Monday, November 3, 2025, 2 p.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Public Safety Committee
The Public Safety Committee met on November 3, 2025, chaired in place of the absent Chair Velásquez. The committee approved the minutes of its September 22, 2025 meeting without objection. The main item was a briefing from the Austin Emergency Management Department on its overhaul of citywide and community emergency plans, including the basic emergency operations plan, 21 emergency support functions, hazard-specific annexes (wildfire, winter storm, flooding, active threat), functional annexes for alerting/evacuation/sheltering, and community lifelines. Council Member Duchen asked about capability target benchmarks, publication of gap assessments, the meaning of functional annexes, rollout timelines, and a planned wildfire-focused public communication campaign. The chair asked about the gap analysis process and how gaps will be communicated. Council Member Qadri, joining virtually, had no questions. The committee also discussed a possible future agenda item on a traffic enforcement pilot zone raised by Council Member Duchen, and the meeting adjourned at 2:28.
0:01 It's time to get ready.
0:03 Um, so I'm gonna call the meeting of the public safety committee of the Austin City Council to
0:06 order. It is November 3rd, 2025 at 2:00 pm we are meeting at City Hall, located at 3 0 1 west second street,
0:14 Austin, texas 7 8 7 0 1. We have a quorum present.
0:18 We have Council Member uchin, myself, Council Member lane present in person, and Council Member cadre joining us
0:25 virtually. I am chairing the meeting today as chair velazquez is unavailable and we will now go to
0:32 public communication, but I understand that we do not have any speakers.
0:36 That's correct. Okay. Thank you.
0:38 Okay. So colleagues, our first action today is to approve the minutes of the September 22nd, 2025 public safety committee
0:44 meeting. I'll accept a motion to approve these minutes.
0:49 Moved by Council Member uchin, seconded by me.
0:54 Um, without objection, the meeting minutes are approved.
0:58 And now we'll take up item two, which is a briefing on citywide and community emergency plans from
1:03 the Austin emergency management department.
1:06 Thank you for being here today.
1:09 Thank you, Madam chair.
1:11 Uh, councilman uchin, councilman cadre.
1:13 Uh, pleasure to be here today.
1:14 Uh, apparently this is a very lonely topic, uh, but, but we'll get through it.
1:19 Um, there's, there's been a lot of change for the good, um, this past year, and so I'm
1:25 excited to share with you some of what we're doing with our, our plans overall, uh, and complete
1:30 overhaul of those plans.
1:31 But first, I just want to reintroduce you to, uh, Austin emergency management, and it doesn't seem to
1:38 be advancing on me.
1:43 Sure. Oh, here we go.
1:49 Yep. Oh, thank you.
1:51 Okay. So our vision statement and mission is very similar to what, what you're used to being that
1:58 centralized agency. Thank you.
2:00 Centralized agency for emergency management throughout the city, the organization and the community, frankly.
2:06 And so we adopted, um, the motto, promise, enter paris, which is first among equals, uh, meaning that
2:14 we're, we're the ones that are committed to doing the legwork, the research, the homework, to bring different
2:19 organizations together to break down silos of excellence and make sure that we have a unity of effort
2:25 so we can make, uh, all of our resources, uh, put them into, uh, deployment for, for full
2:30 effect. Uh, and otherwise make sure that we have a one team, one fight approach to everything that
2:36 we're trying to do before, during, and after a disaster.
2:41 We made some tweaks to the organizational structure so there is better alignment for communication, um, and, and
2:49 clarity in terms of roles and responsibilities of the staff.
2:53 So the one part that was missing on this structure is the addition of an assistant director, and
2:58 I'm excited to say we're about to have that position filled.
3:01 Um, so that, and a senior planner, which we'll be working on.
3:05 Then we'll be fully staffed, um, and, and all, all cylinders, but beyond the department, I want to
3:14 introduce you to emergency support functions.
3:18 You May be familiar already.
3:19 Emergency support functions come from the national response framework and details, which, um, which federal agencies and supporting
3:29 agencies are aligned with each emergency support function.
