Public Safety Commission - Regular Meeting

It is 06:08, and we are beginning of the meeting. So let's begin with a roll call. I'll go back to the order just to make sure. Commissioner Baker? Yes. Commissioner Doss?

Yes.

Commissioner Evans? Yes. How do you prefer to be calling?

Ravi.

Professor who? Commissioner Ravi and commissioner of. Here. Right. All are present. Let me go ahead and share my screen. So we will be having I think

he was fine.

I

was gonna say while we wait, definitely could approve.

Okay. Why

is it not

sharing my screen? Because I'm not working. Well, I made a joke that with me taking over, there'd be, like, technical issues. And we're all gonna line up and say I did great.

That's my.

Alright. So I'm gonna scroll through the minutes.

The last meeting.

I can have a motion to approve the minutes.

Sure. Can

move to approve the minutes of this.

K. Okay.

Second.

Alright. And if we could do a vote.

So. I have stayed because I wasn't there even though I read the lyrics.

Alright. Commissioner Dov?

I approve.

Commissioner Evans?

Yes.

Commissioner Ralphie? Upstand. Upstanding or yes.

Upstanding.

Upstanding? Yeah. And vice chair?

Yes.

Alright. So we passed with yeses and two abstaints. While we wait for the scouts, I would like to propose that we move the election to go before then. If I could have a motion

I'm very active today.

I have

two cups of is what I can do.

I didn't

know that. So I propose mister Das as the chair. Well, so first, we

need to have a motion and a vote to Open

the agenda.

The agenda. Right. So I

move to move the agenda so we can do the election right now. Perfect.

And then

Okay. And then Vote yes, ma'am.

Propose miss Sharda as as the chair.

So We gotta do the vote first.

Oh, right.

Okay. So Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So you may not nominate yourself, but you may vote for yourself. If anyone else would like to make a nomination

I shall speak now. Alright. So I repeat the third time. So I do really want him to be here.

I'd like to nominate commissioner. K.

You wanna nominate?

Yeah. I I I nominate myself. I basically, I support.

No. I think we Alright.

Would the two of you like to accept your nominations?

Yes.

Yes? Do you wanna take a minute to introduce yourselves, Going to the commission by you team.

Sure. Okay. Yes. I'm in the commission for the last one year. The safety and security is something I'm extremely passionate about. I in my work also, I'm in the safety and security team. And for a number of years, in fact, I just came from another meeting from the work on the same topic. So, you know, you can see that is my badge. You know? I okay.

And I feel that, you know, being the commission chair, I can bring in the agenda in the meeting, and that is the right topic. And those can help on the core issues of the Cupertino residents. That is basically the safety of the citizens. There are a lot of part that, you know, about and some of those, you know, issues we can attack. And also, the fire is another issue that I'm very, very passionate about so that we can really, really take different direction on that, especially in the context of what happened in California this year also in the Southern California.

That's why I think I can help talk more constructive way being the position chair.

Would you like to?

Yeah. Sure.

Mhmm. So

I'm Sadar. Been the vice chair this past year essentially, which is my also first year on the commission. In addition to public safety commission, I've been a part of the Burkina citizen corps for, like, little more than half of my life. So, like, specifically in the amateur radio emergency service part of care. So in some capacity, I try to be involved with the city at least once a month.

Like, we have the we have the big bunny five k recently, so involved with that back when we used to have the the July fourth fireworks. Always took great pride in kind of being involved there as well. So, yeah, he's, like, a big part of, what I think is important for Cupertino and, like, society as a whole, which is why I joined the commission. I think being being the chair would be a great honor of representing this awesome meeting and helping with the agenda and so forth.

So, yeah, it's my elevator pitch. Next.

Alright. Shall we ready to vote? Let's we're gonna do hands up. So votes for vice chancellor, two, and votes for commissioner Das, three. Alright. So mind switching places.

Yeah.

And then

Sorry. I didn't realize that. Should I You have to take

your little

So I have to take this off first. Okay.

And if you would or we can repeat the same process, we will elect a vice chair, or we can keep vice chair the direct as the second place to name him a vice chair once again. They're from the

same process. So

we we need a motion. So that's vice chair?

Yeah.

I would I'll make that motion.

K. So I'll make the second vote.

Yeah. I second that.

Second. Alright. So motion to keep vice chair for that in his current position. Commissioner Erbanger, would he vote?

Just no. K. Commissioner Erbanger?

K. Mister Evans? Yes.

Yes. Ravi?

No. Okay. So that is three yeses and two noes. The motion passes, and we will put in your position. We'll do that next time. So thank you both very much. Congratulations. As a reminder, as the chair, you will be attending the mayor's meeting. So I will send you the link, and we can just select bullet points regarding. Sarah, do you wanna a second? And then we can Yes, sir. Right.

Do you not have of the

public who wish to speak or do you? No? Okay. Written communication, we had just one email. This was from resident.

You should have all received this in our inboxes to your commission e Does anyone have any questions about Keisha's email? I will say just one tiny note. We do not have a Cupertino police force. They have a record contract with the sheriff's office. I know there were questions in the past about introducing the Burkina police that was decided not to be the most fiscally effective decision. So it says police. I

have a question. Mhmm.

As a commissioner, I could respond to this email, but will this I guess my question to you is, like, will the city formally respond, Jay? Or

who would have with the expect

individually bring us to discussion during the meeting? I mean, I could invite him to attend a future meeting to talk about this. So I'm just curious if he would also be getting some official response that I might not have seen.

So I would either

have Kaplan

Valenzuela, if you would prefer to answer the Mhmm. I cannot answer them as in-depth.

In my my area, but I did not receive this email, by the way.

It's so Okay.

But, yeah, I could do do you need to answer them right now, or I I can take time to write a response? Okay.

I was just curious what the typical procedure is. I've got a real

It actually this person has actually emailed me in the past. I'm surprised they didn't include or send me any email about this stuff, but I get emails from residents all the time, either from the city manager or from anybody requesting or even a public presentation at neighborhood watch, which I to drown, and we can organize a neighborhood watch. Meaning, if there's already one in place, we can either I'll go out or my assistant division commander, somebody will go out to the community and and answer these questions in person, or I can respond by email, whichever one they want.

It's okay. Thanks.

If you would like, when we

get to a feature setting, we

can discuss if we would like to invite to attend a future meeting.

Okay.

But can we can we ask question? Like, what what would be the general response for this?

Yeah.

Can you please respond?

Like

Yeah. What measures does the police department taken to address burglary? So, we have dedicated, an increased patrols, when we are getting hit with more burglary. Usually, that's, weekends that are associated with, like, a holiday. People out of town, we'll start seeing an increase in full check request from residents.

We we step up the additional patrols that are dedicated strictly for burglary suppression. We don't call them that, but, they respond to alarms or they try to be more visible in neighborhoods. This last weekend or this last area, this I'm sure these concerns are coming from where there were four burglaries, I believe, in the city of Cupertino. There was also some in Los Altos, unincorporated Los Altos and in Los Altos Hills. Individuals were breaking into a couple houses.

Has there been increase in patrols, or surveillance? Yes. We try to do, like I said, target enforcement, because it does cost the city money every time we put the deputy on overtime. So we wanna make sure that we're fiscally responsible with our with our resources and put them out when it's more valuable for the city, when we catch a burglar, respond faster to alarms, etcetera. When it comes to surveillance, the city yes. I'm sorry to interrupt.

No problem.

So what is the typical response time? I know you're generalizing for the Santa Clara. What is the So

we will get to that when we get to the Sheriff's Office for this.

Yeah. I can talk about response times then. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Has there been increased controls? Yes. And then when it comes to surveillance portion, the board of supervisors has has approved, last Tuesday, the installation of, well, you guys the city of casino has approved the purchase and installation of ALPR cameras. But because we are a county entity, we have permission now from the county to utilize your license plate readers and access the data from the ALPR. So once they're installed, they'll be ready to go, and our deputies will already they're already trained on how to use them and how to search them and how to look at them.

So any arrests, made connections, burglaries, and car breakers in Cupertino. We've we do publish our weekly report that indicates when we do make an arrest on on an individual. We did make an arrest on three individuals tied to at least 72 burglaries within Cupertino, San Jose, and Los Gatos. There are about fifteen, sixteen other burglaries that detectives were now trying to tie to those individuals that are in custody, but we do have detectives that are always trying to work hard to make a connection. You have to prove that the person was in the house in order to get a burglary charge.

That's always the hard part. DNA fingerprint or some other kind of method, like video surveillance of the person going to house. Is there a dedicated task force especially gonna handle these cases? We have a dedicated task force to address, retail crime, and I'm sure if you've seen our social media, they're constantly arresting people, either at TJ Maxx or or, Target or any of the big stores in Cupertino. They are a dedicated task more specifically for burglary in retail crime stores.

We do have a a dedicated task of detectives that handle specifically property crimes for the city of Cupertino. We have four of them, and they always work together to try to solve crime in Cupertino. Streets with neighborhood watch signs are posted on the streets also being burglarized. What else is left to be done by residents? So when a neighborhood watch gets street signs, it's usually because after they just did the neighborhood watch orientation.

As Martel will tell you, you know, the participation could probably be a little better for neighborhood watch meetings and neighborhood watch groups. You know, you get a small group of residents who are concerned, but you have a big block of area that's covered. The importance of neighborhood watch is the neighbors put together into keeping an eye on each other's houses or in keeping an eye on each other's areas, you know, reporting suspicious vehicles, suspicious persons, you know, a vehicle driving back and forth with the lights off, a vehicle left running. And those are the kind of things that we ask neighbors, you know, to be build a bit more about and give us a call right away so that we can come out and respond to that. And, there has been some really good tips, and people have called us when they see suspicious vehicles, we arrested a couple individuals for breaking into a bunch of cars in Cupertino.

