of that. >> Yes, sir. Okay. So that's that's all but done. We just want to Polish it up and get it ready for for for rollout. But then we're looking at the winter weather plan. Some of these we already have plans and we just need to make sure that they're good. Right? I mean not just have the categories that they're required, but my commitment is to make sure that all of our plans are well researched, taking lessons learned from other incidents that have occurred elsewhere, and really trying to make it really tailored to our community. So it's something that isn't going to sit on a shelf, but could be used as a [2:19:51 PM] planning document and a response document. >> But the goal is to wrap up September document, hopefully this year or beginning of next year, and then have the other five documents. >> Sure. Well. >> So. >> 2020, the highest priorities were now it was the protective action plan and the wildfire plan, as well as some of the emergency support functions. So I'd say the basic plan will be done early next year and then rolling them out. We have we have several planners that we can roll out a number at a time. >> Okay. And I know when we've talked, you've talked about how when you rolled out the plan in September, that there was going to be like a more publicly digestible, community oriented version of that. Is that what we're looking at here, or is that something different? >> That's that's something different. Focus specifically on the wildfire threat and wildfire plan and the evacuation plan. Okay. And I know there's a campaign already designed for that. And if my office hasn't been in touch with yours, they they should be. So we'll we'll certainly follow up on that. Okay. But we want to make sure. So we want to [2:20:51 PM] make sure that folks understand the wildfire threat. But also from our perspective all hazards and the information won't really be that different. You know, if you're notified to evacuate, you really need to evacuate. If we if you're notified to shelter in place, you should understand what that means and take appropriate action. And again, regardless of the threat, that's really what we're trying to drive folks to do. And to have a kid. >> Okay. Yeah, it would be valuable to follow up and understand when we can expect that. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Chair. >> Council member qadri. If you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand at any point. And until I see your hand, I'll start asking some questions. First of all, it's very helpful to have this overview and the timing that these will become available. I'm wondering, I would like to learn a bit more about the gap analysis and how we will receive information about the gaps that you've identified. >> Sure, madam chair, thank you. Thank you for that question, [2:21:51 PM] because it's not just what we're trying to do here within the department, but also regionally. As you're aware, we've received homeland security dollars through the urban area security initiative, which is really supposed to be designed to to address gaps. And we don't really have that at the region right now. So that's, that's it's important for us and our regional partners to go through that process to determine what are we capable of doing as a region and establishing the appropriate regional plans, and then the buy in. Right, because some, some doing things regionally isn't always something that's favored by by others. But I think that we're able to identify what capabilities we should have as a region. And then as you take it down to the lower level with the department specifics within the locality it's going through, it takes time, but it's so important to go through every capability to figure out what our pinch point is, because no locality has all the resources it ever needs, right? So [2:22:52 PM] identifying where that pinch point is for that particular resource and then having the solution next to it again, are we going to buy something. Are we going to buy something that we might use only 1 or 2 once or twice a year? Or are we going to have a contract in place for that? We can pull whenever the disaster comes. And really having that answer for every one of those capabilities, it's it's the other thing is, as you do that, it's it's the planning that you're doing, right. The relationship building, the learning that you're doing, what other resources exist. And it's really an education that that you can't get in higher education. It's it's learning really from throughout the entire organization what exist, who has it, under what circumstances and things like that. So the nerd in me is really looking forward to doing that. But it's also so important to inform our plans, and that's where we'll determine where our gaps are, but also our strengths. And both will be communicated. >> So yeah it's important to [2:23:53 PM] have an iterative process. So as you discover things and are fixing them then perhaps then other things come along. But I appreciate that answer. But I'm still wondering how will how exactly or in what time timing would you anticipate that there would be some communications about the gaps. >> Early early next year, if not already? So here, here locally we have emergency management staff going to every department to collect and capture all that information and to really ask them what they believe their pinch points are, but then that will be further validated once we go through the process. Once we train and exercise on those things to get ground truth or experience a real world incident, in which case we're going to be doing hot washes, which is an after action process to determine what really worked and what didn't. What did we think was in place but really wasn't. So it's really doing all that data capturing and the planning process, but also training exercises and response at the regional level. That's really working with capcoa and their [2:24:53 PM] homeland security task force to make sure that our processes are aligned throughout the entire region. And those who participate in that hard work up front, that's who's going to be at the table when it's time to get money. And so making sure that there's there's incentive to participate and, and do things the way it should be done throughout the region. >> I want to thank you. On one of the early signs, you talked about how there are there is more space at the table trying to find that slide. I think it was page four. >> Yes, ma'am. I think it was, yes. The emergency support functions. Yep. Yes, ma'am. >> And can can you elaborate a little bit more, like with examples of who's at the table and what you might be looking for. >> Absolutely. So so the Austin resilience network is a really good example of bringing together the non-governmental organizations and some private sector and just public, private, not for profit, higher education, military and the faith community. We're all in [2:25:53 PM] this together. And there's resources and all kinds of knowledge and assets throughout the community that we've seen can be brought to bear. We saw so many offers after occur. Right. And so our job in emergency management is to identify who really does want to be brought to the table to respond, because it's during the disaster that you don't want to exchange business cards. There's too much going on. But if we're able to establish those relationships built on trust early, not only can we keep folks more informed of what it is that we're doing, we can really ascertain who wants to contribute. However, and also having those processes in place. So if there's any organizations, we're not going to turn anyone down. The more the better, whether it's a chamber of commerce, whether it's, you know, a landscaping business, whether it's whoever if they're interested in serving the community in this way, we welcome them with open arms. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Let's see. I may have one more. [2:26:59 PM] I think I'm good. And I've also appreciated the offline meetings that we've had to get some of my questions answered in these areas. So final call of council member qadri has any questions. And otherwise I think or if you have any additional ones okay. >> Yeah. No other no questions on my end. But but I appreciate the conversation. I appreciate hearing the questions from yourself and councilmember duchen. >> Great. Thank you, thank you. >> Thank you, madam chair. Thank you. >> Okay. With that, we'll take up item three which is identifying items to be discussed at future meetings. If there's anything that anyone would like to daylight here. Now the floor can be yours. Or you can follow up with councilmember Velasquez by email. Councilmember duchen. >> The only thing I wanted to add, thank you, chair, was you and I have talked about a sort of pilot or traffic enforcement zone, as I've been calling it. I've got some information from legal. I think I've got another meeting this afternoon with APD about it, but that may be, [2:28:00 PM] depending what we find, might be worth circling around with you and maybe a topic worth bringing up to the committee next month if there's interested. Or is this our last meeting of the year? >> I think there's one in December, but I'm not positive. >> Okay, well, either way, that may be a if you're, you know, if you think it'd be worthwhile, that might be an item that might be of interest to the committee. >> Yes. I think it's worthwhile. Okay. We'll pass it along. Okay. Thank you. All right. With that, there's no further business to come before the public safety committee of the Austin city council. So, without objection, this meeting is adjourned at 228.