3:32 Uh, tdem, the texas department of emergency management has adopted them as well and added a couple of
3:37 their own, and we're looking to do the same.
3:40 Um, adding esf 21 here for emergency medical.
3:45 The great thing about emergency support functions is it doesn't matter which level of government or sector you
3:50 might be in. If you have a role of responsibility with transportation or interoperable communications or logistics, you
3:58 can be part of this team.
4:00 And with our, uh, Austin resilience network, uh, and other emergency management, uh, folks, we're building that team.
4:07 Um, so we can leverage all the talents, the resources and expertise throughout Austin and the region.
4:13 Whenever we're gonna be faced with a disaster, there's plenty more room.
4:17 If there's any agencies, organizations out in the community who want to partner with us, it's all about
4:22 sharing information, leveraging resources, and, and really addressing anything as one community, one team.
4:33 One of the things that Austin emergency management is in the middle of right now, is to capture
4:38 all of this information.
4:39 So when you look at the emergency support function, uh, really the entire annex is almost a directory.
4:45 So we're identifying which agencies fall under which emergency support function, who those points of contact are, um,
4:52 the 24 hour contact information, what plans exist currently, locally and regionally.
4:58 So we can review all of those to make sure we have one overarching comprehensive and complete plan.
5:03 Uh, also identifying their critical infrastructure, what core capabilities that they address, and those core capabilities.
5:10 In a minute I'll explain are how we establish what our gap analysis is, and of course, the
5:15 equipment resources under which authorities they operate, um, and also particularly the, the fema, public assistance reimbursement policies.
5:23 So we can inform them on what they really need to track and how during a disaster for,
5:28 for full reimbursement. The core capabilities, uh, come from, again, department of homeland security and, and fema.
5:37 And they really detail what needs to be done for all the different capabilities from, from response, uh,
5:43 really prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
5:47 And this is how we are planning, making sure that all those things listed in those core capabilities
5:53 are addressed, but also along with the planning and, and the training and the exercises, if going through
6:00 those, those processes, we identify a gap, then that's really gonna identify and otherwise inform either grant investments
6:08 that we're gonna apply for, or a contract or mutual aid prescripted requests, so that, so that gap,
6:15 uh, is bridged, and we can make sure that we meet all the things that we need to
6:19 for any disaster response.
6:22 So, for example, there's capability targets for public information and warning, and it really allows us to set
6:28 what that metric is, by what time, how soon should we be able to alert the community of
6:35 whatever the disaster is once we find that out.
6:37 And how many people can we notify, uh, and if they have access and functional needs.
6:42 Um, and also english proficiency or, or non-english speaking peoples.
6:49 Uh, same thing with mass care.
6:50 After notification of a disaster, how quickly can we get folks the food, the water, the shelter, the
6:56 basic needs that they have?
6:58 And so, again, once we establish those metrics, we're making sure that we meet those metrics, uh, either
7:03 in the plan, leveraging resources throughout the community, or establishing whatever, um, contracts, mous, uh, agreements that we
7:11 can establish that way our, our plans are informed, uh, and, and not just check the box, but
7:17 we're truly meeting the needs of the community.
7:20 Because not only are we establishing these capability targets, we're writing our plans with the community at the
7:26 table. So here's the new suite of plans.
7:31 Um, as we're, as we're pulling them out after the complete overhaul, you'll see that the, the top
7:36 left is going to be our basic plan.
7:39 The, uh, city of Austin emergency operations.
7:41 The basic plan is the foundation.
7:43 Don't document that we're gonna use to respond to any disaster, natural or manmade.
7:48 It talks about the authorities under which we operate, um, how we work with the county, how we
7:54 work with the state.
7:55 Um, again, through, through the initial, uh, awareness of the disaster all the way through until we jump
8:02 over to our, our, our long-term recovery plan.
8:05 But it's, it's the basic plan.
8:07 We're gonna pull off the shelf for any disaster.