But, you know, we can't be everywhere at one time, so that's why we asked for neighborhood watch, neighborhood assistance for the residents to kinda let us know when they see something that's out of place in their neighborhood. So sometimes it's it's beneficial to bring up a neighborhood watch again. You know, maybe that's one that's been kinda stagnant for a couple years because they people move, people leave neighborhoods, and and if somebody if a resident is is, you know, adamant about trying to get their neighborhood watching group going again, we can refer them to Marta, and we can we could definitely have of our deputies or myself or my assistant division commander go out there and kinda give everybody the overview of what we what's expected in Neighborhood Watch. So that's, that's how I respond. I've obviously give a little more information with my written email, especially with some statistics, but that's how I respond to this right now.

So can I ask more questions or, like, it has to later?

I will note that, Susanna, do you have homework? So that's a yes. So I'm not saying no, but just Yeah. Please keep reminded.

Okay. So so thank you very much for the detailed response. So are the 15, elite what is that? License plate readers are all active or only part of them are active?

So they have I don't believe they've been installed yet, but it it's been a process, you know, because the city has to also, you know, put up some funding. These are not very cheap cameras. I think they're about $3,000 a year per camera. And so they're they're not they're not cheap, but the city is doing the right thing by, doing the same thing like Saratoga is doing. The city of Saratoga only purchased, like, six, seven or eight cameras, and they're electing, to give neighborhoods the power to purchase their own cameras if they want to and make it to the system.

And so that's a that's a benefit that the city is doing. Once those cameras are installed, they will be able to go live, though, because we already have you, it's been looked at by by the by you guys, but, obviously, commission has been looked at by the city council. And, the technology commission, I think, also looked at it, and now the board of supervisors given the thumbs up for us to be able to use them.

Not yet. Not yet. Oh, so whom should we ask for the status?

So once we have the funding and they start getting installed with the LPS.

So it's in the city of work program right now. So we're coordinating with the sheriff's office to finalize the agreement. Once that's done, we'll what would implement.

So this has been no. This is

last year also. Almost three quarters has been discussed. So now still what is the

So the

operation and then So

the city work program runs two years. And so, technically, this is a pilot program. So we're in the midst that China figure out. This is a agreement can be in place. There's some logistical arrangement. I don't have a estimation of when this is gonna come alive. We we've been working on it. So if if any of you is interested, we just had a CBOG program workshop last Monday with council that only lasted about four hours. So this is how I described the city council. On the day to day, Marta and I have probably about an 85% full play, which is mandates and other things to do.

And then there's about 10% where we can accommodate city board program. And when I say 20 items on the city board. And then there's 5% to put up pipes. So in a sense of 10% of our day to day with, well, 20 projects in in a in a very long winded way, that's why the statement.

And I can I can add to that as well too that that, you know, it's not with anybody's fault? We've been it's been it's been looked at and moved a lot. And even when it fell on on my lap, I had to write the policy. I had to write the ledge file. I had to send it to our attorneys. Our attorneys had to look at it. Their attorney sent it to city attorney to look at it. So it's not like the you know, it's it just takes its process. Once it once I got the ledge file and the policy and the MOU in place, then I can ask for a calendar on the on the supervisor's calendar. So it's unfortunately, government sometimes moves a little slow. I'd like it to go faster, but I'm not I'm not in charge.

What is the approximate timeline? So I think some days really

once once they're purchased, they're they they have locations already set up. They're ready to go live as

soon as

they're purchased because they've already gotten our portion done. So, it's really a matter of now the city and and flock kinda get getting together.

The fund is approved?

Council allocated funding. Only for the one time, but not for the ongoing maintenance. So we're going back for additional funding for the ongoing maintenance. $60,000 per year.

So from the thousand dollars. Yeah. 15 cabinets.

So from the perspective of fifteen hours. Right?

When the first pilot program will be up. There must be some dates that we were shooting for.

We can certainly talk to the sheriff and provide an an update to the commission. I don't have that date right now.

Yeah. From what I and I don't wanna talk to people who are gone, but when when Tom was he was saying somewhere around April, mid April ish, was saying. But I again, it's Yeah. I don't know

that we're behind schedule with this.

Yeah. We might be behind. Why don't they? I'm not sure that we are.

Take this as an agenda item to come back, yeah, next week. Well, it's time for next week.

We can we can certainly provide an information first. And then if there is a need to discussion, certainly put it on as a future agenda item. I mean, I think right now, it it's with us. And then I I know that we all have to deal with some sort of unforeseen the unforeseen challenges with the board, which caused a little bit delay. And then we also had a departure from a very important person. So there's number of transitioning logistical arrangements. So we can certainly hopefully come back with some sort of information for the next team. Right?

I thought you'd take two months to get back, but that's fantastic if you come back sooner.

I I think it would be beneficial if we can know, like, what are the steps, like, okay, action items and approximate time. And we understand you are all busy. Right? So it they this is the next step. This is the next step. That approximate ETA. Right? And then,

So if Pamela and I can work on getting that out to you, I don't think it's helpful for us to dive very deeply into detail at this particular moment because, like Pamela said, we don't have the details with us, and we don't want them to speak and have the pause.

And, Marcian, we also had

a staff report for council last fall. So we're going to send it back to all of the commission if you haven't already said that seen that. That was on the ALPR when you went to council. Yep. We'll definitely reserve the. Is

that up to date, though, you went in fall, probably?

Oh, I guess and the other question is, you rather us work on the report, or would you rather us work on the actual ARPR implementation?

What is the report? Sorry. I think that's some

The staff report. Yeah. Going through what the problem

The updated staff report. I mean, either way, that's gonna either way, it's gonna take time. Right? So we could work on an updated info memo. Is that

so different, or is it

just a few few dates?

It's very very different. Because I I I mean, if if you're asking me from a senior management perspective, I'd rather work with Marta and Neil to try to get the LPR up and running.

Yep. That's I think what we want.

Right? Right. But if you want me to update the staff report from last fall, we can do that. But that's also gonna take Marta's time. I mean, honestly, I I I will not be working on this. It will be her. So would you rather us work with the share I

I think think at this point, because we've discussed this, I mean, for a while, we've been trying to get these cameras on for at least three, four years. By the time it became a work program issue after we're following the city issues. So we've we've been asking to to figure out, you know, what cameras they needed. So it's been four, five years, and people are like, when is it happening?

So it

might be useful to

get timeline that we had before Tom left was that they would not be installed until April. So we are still within the expected time.

So that's fine. All I'm trying to say is if we are falling approximately April, that's fine. But if it's gonna be August, it'd be nice to get that update. It would be nice to get that update. And whatever was in fall is probably staying still staying April. So it would not be very useful to get that if it's not going to be that same timeline.

Is it 15 cameras or 20?

15.

Okay.

Very quickly. Right? Captain Neil also mentioned that, the city has to allocate funding for additional petrols. Right?

No. No. No. The city pays the contracts monthly to us. So I have to be careful to stay within my budgetary. My I don't what I don't want to come back is to Right. The city and say, you owe us money for, you know, everything, you know, what what we went over. So my job is not only to balance the public safety, but balance the budget as well too. So I have to just be cognizant of that and and not exceed it because a deputy on overtime an overtime rate. Right. Right. Pretty expensive for the city. So

So as a public city like, commissioners, right, is that something we can recommend to the city council to increase the funding? Not only this mister j. Right? We we also saw I mean, I'm communicating even in my street today, we had a some theft. I mean, lot lot of citizens are concerned. Right? Is it, like, as a public safety commissioners? Can we recommend to the city council or I don't know. It's or something.

We can discuss in the Yeah. Uh-huh. Because because what I just heard was that for one year. So first is that, you know, that approval extended and then more funding. Definitely, we should

Please don't make a mistake about this. We're always within budget with our city contracts. And and and if there's a concern from residents or or there's some other thing that you guys deal with the city council or the city manager, I can always put more patrols on the street. That's not a problem. But I also wanna be fiscally responsible with our our budget. Yeah.

So so so captain, you've stated that the city of federal has allowed the residents to purchase their own and to the the system. I saw

This was covered in staff report. That specific thing. So when I send out the staff report, you're able to

So we are incorporating the same thing?

Yes. Okay.

That's good. Alright. Thank you.

Any further questions? Right. Everybody? Yes. Alright.

Patiently waiting. Yes.

You're welcome. Yep.

Hey, everyone. I'm Tadana. I'm a member of, and I'm also project. So Yeah. So when I was looking for something to do with my project, I was looking at Cupertino, the community, and I saw the Cupertino Public Safety Forum. There was a lack of youth engagement. I didn't see many teens there. It was mostly talking aimed towards adults who were willing to sit through all the talking. And, also, were not aware of the resources and strategy of what was accessible to them and what they could use to improve their safety in the community. So my solution was a public safety fair.

So this is different because there is more community families as we are bringing the whole community together. And there's also increased public engagement through promotion to the youth, to the families, to PTSA. And, again, involvement is major things that I'm focusing on. And, additionally, I want to leave behind a future event blueprint so that people can lead it on. For example, the tea commission, someone else can take on this project and lead it on next year and the year after that to make it a recurring event.

So it's to the general public. It's gonna be a fair of organizations such as the county sheriff's office, the fire department, school club, state front school, public health. Have a little fun fair where they can educate the public. It's gonna be on March 22, which is on the second Saturday from twelve to 4PM. Our major concerns right now are weather. It's looking pretty good at this point, and it's gonna be held right outside of

And if it rains,

we're gonna be using community hall. So what makes it different from what it was like before? Well, this one focuses on a more integrated approach, meaning there's more hands on activities. There's booths. We're handing out small chat keys, giving out a raffle ticket.

And it's also a broader focus as we're gonna include education, school clubs. I've invited Safe Rides to School, all these PG and E, scouting clubs, and more youth development, and it's also sustainable in the future. So if you guys can just take a look at this, these are the project phases I've gone through. Project planning, team recruitment, fundraising, and community outreach. Logistics preparation, promotions, event execution, and reporting and feedback.

So, currently, I'm on the road to finding 25 to 30 volunteers. We're section managers, general volunteers, promotional team, and support staff. We're looking at a number of, I think, 15 volunteers right now. I've also uploaded it to our school service clubs, and I'm looking for I'm hoping for another 10 or 20. So, yeah, if you guys have any people you would like to recommend, please contact me.

And, yeah, target attendees, children, young adults, and parents, I have already promoted these to everyone. Children, I have released them to our local elementary schools. Young adults, I've released it on social media, and it doesn't my personal Instagram. And for parents, we have Facebook, Nextdoor, Twitter, and all the parent groups. So here's just a general map of where the boots are gonna be.

I'll give you guys maybe, like, ten, fifteen seconds to look at it. And the one highlighted in the blue, three, four, five, and a performance will require. These are the costs. I'm expecting around $500 of budget, maybe 400, but I've already received around $200, and I'm looking for a loan donations right now. We need to look at the whole budget plan.

Most of our funds will go towards food. So it's gonna be snacks and refreshments and foods provided for volunteers, drinks, And we're also gonna use another 40% for lanyards to differentiate the volunteers and also face paint for the Artify for Kids Club and just all of the other costs that we don't really look at such as the raffle too. This was the project timeline. However, we did run into some trouble due to, Mr. Having to leave. So it was a bit rushed, but it's oh, my arms are acting. It's going very well.

You all feel abandoned. Don't worry.

So

get to my side. Thank you so much. Do you guys have any questions you want to add to those clarify?

So how do we contribute to your fundraising?

Well, you can always

sell Venmo. Think that.

But, no, from here,

if you guys are interested. But you guys could really help support by just getting everyone you know to pull up and show up because your participation and attendance will mean a lot. Any other questions? If I if I

were you, I would strongly urge your commissioners to participate presence on that day, to support you.

Which event or element are you most excited about there? Is there, like, a certain activity or something that you're most excited about?

Yeah. I actually invited a big club called Artify for Kids, and they're gonna be pulling up with some face paints. I'm So really excited to see how the kids will enjoy that. And I just wanna see a lot of attendance and people have

Anyone? If I could get a modem to accept the report. All these by the motion. I think I'd like

to accept a report. Alright.

Second.

And so Yes. Yes. Yes. And push your. Yes. Alright. 55. No no's. No. Thank you very much.

You. I hope to see you guys there.

Yes. Is you.

After breakfast.

Yes. That's okay.

You have a part of that?

You're Yeah. Two minutes.

I'm trying to get the trying to get a.

Up next, we have a report about the Sheriff's Academy. There's a plug.

The Sheriff's Academy is, getting set up and and gonna be, happening from nineteen to twenty eighteen. You know, we we pitch it to a lot of us here locally, and we also pitch it to all the other schools, nearby, making it open for everybody. We do have a couple videos on YouTube if you're interested of some of the activities that

that may take place, but,

we show them a lot of the stuff that we do. Courtroom, the main jail, do some CSI stuff, you know, make picking up latent fingerprints, some first aid stuff that we cover with them. Just give them a a glimpse of we're not necessarily just trying to say, oh, this is what police officers do, but we it's more of a what law in in general does, where it comes through their dispatchers, our jail system, our attorneys, and just give the kids a glimpse of something. We've had had really good success over the years, and we always have people say, you know, I wanna be an attorney or I wanna be a police officer or firefighter or something. Just wanna make sure that we expose our teams to our public safety areas.

And so, again, if, we'll push it out to social media at some point in time. We're getting already some people who are interested applicants. Our school resource officers are out there, you know, letting our schools know in Cupertino to apply, making our our high school students and pushing that out there. So, yeah, it's a great program. Like I said, we have videos on YouTube if you wanna take a look at some of the stuff that they do. They they look a little video montage of everything, and then we give them a certificate at the end of everything. So yeah. Any questions, Adi?

Yeah. How many people do you how many kids do you get in this typical program?

Good question. So we used to break it down into well, during COVID, we had two separate sessions because we wanna keep the classes small. But I I think last time, we had over 20. So we we it all varies of interest of how many students we get, you know, interested

in there.

Basically, notify all of the schools in San Francisco?

Yeah. First, we start off with

That's why only get 20.

Well, yeah, we we push it out first to the residents of Cupertino because that's a city's paid for. City's paid for too. They have their high school. And then and then we just start, you know, involving the rest of the community to see if anybody else is interested. So, but we start off low, kinda make sure we don't wanna over book ourselves as well, Joe. We only have, you know, two or three school resource officers, and we wanna make sure it's manageable.

That's true.

Any other questions?

Is that all in person event or this will be Yes.

It's all in person. So we try to schedule from eight to three during summertime. That way, you know, kids get rides and stuff like that. We can coordinate sometimes and and have, you know, help them out if they need to. But any tours and stuff, leave from the same place. Registration

and attend?

There is I don't have that with me. I believe there's a minimum, and I and I do believe there's a maximum age, but I don't have that with me. I can get that back to you. Usually, we get students from high school.

Very good stuff. Do you like more?

Yeah. And, again, we're not pushing law enforcement. We're not pushing, hey. Be a cop. We wanna make sure that

it's I

I think it's just nice when people say, I wanna be an attorney on it. It's really nice. Yeah.

But is there anything, like, recognizing that is important? Yes.

Yes.

It's very important for them to get a whole picture. Very nice. Very nice for that.

Yeah. School resource officers do a fantastic job of organizing it, coordinating it. You know, we we try to you know, we had a lot of involvement from our bomb squad, our our our SWAT team and everything.

Oh, wow.

So it it gets very involved with a lot of a lot of demonstrations and participation students.

Excellent program. I'd expect more kids to be taking it out of then again. But, you know, they're all doing AI.

Yes. Alright. That's that's what I have.

Kicking in. Alright.

Break don't break the streak now.

Alright. And voting for a vote. Evans?

Yes. Yes.

Mister Evans? Eight. Five yeses or no? Motion Next item is a report from the Santa Clara Fire District. Would you prefer that I bring up the map or the slides?

So did you want me

to go over the the PSRs too or is it a?

Good enough. We

have newly formatted reports that essentially will give us the updates, and I'll go through those next time, Brandon, because they have changed. So I would like to explain a different Yeah. I did not bring my glasses, so I'm gonna go ahead and go for this. So what I'll be talking about tonight and I'd like to say, think this is the first time I've been in the room with most of you or some of you. So appreciate the opportunity to be here and speak to any issues that you may have, and, do appreciate your, your questions. So, I can either take them during or or after. So whatever it is

that you were making

I'm gonna try to get through as quickly as possible, but I do appreciate the engagement. So with that Some of the things that are actually top of mind right now, especially because of the fires most recently in Southern California, everybody is pretty much along, but they're also very afraid. There are a lot of things that are coming through from the state level that are providing new requirements.

Mhmm.

And with that, property owners have a lot of concerns. So there are some things that are mandated by the state, of the cities, of the governments, and of the fire departments or agencies that basically are providing service. So what I was hoping to do was really try to bring to light two big components of things that are actually already out there in the public space. They may not be things that were at the top of your mind, but they were things that have been in place for a very long time. So the new maps for the local responsibility areas.

Mhmm. A local responsibility area is essentially where the local fire department or local city has a responsibility for the cost of an event. State responsibility area or SRA is where the state or CAL FIRE would have that responsibility. That doesn't mean that you won't get engagement and participation by both through what we have as a mutual aid system. It just means you're kind of the host agency.

It's your event, so you're in charge up to a certain point. And then, really, it has a lot to do with, who's first there, how things are established. Depending on the event, how big it gets, it it will also play into how things get paid for. And then next, defensible space. Super important to actually just take a close look at defensible space and review some of the things that are already known, but people have, maybe not taken the time to really understand what does it look like, and how do I apply it in my own personal situation.

It's more time. Thanks. So, the first thing I'll do is I'll talk about the LRA maps. And if I get, into acronyms, jargon, or whatever, throw the hand up, and I'll I'll I'll try to catch myself. So for you to know, the the local responsibility our l l LRA maps were just released.

We've been waiting for them for a few years now. And under there are a lot of regulations and and standards that are are created over time, and board forestry is usually the the regulating agency that comes up and delivers those some of those type things for the minimum fire safe standards. So part of that is where things apply. So LRA may have a little response responsibility area maps would be some of your areas like here within Cupertino, like along the hillsides. The difference is is that before, it was state responsibility area only that was identified as as as identified as having a high hazard designation.

So, these maps, they identify residents who are in moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity. They're designated based on statewide criteria, so there are a number of criteria that are baked into the methodology that CAL FIRE is using in order to determine exactly what level of hazard. But this is hazard assessment, not risk. So risk is really more on the parcel level. The hazard is more of your area and your vegetation types, your topography, the weather.