8:10 Um, the bottom left, you just see sf four, emergency support function four, which is firefighting, but we're
8:16 gonna have 21 of those.
8:18 We're gonna have many, many hazard specific annexes that speak to the nuances, uh, of whatever the threat
8:25 is that we're facing.
8:27 Wildfire obviously is a high priority, as is winter storm.
8:31 Um, as is flooding, uh, active threat, we're gonna have, uh, the hazard specific annexes for, for many
8:37 things, if it's listed in our hazard speci, or excuse me, our hazard mitigation action plan, it's gonna
8:42 have a hazard specific, um, um, annex as well.
8:47 And then the all hazards protective action plan is example of our functional annexes.
8:52 So the all hazards, uh, protective action plan is our evacuation or shelter in place plan.
8:59 So whether we're dealing with wildfire or a hazardous material spill, or a flooding event, um, whatever it
9:06 is, we're gonna be able to notify folks based on that particular plan, which is really a communication
9:12 plan, uh, to make sure folks get the alerts and the warnings that they, they need throughout.
9:17 So, right off the bat, this is our, this is, this is our recipe for recipe for disaster,
9:22 if you will. So we're gonna use the basic plan as our foundational document.
9:26 We're gonna figure out in our planning process who needs to be brought at the table.
9:30 We do that through the emergency support functions.
9:33 And then for the wildfire plan, we, we tack that on to the basic plan.
9:36 'Cause that speaks the nuances that each disaster brings.
9:40 And if something further is needed in terms of evacuation, shelter in place, crisis communications, shelter operations, a
9:47 temporary assembly point, whatever it is, there's a functional annex for all those things.
9:52 Um, and then the last, on the bottom right in the red is our, um, supporting annex.
9:57 How do we log into voc?
9:58 How do we log onto the state's web v ooc?
10:00 How do we activate the ooc?
10:02 Just those simple things that if, if, if we're, if we're relying on, uh, a team to come
10:08 in to assist, they can see that document and do exactly what we can, uh, because they're really
10:13 written with external folks in mind and the entire community in mind.
10:18 All these plans, we are wanting to make community accessible online so they can challenge the plan so
10:24 they can contribute to the plan and otherwise, uh, ensure that it reflects their, their use, their, their
10:29 lived experiences. Um, because we know that in emergency management, we don't have all the answers.
10:35 Uh, we don't know all the needs throughout the community.
10:37 And it's a one team, one fight approach to ensuring that, that our plans are, are effective.
10:45 Um, so again, alert and warnings is one of those functional annexes that, that we're really committed to,
10:51 to making sure we get right.
10:52 Um, and so it, it talks about the importance of warren central texas and for what information that
10:58 would be used for versus what the integrated public and alert warning system and the wireless emergency alert
11:04 system that, that you May know as amber alerts, uh, how we would use those, as well as
11:08 the, the accessible hazard alert system for those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
11:12 These are the, our tools to alert and notify folks of disasters.
11:17 And we will communicate often, uh, the need to, to stay registered for warren central texas, um, which
11:24 does rely on subscriptions, ipas, and the wireless emergency alert system does not rely on subscriptions.
11:30 Um, but again, the fcc mandates for what we can send, uh, alerts on through ipas and wireless
11:35 emergency alert. And we can provide a lot more information surrounding an incident with the warren central texas.
11:44 Um, that's just a, a, a snapshot of what our, our suite of plans is going to look
11:50 like. Um, and, and to be sure they're not technical documents.
11:54 They're not written to be technical documents.
11:56 They're written to be developed with and not for the community.
12:00 So the community is at the table.
12:02 Um, one addition that we've made to the basic plan is a, a, a definition of really the
12:08 makeup of the community using social vulnerability indices, uh, abusing information re regarding heats, uh, heat islands, um,
12:18 all kinds of things where we know where the vulnerability might be the greatest, which should drive where
12:24 we pre-position or deploy assets immediately after a disaster.
12:27 Um, which again, highlights areas of vulnerability and their living documents.
12:32 So while we are required to submit to the state every five years, um, these documents will be