All of these things are there are a number of of items that come together when that evaluation is being taken into account. So the hazard severity zones are based on predicted or predicated on fuel loading, slope, higher weather, and other relevant factors, including areas where winds have been identified by the office of the State Farm Marshall as a major course of wildfire spread. So what you have is a potential, and then you have things that are, like, wind events or something like that really start pushing. So Ambercast, the amount of fuel, the different weather scenarios that come together, and this will create a scenario that we

would actually

call things are in alignment for a while a weather event like we saw in Southern California. We had 80 mile inland winds with gust of a 100 for a sustained amount of time. That was what basically took this what would have been a wildfire into a a more urban setting where you have basically structure to structure kind of progression of fire. So it's a different type of thing that we're seeing. So the LRA maps are basically to help us identify those areas that have this higher hazard level of potential.

Now the maps have come out. They came out on the twenty fourth. So the first requirement is that within thirty days, the local government would have to make these maps public. They Cupertino has made these maps. They have published them. They're on the website. There's a period of open con or public comment. So that's the first requirement. The time or the clock started, the twenty fourth, and that was a thirty day window. So we're, I think, at day 17 right now. So any local government only has a government base in just about two weeks left.

And the twenty fourth would

be the deadline for that publishing the map. And then twenty days, also starting on the February 24, those maps have to be adopted. So and the designation of the map that has the moderate, high, and very high severity zones within the jurisdiction are are gonna be part of that.

You just mentioned that those maps have to be adapted. I have no clue what that means. So through ordinance,

the local government has to go through the process of presenting the map and then adopting it. And the requirement at this point is that they they have to be adopted as is. One of the one of the things about the, building code, fire code, a lot of different codes that that are that are in use, there there is no allowance for you to be less strict than base code that's been established. So for this these maps, they can be modified or there can be an attempt to modify them, and the local coordinates can actually say, we believe there's a higher level of risk here, so we will make this a moderate, for example. There are there are some constraints on how that process can possibly work, and then some requirements if we're gonna add an additional level, like a very high requires justification local government to the state in order to be approved for that that higher designation because it does carry with it the potential for different building standards.

Mhmm. So say that your WUI or your urban interface, higher level building standards, which definitely does reflect in cost, would be something that would be required. But this means you have a higher potential for some kind of event. Mhmm. So those things have to be baked into the building standards that you would be. So it's an appropriate justification for where it is that you happen to be. Okay. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Makes sense, though, but there's a follow on question that I'll I'll keep that for Okay. Later. So it's a chief function.

Let this map statewide thing?

It's a statewide thing. Yeah. So the the p basically, it was it was CalFire that did the analysis and the the evaluation. So these maps, the first version of the adopted maps were the maps that we have. It's basically from 2007 that we use as a as a base map, and then we also have the 2008 version that that has only very high fire severity zones that are designated.

That was the last time maps were adopted. Now the, there is a requirement that this this was actually supposed to happen, years ago. It has finally happened. The new state level maps came out last year, and then these followed. So there was a there was a significant delay, but it was in that the the process took quite a long time. There were a lot of people that were involved in methodologies and evolved over years.

So this is So in nutshell, statewide map, they are asking central to accept it?

It's actually the local governments.

The local government.

And I'll I'll get into that in my report.

Yeah. Okay. So so is there any I mean, what is this thirty day one hundred day means, basically? I mean, can we change? Can we review? Can we do anything about it? So right.

And I'll I'll get into that in my report as well. But the maps are currently available both physically at city hall and on the city website and available for any commentary.

And this is a very good example of why we talk about this because a lot of people aren't aware.

Exactly. That's my point. Like, even we are not aware, so I think that people, let's say, people who are living on the Hill Of Cupertino or they are really nervous right now given all the situations. So how they can be aware at least or give some comment on

this And I will go into that invite.

And and and I would say that from from a a fire department, but from a fire perspective. It's better to be informed. Yeah. And that's the intent

of this

matter. So that's the clear understanding of what it

is. Yeah.

And and and at that point, you can take the appropriate measures to deal with that hazard potential that you happen to be living Mhmm. With, which is why the connection to the risk, the risk being at your parcel level is where defensible space measures come in. So there are two things that work together. Excellent. And so the easiest way to go ahead and and that's the map.

So the easiest way to get into defensible space is I'd like to show eight minutes of this video because, really, there are a lot of preconceived notions of what defensible space means. A lot of people will, at first, be resistance because they you know, there are a lot of thoughts that I have to have nothing around my house. Fire State Marine has done an excellent job creating content. Some of the things that they have, they have a lot of they have very credible, very, very informed and very proactive, program down there. So I use a lot of their content. And so, the first eight minutes will cover several items that, provide some clarity on what defensible space is, but more importantly, what it is known. So

We ask. We ask. We ask. We

Seen this video about 20 times.

It'd be alright if I sent out the the video afterwards.

I wanted to bring it up. Is there no?

Oh, this is

And it's crushed.

Can you mute it?

One two three. Go get it synced up.

But very specifically, wanna talk about some of the myths that surround defensible space. In a lot of ways, these are the the frequently asked questions, the commonly asked questions that that that we respond to. Mhmm. Fire surveys. We see that the community needs a little extra help understanding the issues that they're actually in front of the Open up a quick video, but but but, again, we're talking about About

ten seconds.

Okay. This is footage. It's It's

about two minutes. We usually don't share action videos, but I want you to watch what happens here and listen to what the firefighters have stick with.

So I

can play right there. I'll talk over it a little bit. So what you're seeing essentially is this is this is a place where there's a lot of defensive space. There's no vegetation around the home.

It's not what we're seeing

right here. Right? So this is to give you an idea of the intensity of fire. The amount of insult that's coming off, this is absolutely

Okay. It's

it's it stops in your hands. So the concept that firefighters would be on fire situation, this is not a realistic one. But there's really only one reason why.

There's not that much space between usually the wooded area and the home.

Fairly close to the structure, but the good part about this, the owner of the house was obviously paying attention when someone told him, hey. No. You really do need the space between the space. The space gives us time. Go out here to our to our north. There's just house after house after house. It's just hit beats of crap right now.

So I love that video for a number of reasons. One, in fact, that fire captain that I made him lot of gonna buy him a beer, but he had the wherewithal to talk to a reporter in the middle of the the thick of it, fighting a fire in Riverside County to talk to the reporter about defensible space and the importance of it. But but as you watch that video, you may not have seen that it touches on several of the myths that that we're gonna bust tonight. Not not so much what the firefighter said, but but what was happening in and around the space around that house. So you you probably picked up on the fact that that was not Marin County.

I I don't want you to look at that video and think that the space around that house is what we're asking homeowners to landscape. That might have been an appropriate it is an appropriate landscape for the desert area where that that film was taken. But but it opens up this question that we get all the time. The the feeling among a lot of people that I need to remove all of the vegetation around my house to create defensible space. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In that video, you saw a house that had 30 feet of bare dirt around it. That that may be what's necessary in certain places, you know, in the desert where there are 10 foot tall walls of manzanita or or mesquite growing. In Marin County, in most of Northern California, most of the Western US, a beautiful lush green landscape, the kind of landscaping you see in Better Homes and Garden. Both have a staff chaparral.

That's what

is a dispensable dispensable space. So there there's absolutely no truth the myth that we need to create. We need to remove all vegetation from the space around our homes. We need to stay carefully about the vegetation around our homes. We need to things like maintenance. We need to focus on on careful plant selection and and the the landscape itself. Touch on that. Another another myth we, we hear all the time, defensible space is all about the types of vegetation I know, wood shingled house. That that vegetation absolutely needs to go. There's no doubt about it.

That's a poor choice in vegetation. But that's not all that that defensible space is. The choice in vegetation is one small aspect of creating defensible

space. We'd like

to think this is the one sidebar I'm gonna do here because it's directly related. We like to think of this

So notice that it doesn't have

concept of fire skidding. It's basically the This is an art scape landscaping is art scaping. Anything that's not small space in our house. In those grand space It could be is not just about just plants. It's about the design. It's about the way you maintain that landscape. It's about future of the building landscape. It's not just the plants. This is a great photograph just, two years ago at the Kinkade Fire in Sonoma County. I like to show you the wall? Clearly how the lakes feature in this case of retaining wall is effectively an attractive landscape feature the house. That's both functional. Mostly, you'll see that there's a firefighter there protecting the house. That's gonna come up again.

Notice the power lies?

Trees are trimmed? We

hear from people all the time that defensible space, creating defensible space, improving their landscaping is gonna gonna ruin their landscaping. They don't want to see the change in their landscaping. So I guess It's I I suspect that the person who's home this is is in our eyes tonight.

It's necessary.

One of the best examples we've seen of transformation in a yard. Here's the before photo. Here's the after photo. Same photos, same angle. The issues that that this homeowner were

confined with were

an old wooden staircase that was attached to the house, several inches of a bamboo hedge towards the back of the house and along the side of the house, A dead tree in the yard. And and, frankly, you know, some some areas that weren't landscape weren't particularly attractive, which changed to this attractive use of succulents, of, decorative gravel within five feet of the structure. I would I will be safe. Again, we're not asking anybody to clear all of the vegetation in the yard, but we want people to know that it's defensible space.

It depends

not just about

There's an option

landscaping. Especially if you No. Landscape.

That's actually

combustible materials in your yard can have just as big an impact as whether your house is gonna survive. Plus In this case, a fence. So we've talked at length about the importance of protecting fences, making sure that fences are not attached to your structure. This is a great example of a yard that has fantastic defensible space in most senses. So there But that fence has the fire directly to the home.

It's actually the fence that you're in

the fire. It's the big one, the mother of all myths. My neighbor's tree is an extreme fire hazard. I have a inbox full of messages that say just that. People write to us. They call us. They're concerned about their neighbor's tree, oftentimes concerned about their own trees. We want people to look down, not necessarily up when they're thinking about their defensible space. This is a photograph, of the Scripps Ranch community in Southern California. This is a neighborhood that was surrounded by eucalyptus trees.

Every home had trees in their side yard, their front yard, and their backyard, and every tree survived. None of the homes survived. This gets to the the the point we make often that your homes are most vulnerable to embers. We'll touch on that again in a bit. But, I want you to focus on the trees.

Again, these are eucalyptus trees. These are a tree that we're concerned about because of the potential fire hazard, because of what falls out of them, the dead vegetation that, that builds up around the base of them. Believe it or not, these eucalyptus trees were very well maintained. They helped keep the fire out of the treetops, the maintenance work that had been done. And what we had was essentially a fuel break around the community that kept the wildfire from from burning directly into the community, but it does nothing to stop the embers. And the homes were vulnerable to the embers that landed on them. Next.

K. One question. Sure. So when the is I thought in Southern California, they had they had a law code that basically said you couldn't have the shingle roofs anymore. Mhmm. So this community did not have that? That's actually not what caused those houses to burn. You can so it looked like a

newer community. Right? And so one of the things that you see a lot

of woodshake roofs have been phased out for quite

a long time. So no house that's been built in the last twenty five years has That has. Has that kind of so you're looking at noncombustible roofs, such as the metal clad, concrete tile, the asphalt. Those are all types of roofs you're starting to see. Like, you can't even put a metal shake roof or a a wood shake roof on a house anymore, as a as a replacement. So these these changes are all part of the, the types of changes that you'll see in the building code. These we call these the chapter seven a code. So this is where you get your your requirements, which we can talk about. I can actually present on that in another meeting Mhmm. Because it's a different thing.

Mhmm.

So what we're talking about at the moment is what does the landscape around your house look like that's gonna keep fire from getting to your house? The next piece where we get to home hardening or structure hardening is how do you keep the ambush from infiltrating your home and actually catching fire? So, let's talk a little bit about the defensible space definition. You're gonna hear you're gonna hear hear some terms, and, basically, the the there are three zones. And you look at the map, basically or the charter has your your three zones.

So there's the zone zero. The executive order that was just put out, basically, by by governor Newsom identifies the responsibility for us to identify and create the guidelines and the standards that are gonna actually govern Zone 0. It's not currently an enforced, standard at the moment, but it's one that we've been using as a best practice and a recommended action. And so the zone zero is the five feet from from your house to the five or it's up or five feet. So it's not legally required, but for wildfire events, it's probably one it's one of the most important things that you have for fire, that is spreading to actually get to your home.

So here are the the current guidelines for that. You wanna use gravel, pavers, concrete, Basically, anything instead of combustible mulches or or other types of materials. As a as a maintenance practice, anything that's dead or dying, so vegetation, grasses, things like that, you wanna get that and clear it, debris. You know firewood against your house is not a good thing. If you happen to have anything that you maybe don't have space for storage, people will store things right against their houses that are combustible.

So this isn't just wood. This is anything. It could be plastics. It could be anything that will catch fire. Actually, provide that heat right against your home, allow it to climb up the wall and get into your into your vents.

This is this is how the fire actually enters, and that's what we're doing. So keeping branches, trimmed 10 feet away from the chimneys, and anything, basically, that would allow fire, brands or other pieces to fall down on your home, Minimizing the, combustible items. This is one for decks that people don't usually think about. But if you have cushions, wooden furniture, you know, beautiful teak table that you have on you that you're very proud of and, you know, the it's it's gonna anything like that is potentially it's basically fuel. So us changing our decision and our choices is actually the thing that we need to do, especially if you have a deck or something like that that's real right next to your house.

Moving your firewood, and other, areas to your to Zone 2 is something that you'll wanna do. Shifting any of your garbage, your recycling, those types of things, get them away from your home. And then people don't usually think of boats, RVs, ATVs, those types of toys as fuel, but they are fuel. So get those also outside of the that that zone. And then next, let's talk about Zone 1. So zone 1 Right. It's actually on the same page. It's the, up to 30 feet. So five to 30 feet, from the building or any structure, really, including decks. So everything really goes to the point where you reach your property line.

There's really not a lot of other than having good neighbors and having good cooperative and friendly relationships, you know, and encouraging each other, even helping each other clear space, that's probably the best defense that you can have in order to protect your home in this zone, especially if in a normal residential block where your house happens to be within 30 feet of of another house. So you wanna regularly trim your trees. A tree should be trimmed within 10 feet of each other, and there should be a gap in the zone. You wanna have any flammable plants or shrubs. Keep those away from your windows.

Clearing flammable vegetation from under deck. So this is an important part where you have a deck, have some kind of rock or some other type of thing that doesn't allow accumulation of debris underneath it, ensure that you have any LPG or gas tanks, that those also have 10 feet of clearance around them. Also, a great idea to put some kind of noncombustible ground cover. Mhmm. And then let's talk about zone two for a sec.

So what you what you have there is basically the the the zone one is also called the lean green and or lean cleaning green space. So you're getting rid of all dead materials. There's nothing to creep up to your house, and there's nothing to go up high. So in the in the zone two, that's the 30 to a 100 foot range. Lot more space. There can be trees. There can be plants. There can be shrubs. But the important thing is you also wanna make sure that grasses are cut back down to three to four inches. You wanna make sure that you have any dead or dying vegetation, cleared.

So that's universal. And then, when you have your, your spacing of trees, you know, really, it has more to do with there's a there's a standard that you can find on on Fire's website, but, essentially, you wanna have that gapping in between plants and inappropriate, and it has to do with the height of the plant. So it's usually, like, a two x formula, and the best way to do that is to push you towards the website for for defensible space. So there's a lot of research either through fire risers or through CAL FIRE. CAL FIRE, I would recommend is the best ones, and they're the easiest.

So I pulled these these some of these images from. But when it comes down to defensible space, the neighborhood that you saw was there was enough space for embers to, if they were airborne, to fly and cool off and not accumulate at the base of the house because there was a bunch of brush or there was a bunch of pine needle or something. So, fire is very opportunistic, and firebrands are that thing that catches, wind, accumulated, materials. And I would say that one thing I I would myself up in the mountains. You have to get out, and you have to clean your gutters.

You have to do all of the maintenance is every week during fire season, and fire season is lasting most of the year now. So for us, as as our new normal with current conditions, this is the stuff that has to be done because firefighting efforts are gonna be severely impacted by how intense the fire is. It's the evacuation being ready and actually, acting, and it's time to go that's gonna save your lives. But the thing that's gonna save your home is all the work that happens in advance. That's where defensible space comes in.

And we'll we can

talk again about the home hardening, which will make it make your house resilient or your structures more resilient from from the insult of fire or firebrands. So with that, if you have any questions, I'd be very happy to answer.

Yeah. Like, similar to how, like, for, like, Prime, if either exists, like, native watch Mhmm. Wonder if there's, like because it seems like a lot aspects of, like, fire safety, especially for, like, the folks who live near the hills and stuff, requires a lot of, like, mutual, like, cooperation and awareness. I wonder, like, there a way we could, like, broadcast this to, like, any block leaders who are up there in those areas that fall within the LRA zones?

So I'll get into it a little bit, but would you like to talk about Firewise communities?

Absolutely. So here's the thing. Firewise communities are probably the best thing that you can do in order to to to create this you're talking community. So with that, you get a better you get to know your neighbors. You get you understand you have common goals. You work on things together. I act I'm a co leader of a of a fireworks group in my neighborhood. So what that does is that allows us to come together. We get annual training. We have a certain number of hours.

There's a number of of things that we track when it comes to fuel mitigation that we put in. We we have work so there's structure, basically, for a community that wants to do something to make themselves safe. So I would say that it's not just the existence of one Firewise community because we're really approaching things in a regional nature now. That's the only real effective way to do it. So I would say that encouraging everyone in the health science to be part of the Firewise community is a recommendation that I I would appreciate coming from my county or my city.

And anything that would allow for me to use resources that are already available, so kind of broadcasting or amplifying services that are is another thing. The Firewise can use it at that point can leverage for you. So I would say that there's also an opportunity for the Firewise communities to come together and have collective goals, and that really distributes the amount of of safety that your community has and then also the plans that you have for, hey, when it's time and or when the weather is bad, fire red red flag days or, there's a potential for fire or there is a fire, and now we need to be more aware. There are programs on on readiness, situational awareness, and knowing how to actively act, during a time where a fire is actually threatening a neighborhood. So a lot of that comes to preplanning and effort done through Firewise Communities, and I would say that through FireSafe.

So you can also find a lot of resources. But I I personally think Firewise community is much

Send it. Okay.

After you.

When we drive down 17 or something, you see the sign that says, you know, fire status today is red or orange or whatever. That those employees are part of the forest.

That's CAL FIRE. That's CAL FIRE. So that's

So that's a state only my question's a little bit. I'll give you a little. So I'm concerned that a lot of the fire rangers for are being removed from their positions. Is it the forest rangers are being removed from their positions? Thanks to Doge? But I'm concerned, are they state employees, or are they federal employees? And do we still have enough people who are watching So

the fire So there's a there's a it depends. So there's all. There there are federal there there are Department of Forestry or federal fire or there's four there are federal firefighters, and that would be your forestry people. There are state firefighters that would be more like the Cal Fire, and then there are the Locust. Locust.

And that would include your city departments. We are part of a a fire district. We're a special fire fire district. And so that's where when it comes to, an event, that's why I mentioned the mutual aid system. Everyone knows that it doesn't take much to be overwhelmed by a large event.

So with that, that's why the structure for the mutual mutual aid system exists. We also act as the area coordinator, county county Santa Clara County fire desk in order for for this region. So when it when it comes time for resource requests to go out, for example, I think we sent two strike teams, so it was 10 engines immediately after the the fires down south. Those rec those requests come in. We can send rigs out within an hour, or usually it's it it could be less than that, but depending on the situation.

Those are initial or those are intended for immediate response, and then follow ups will come through. So there's a very well developed and structured system to get firefighters where they

need to be.

And everyone now has been living with it so long, or every fire department in the state has been living with it so long is that we've gotten to the point where we know how much we can afford to send

Simple.

And still be very conservative and safe when it comes to making sure that if the second event were to occur, that we would have people here that can respond to our residents. So, that's a balancing act that we so firefighters are, experiencing due to budget, there are there are constraints, and those are all those things that we have to deal with. But I I think that when it comes to staffing levels and all, I can just say that I know the county fire, we're it's our current academy would put us at at, I think, pretty close to a 100 staffing of authorized positions. So we should see those people in about about in about maybe twelve weeks. We just started in the academy.

Mhmm.

So we should be we should be we are in a good position at the moment. Okay.

Yeah. Thank you very much, deputy chief. It's a great, video, and, it's a lot of information. Thank you very much. I do have a question. Like, do you have any ask to this, public safety commission but any resources like. I don't know how many you have. Like, non nonhuman resources, is are there anything that you need?

Yeah. I think that we we conduct inspections every year. And and one of the things that that we do is we contact members of the community in the designated buoy or in these hazard severity zones. We have a very low response rate. So what what there is a a a form that goes out.

It has the different items that are are are mandated. So these are the things that you must do, and I covered a few of them quite a few of them. And then there are the recommendations, which we'll also bridge into to home hardening. So these are best practices, and these are recommendations. The the numbers that we get and and, really, the intent on that messaging is it's time for you to take a close look at your potential vegetation risk and have as done.

So we provide the information, and then we ask there's a bounce back card that also has a QR code so people can actually come back and say, this is what I'm gonna do. And we ask them to do one of several things. One of them is that they and then they say that I can acknowledge that I have no none of these conditions on my property. The other one would say, I do have some of these conditions, and I will I will correct them. And then there's an opportunity to report back.

There are no structures on this property. Whenever we get one of those, we're very skeptical because we know who we send it to. Mhmm. So we always we have the same problem every year, and that is we have extremely low response rate. So people are being provided information, and I understand people are busy.

But based on the three years, three and a half years I've been here, the response rates have been less than 20%. So these people who live in these zones that we actually know are have higher hazard potential, and we are telling them what their risk variables are Mhmm. Are electing or, for some reason, not responding or engaging. So my ask of the safety commission was to would be to amplify that and see if we can get the highest number in our district so that I can say if I can say that 50% came back with a response next year, that'll be an extraordinary achievement because just any kind of I think 50% of anything is, like, amazing. So so I would say

that reaching out that you say, are these in the targeted areas of the?

They are they are in the areas within the hazard zone. Which is the hazard zone. So And so next year, there would be a great opportunity for for an information effort to go out to let people know that they are gonna now receive this messaging. And we we have in the past. I think it was two years. I sent dad a letter saying, you didn't answer us last year. Can you please answer us this year? And the numbers are still So Did they Like It's a it's a mail piece that goes to the actual registered owner of the home. So some of them go to some of them go to to, you know, different states. The thing is is that they are the ones that actually own the home.

So that person, regardless of the tenant, then we also have our our, engine companies doing inspections. So there's an overlap there. So everybody that got a letter, quite a few of them will get an inspection anyway. So, independent of what they reported, we'll we'll see their house anyway. These are all done from the public right away, so it's not an intrusive process. But these are the easy things to see if have encroaching vegetation on your roof or if you have debris or wood piled up against your home. These things can usually be seen from the street.

So just one last question on this one. So is there any way that we can work through the insurance companies, you know, or insurance, you know, or insurance companies that this is something mysterious. Right? This is something that's, you know, this is just going back. Every part of their, you know, checklist. Right? Some something some regular fashion. Or at least

It's a it's a I would say a little bit of a sketchy thing. Sketchy. Sketchy. Because the insurance company will do what they have been doing to my neighbor who's 90 years old, and they just cancel her insurance.

Cancel the insurance.

Our tree grew to that side. Yeah. Understood. That's Yeah. Always Yeah. They are

And and I think that when it comes to the insurance companies, there's a person who can elect to either comply with the the standards of Mhmm. Or not. The code enforcement component of something like this gets a little bit challenging. But, just for example, if you go through the process with us and we inspect your home, we find that there's a violation and you fail to actually resolve it, there is a potential that you'll actually get referred through the city. To the insurance?

No. To this to the county where the work will actually be done. The goal isn't to be punitive to buying you and not correct the problem. It is to correct the problem. So with that in mind, there's a there's a lot of opportunity for the homeowner or the property owner to fix the problem. And if not, then the process to actually take the referral to the county for the county's re abatement group

Mhmm.

Will will actually take over. And then that also takes a, that also takes council action. It ends up getting referred and will move on to your property taxes. This this is one way of dealing with it. The, the other is that I do actually see how the insurance industry has kind of become the enforcement component, and and that is the market has kind of taken it done that.

So there is a there is a way, though. There are certifications that are available to the insurance companies that they they honor. What they're trying to do is they're trying to distribute risk throughout the state. So, I think that the new normal will be a scenario that actually allows for them to do way where they have confidence, and that means if these certifications are actually something that can be provided or granted through the enforcing agency, fire department, firewise community, or other, an other a an other entity that is, trusted Yeah. And compliant with the standards that the insurance companies need in order to feel that the bottom line is something that will justify them being in the state, then there is but I'm talking about a lot of stuff that is is really gonna have to play out in the market.

For us and the partnership, we look for alignment with the with what the insurance company is doing because we know that if we're gonna make an effort, it's gonna have to be something that actually has a true opportunity for a positive outcome. So so we are looking at standards that are being created by the insurance industry that they see as as having value, and we are attempting to make sure that our efforts are in line. But we don't have any partnerships with insurance.

Thank you very much. And continue that. Right? Coming back to the resources, like, the cameras are the sensor for prevention of the fire. Right? Or or as soon as to have a quick alert. So how many are already integrated, or do you have all the resources, or you need a

The the alert warning cameras. Uh-huh.

I don't actually know how

many there are. I know that we monitor them, and I actually have an app that tells me when we have a a smoke column and those as how they they identify. So I do not know. I can probably look into to see what it is, but they're basically they're they're they're very good. They'll identify, you know, even, you know, dust or, you know, other items. So they're looking for they basically look for that pattern, I know that they're integrating AI.

So, yeah, I recently heard the PCNDC talking about, like, we have implemented so many sensors and cameras for the pipe prevention or early alert. So I was wondering, like, how many of the alert California are integrated or the PG and E is integrated with your department?

With us, so it's independent system, but the information is shared. So we actually don't have any any part or ownership of of the of the infrastructure, but I know that PG and E was actually one of the the bigger contributors to the number of of of actual sensors that are available. I'll have the information. I could I can look into that.

So you are happy with the sources of the sensors you already have?

I would love to see more. I think that continuing on some of the efforts that have been started, I think we're we're we're on our way to a better scenario, and I think that we still have a way of scale. So I would I would say that a lot would have to change for me to be satisfied. And and but with that, the sensors and having those opportunities because that really one of the things that happens is that allows us to basically if fire conditions are high, then we can put ourselves in a position where we either have staffing or additional people, or we can actually just have a higher level of awareness. And as soon as something happens, what we will do, fire service wise, would we adjust the response number of units to how much potential a fire may have on a on a given day.

So, when you see fire risk today is high, there is an augmented increased number of units that's immediately dispatched when well, the ones that are actually coming. So instead of me sending one fire engine to your house because there's a little bit of smoke showing on a rainy day, it would be like on a on a hot summer with a lot of wind. We they will send a a structure response, which might be three engines to a truck and a battalion chief or something like that. So you're basically just getting a a higher level or higher number of units based on the on the level of potential, which includes for wildfire and those cameras, air units. And those those are the ones that actually will make a big difference.

In the interest of time, I'm gonna cut this conversation off here. It is past 07:30, and we do have more to get through. So if you have a question about this, let me know, and we'll work to put. If I could have a motion to accept report.

I think I'm done.

Yes.

Yes.

Right. Well, that passes unanimously. And, yes, we have a report from the Sinclair Sheriff's Office. If we could hold all questions to the end.

Alright. Real quick. This

is just going over basically, by report, every single meeting is I just go over response times. So the target response times for Cupertino, priority one calls are are are, five minutes, priority two calls are nine minutes, priority three calls are twenty minutes. Alarms fall in priority two calls. Your priority one calls are life and death That means, there's there's something we need to be there, like, now. You know, see our progress, home invasion with a person calling that somebody broke into their home, and their home, residential brokers fall under priority two calls.

You call us or alarm company calls us and says there's a potential break in. Our contract is either between nine minutes, the average. So far, we've had about five minutes and sixty four seconds, and we've had about a nine hundred and eight thirty two calls. Your priority three calls are just your routine calls. They're parking complaints, parking dogs, whatever it is.

It's more of a routine call for service, and we have either with twenty minutes as our response time. And as you can see, we're well within our contextual obligations on that. Moving right along, the the next set of slides is just a it's more statistical data that we have. Your robberies, you can see they're you know, that they they're they can be classified as anything taken anything by force or fear. If anybody doesn't know what a robbery is, this is essentially stealing something from somebody using force or fear.

A bank robbery, for example, if you walk into a bank, pointed a gun at somebody, said, give me the money. That's a robbery. Residential burglary, you're looking at somebody who breaks into a residence, and commits a theft within the residence. And you can see the numbers there that we've had in January and February and where we're at total. Your commercial burglaries are where somebody walks into a business established theft.

Burglary vehicle burglary is looking at somebody breaks into a car to break in. Grand thefts are classified by monetary amount. So anything that meets a threshold over a certain amount is considered grand theft. Auto theft is stealing of a vehicle, any of your vandalism, identity theft, orgery, domestic violence, and, simple aggravated assaults and your sex crimes that are being reported within the city of Cupertino. Moving right along, these are all, like, traffic related, incidents.

I'm not really this this kinda breaks it down a little too, granular. This kinda shows the patrol units. Your patrol units are your deputies that are out there who are responding to calls. So their priorities is call for service, and you can see the citations that they issued out. You can see moving violations, speeding citation, other citations, their DUI arrest, and how many accidents they have. You can go down to the next one. These are these are separated altogether. These are just traffic units. These are your traffic deputies. And as you can see, in January, I have, I got three new traffic deputies who are very, very, very, go get it.

As you can see by the numbers, they are out there working extremely hard. I mean, that's a it's an unusual number to see 344 citations in the in a month. And so there

It's around the schools?

It's all over the place, all over the city. So I have we'll say that there's a lot of target enforcement. So when I get a complaint from residents saying, hey. There's vehicles aren't stopping for pedestrians in a certain intersection, I will send them all out there, and they will all work that intersection to try to drive curb behaviors with their attendants or to get people to slow down for pedestrians or yield to pedestrians in the walkways, the crosswalks. This kinda puts them all together.

It just lumps in patrol deputies versus the traffic deputies. And as you can see, that search statistic the stats that they for the citations in Cupertino. And lastly, this is all accidents. You can see we're, you know, we're still we had seven injury accidents, 15 property damage. No no we had one bike act bike pedestrian.

No hit and runs with injuries, and we've had about eight hit and runs with property damage in February. And then DUI, three, February one in January. Just kinda give you the or, your breakdown of accident city. So with that, that is it. I will open up for any questions you guys may have regarding any of the data that is presented to

So common feeling and perception is reality for a lot of people is that there's lots of deputies, cops at the schools in, you know, school time. And then it all dies down, and that's when the burglaries happen. Is there a way that they can, you know, just patrol the area, the traffic cops? I mean, we don't know the difference. Lehman doesn't know that's a traffic cop versus a, you know, patrol. They just see Santa Clara.

Yeah. So yes and no. So a couple of things. Traffic deputies are specifically out there to do traffic enforcement, and they start really early. So when school starts and before school starts, and they usually leave around three, four in the afternoon. So they're usually gone by then. And an accident report to write an accident report takes a significant amount of time, so the deputy has to come back to the office and write their accident reports. So, usually, the burglaries occur in the late afternoon, late at night. They're already gone by then. It's unsafe to keep a motor officer Sure.

Nighttime in in the in the city, so they usually only work daytime for for traffic enforcement. So we do have, like I said, our patrol deputies that that cover during the other times, but the traffic deputies usually basically only work in high peak traffic times, and that's our main focuses. Again, if there is an alarm, though, and they're the nearest person, they will respond. They they are they have every all the tools with them on their motorcycles. But we get a lot of complaints for traffic schools, so that's your prime that's your first thing they do in the morning. They try to do making sure that the kids are going to school safely.

Absolutely. Yeah. But there's nobody on the weekends. The traffic so not available.

Not necessarily. We do sometimes depending upon like, in the summertime when we get a lot of motorcycle traffic, we do because a lot of kids are out there driving motorcycles, especially through Highway 9 and up the ANSA. So we sometimes do focus on some traffic issues because we get accidents with motorcycles on the weekends. But that's usually under summertime or good weather where people have more motorcycles out there. But, no, you we don't have any traffic per se on the weekends just because everything pretty much has died down as far as traffic wise goes for the weekend. So there are a higher number of deputies on the weekends than there are on the week on the weekdays, though. So but specifically traffic, no.

So captain Yeah. Per month, how many hours of deputy time goes in the traffic versus the nontraffic?

So the the way that the sheriff's contract is broken down, and I don't have the numbers in front of me, but the city could, you know, pays for x amount. I think it's, like, forty two thousand general enforcement hours. I'm thinking I'm getting closer. And that's

How much?

Forty two thousand

Ah.

Average. I'm not please don't quote me if that's accurate. Per year? Per year. Per year. Yes. Per year. These are productive hours. Essentially, responding to calls, report writing, stuff like that. And then they also pay for traffic hours, and those are separate from general enforcement hours.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. They're completely separate, and I don't have the number of how many hours the city pays for every single year. But every year, get every month, I look at the numbers and make sure that we're we're staying within the allotted hours because any overages cost city money to go over those hours that they paid for. Same thing with detectives. Same thing with reserves. Same thing with school resource officers. They

Is that on?

Yeah.

Are you getting that number?

I can give you the yeah. There it's it's not it's part of the sheriff's office contract, so it's not like it's a hidden thing. It's public record we have.

I believe it's also part of the budget bill.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So there is an allotted number of hours, and these numbers were they've been pretty similar for several years because we don't wanna try to you know, the city can always elect to add more or take away if they need to.

I mean, definitely, what we observe that perception experience of the residents has changed recent past five years or so. Talk more, you know, feel that little more unsafe in walking the street, but really happening. You see in the different WhatsApp group or chat in the neighborhood. And so that's why these numbers in a matter specifically, you know, if something's going on for a while, that allocation may allocated different.

Yeah. I'm always open to any suggestions for many residents. I wanna that that specifically specifically say, hey. This this stop sign, this crosswalk is you know, the people know a lot of their, you know, their their the way the traffic is sometimes. We get a lot of complaints, you know, for people crossing the street at Apple during lunchtime, so our deputies try to do that. The ends of Stevens Creek during, you know, pedestrian commute time when people are walking to lunch as well too. Then again, it's just it it we get a lot of complaints about every traffic call up to that city. Biggest one is usually schools in the morning, so that's where they focus on a lot in the mornings. Speeding, if they were if people complain of speeding on Homestead or Stevens Creek, they'll go out there and do a speed too if they need to. So it all depends.

It just you know, they're they're busy going back and forth to different things, respond to accidents, and then having to do a lot of stuff. So but any any specific concern you addressed to myself, and I could make sure that we we address it.

Another question. Was a, you know, theft of the that the man don't have there's a state limit.

Yes.

There, that number was not getting reported earlier later. Right? Now it is the law has changed, like, statewide on those?

We we've always been counting them. I've always provided them to the city. We will always track grand thefts. Grand theft is, you know, if you leave your bike you know, ebikes are a big thing with being stolen, so it's a grand theft. So if if you leave it or people leave their garage door open and there somebody walks by and steals bike

Things like that in the store, know, store theft and stuff like that.

We usually consider it under residential under commercial burglary. So, because it doesn't matter what the amount is. You can steal a $100. You can steal a thousand dollars

since

Has this reported in this number?

Yes. It's under the, commercial burglary number. As you've you've seen a lot of social media stuff where we arrest people for a $100 worth of merchandise or a thousand dollars worth of merchandise. It's considered under commercial.

Oh, I see. So

in the it's a bit a lot of statistics and a lot of information. So you are earlier saying they were, like, targeted hours, like, weekend. That's where mostly home birth limits are happening. So do we have the data that says, okay. You know, these are the areas, like, are you able to increase the petrols during those targeted hours, or is there any recommendation to, again, public safety commission?

No. Or or we have an analyst, full time analyst for the sheriff's office, always really well about gathering data. The problem is sometimes the majority of residential roofs, we don't know when they occur. About 50% of them, we just don't know. There's no there's no video camera, no alarm. Homeowners were away for a week. Right? So those are we just don't know when they happened. Right? If we have a targeted time where the homeowner can can can confirm, I left for an hour. It happened during this time on this day. That data is tracked by our analyst. And, essentially, we found out that it's usually Thursday to Saturday, some some Sundays, the second. But Thursday, Saturday is the highest, anywhere from, I believe, two in the afternoon till 01:00 in the morning. This is the the the highest, peak time.

I'd love to say that it happened any other time. It's It's not considered it, but it's just, we're trying to find trends so that we can focus on those trends and and apply the appropriate resources. I don't want to just throw a bunch of deputies out in the street, and we don't have a burglary for a week. And and mind you, our deputies were were short of shorthanded. You know, our they they were on some mandatory overtime. And so I don't wanna overwork them to do nothing. I'd like to focus our efforts into, fighting the best optimal time for the best enforcement. So

yeah. Yes.

So they so some people have alarms. Most people seem to have it these days, but a lot of them are using these Wi Fi based alarms. Yep. They're not the ones that were wired. And so one of the burglaries that happened, they actually jammed the the alarm. How do you have any statistics and says how often this has happened, and what is the solution for people that are relying on the software laws?

So Wi Fi jammers are are a thing. We've had we've had people arrest with Wi Fi jammers. We've we've we've also seen on on Ring cameras where thieves are caught were using Wi Fi jammers. It's not very it's not very, I should say, full safe proof. So so when thieves are using that method, they're still gonna start to stick to the three minute entry and exit because they're not a 100% sure that this thing's actually not providing all the information. Right? So really so really think but they are being used. You know, we can recommend, hey. Get your get your alarm system hardwired. Get your cameras hardwired, but that's a lot of money that people some some system have the money for.

They're not that common. They do occur. But, again, even if you're just looking at it from the point of view of a burglar, they're in and out within minutes. And if you're if you even if they break into your sliding glass door, they're going through your master bedroom or the place where they believe the the most expensive things are, they're out within three minutes. By that time, your alarm company is trying to contact you or the homeowner.

By that time, they say send the deputies. Now we have nine minutes to get there. I mean, it's it's it's really it's as much as, you know, people are scared of the Wi Fi jammers. They're still keeping the same plastics as they are whether they have them or not. And, eventually, what happens is your alarm sis your Wi Fi eventually kicks in, and that's where people can you can still actually see all the Ring camera video. It's just delayed in getting to the to the person. So there's still evidence that that we get out of it, even if you use a Wi Fi camera. So

I have a question kind of for both of you. One of the issues that happened in Southern California was Blooting. During fires. And maybe this isn't true, but I've heard you're supposed to keep your doors unlocked if you get an evacuation notice so that firefighters can get in. Do have any comment about that or recommendations?

We have a, a system in the fire department. Now we've done drills together, in different areas where we do fire drills. The the issue is when we do have an evacuation order, we try to keep a deputy or an officer behind, and and we try to keep it, you know, a place where we say you're you're you have to stay out. Right? But we really, technically, a lot of times can't do that.

You know? So people still come in and out even though they've been told there's an evacuation notice. The way that we have it, and it's something that we don't disclose, is when deputies give an evacuation notice, they won't mark the house in a certain way. We don't provide that information anywhere. I think a lot of the time, the biggest trouble that came in that area is they were marking the house very clearly that it was it was nobody home or, like, an x on the door or something like that. Right? So we just have to be a little bit cognizant of not alerting people also when when when we think that when we make an evacuation notice. So we do have other methods of letting everybody know that we've already given an evacuation notice to this resident and evacuated.

You try to only notify those people, not the whole town that, hey. This area

It goes it goes by it goes by areas. So between the fire department and us, we'll sit together. We'll see where the danger zone is. We'll give warnings. And and I think it's Genesys. Right? Yep. Genesys. Protect. Genesys protect, and it'll have actual locations broken down by by threat areas. And what we can say is we can give areas evacuation notices and then everybody around their warnings, and and then that and that way it can change. And then we'll have another meeting. We'll come in and say, okay. The fire's moving a little bit closer now. The people who got the warnings need the evacuation notice.

Our deputies will start going out, start knocking on doors, time to go, you know, if you haven't been gone. My suggestion is you get a warning. It's probably time to go because the roads will get really piled up when it's time to go. Right. Right. Good. Thanks.

The the reason for the unlock is that when one of the things that a crew would do if they have the assignment to go into protect do do a they have a structured protection assignment is they'll come in. They'll make sure that, like, windows, shades, things like that are are drawn because it's that broken window that allows them There are those types of things that can actually be done in order to prep a home, especially if defensible space is is actually there that will put the home in a much better place for her. So the problem is in order to be able to do that, access is one of the things. And then the other piece would be if the structure was necessary for to use as an area of refuge as a last resort because things were just kinda pushed too far. That's the other reason.

So it it's a problem. And just the the the everything you about is is definitely part of the the process. It's one of the things that gets discussed at the date of

matters.

Especially if there are people that are noticed in the area at that point, Martin sitting where they take a closer look at what's going on, security of finding things.

Yeah. And then there's times we have

to pull our deputies out of

the area. So it's because unhealthy. It's a high it's a hazard. And, again, if if people are refusing to don't want to leave, just really have no way of telling who actually is coming in and going. You know? Gotcha.

Gotcha. All these real camera and the cameras that have that sort of video. Right? And those help in your investigation tangibly? Do you see that?

Yes. Like I said, and this was talking about these burglaries that we solved. We noticed that the individuals were casing. Oftentimes, when they'll come back, they'll when they're committing the crime, they're wearing a mask. But before they go out there, they will they will not be wearing a mask. And in in some of these cases, we found these individuals two or three days before the burglary knocking the door, you know, trying to talk to somebody, asking for directions. These are the these are key indicators of absolutely you need give us a call when these people are knocking on doors. And we always say, you know, with technology the way it is, there should be knocking on your door saying, you know, I'm looking for someone's you know, or I'm selling something. Just give us a call. We'll go out there.

We'll talk to the individual, make sure we contact them, take their finger piece if we can. I mean, there's we we if we notify of something like that, we're on them really fast. And then and then they know that this is probably not the right neighborhood to hit because the cops will be here pretty fast.

That's an option. That would be an interesting option for people to know about. Because oftentimes, you'll get a whole bunch of people just walking by the neighborhood, and you're like, may not open the door to them, but then

It's always classic classic burglary will actually knock on your door and knock on your windows before they break in. They don't want anybody home. And so when we tell people, someone knocks your door, if you're not gonna open the door, make yourself known that you're there. And if you feel there's something unusual about this person, you know, give us a call. You're not wasting our time. That's what we're supposed to that's what we're here for. And that's the biggest problem we get is a lot of people go, well, they wanna call because they don't wanna bother. Yeah. That's that's the only reason why we're here to respond to calls like that. You very much.

K. Thank you. Thank you, Julia. Bye.

To accept the report.

Receive the report. Second.

And

Yes.

Yes.

Alright. My guess is unanimous. I will try and go quickly for the city of Cupertino report. Three topics, staff training, a little bit more about the hazard maps and staffing. Recently, we held an exercise with, the public works staff and our innovation and technology staff.

They created a new app called it was field reporting, and I believe it's now field maps. It's a way for us in the EUC to get a better idea of what's in the field from out there as well as to more easily dispatch information. So we get a 311 call that a tree is down, then this can be this information can be sent to a nearby crew, and then they can take photos showing, yes, this is done, or someone will need to come back to this, or this is not something that we can do right now, or in case of I think it was down power lines, right, that's teaching me. That information then comes back to the city, and there is now a dashboard that we will have within the EOC so that we can see, okay, are we overloaded? Where are there more issues?

And are safe. We will have a second training on that. We'll be doing a sort of simulation where the crews will actually go out into the city and will practice with dispatchers. I also attended a full scale exercise with a family assistance center.

It's not updated there. So you're not sharing?

No.

Okay.

Just to go quickly.

Okay.

This was hosted by Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative. This was a exercise held at Paypal Park where the and the earthquakes play of the active threat situation as well as the response afterwards. And I will say we have a lot of great partnerships. Actually spoke with some people who are newly named to do grief counseling after that. So for the hazard maps, what the city is currently doing is we have actually, I'll just pull up the map one more time.

This map is on display downstairs in City Hall, so that anyone can come and see it. The reason it is where it is is because that is right where people come for building and planning permits. So they can right away look and see if they to make some changes to our plans. We are also planning a public information push as well as more mailers to the folks who live in these areas to let them know, hey. You're you're in an area that may need to make some steps.

The city is also working with the Santa Clara Fire Safety Council. They received funding from Cal Fire producing. They are working both with the with the jurisdictions, so with the cities, but also private property owners. You may notice that there's some overlap with HOAs, right, and and where we've got the higher danger zones. So they they will be working with the HOAs, if possible, to mitigate some of the danger, and that's mostly going to be for vegetation management.

And we're looking at other ways to another, aspect of that is, as some of you may have heard in previous reports that I've given, the block leader program has been doing, individual preparedness and build a kit events as we are going to still continue doing those. And then also looking at, okay. How can we look at protecting our homes? How can we talk to our neighbors? How can we adjust our landscaping within the recommendations?

And that hopefully will be in partnership with the Fire State Council as well. For staffing, we are finalizing a contract for a interim emergency manager. In terms of continuity, I will remain the liaison. But I think as was brought up at the last meeting, I am the only full time staff member at the moment for the office of emergency management. I am doing my best.

But if things are a little further behind than I used to, you know, please understand that at the moment, it is just me. As soon as we get the contractor on, Dan will speed back up, and we'll get more on pace. Any questions?

So when will we get a full time person?

We'll be on it. Yeah.

As you can figure it out, we're slow. We're really slow. And so the reason for delaying the the recruitment is that the other cities are recruiting for the same position right now.

So there are not enough people for this job? There's not what? There's not enough candidate for the job?

This I mean, if I could kinda put it in a in a sense, Tom was a unicorn. There aren't that many unicorns out there, and many cities are all actively looking for that unicorn. So, I mean, I hope you agree with me. I'd rather find another unicorn as opposed to just find a warm body to fill this position, which is why I'm taking the time with the. I'm not I'm not speaking the little of Marta, but it just Tom has taken out a lot.

And so and I think I wanna give Marta a really big kudos. So this is her first meeting. Stepping up and really very very little supervision from any of of us. All I have to do is she asked me to come here just to kind of give her the support. Right? You're doing very good job.

And you have a unicorn? You have a unicorn.

Yes. But I am qualified to be an emergency manager. As you may have noticed in my email signature, I'm the coordinator. So I am learning. This is a learning opportunity, but I would not myself forward to There is just information knowledge that I don't have this background that I don't have. Mhmm. And so part of the process is finding someone who does have that background, who does have the knowledge, and is also familiar enough with our area to not just give generic answers looking at this and saying, oh, you should just cut down all the trees in the neighborhood. That's not gonna fly in Cupertino. So this is a recruitment process. We are looking.

We're making the progress that

we So I have one more question. So compared to Los Altos, Senator, what is the size of their office of emergency management in each of these cities?

They're very small offices of emergency management. The county I believe the county has 20 people. Yeah.

So what I was also hoping is to rely more heavily on the county. County is our hub, and Hector is is nodding, and this you guys stole Tom from me. So so we're hoping to have more coordination through Tom's familiarity with us and really put a more heavier emphasis back on.

Not to say that I'm

not gonna fill the position, but I think there is a there's an opportunity for better collaboration going forward.

So all the all the neighboring cities just have one person? So until recently, Cupertino was also

the opposite of emergency management for Seratovic.

Seratovic don't have anything.

And so the the the OEM at the county level has the structure to basically be able to reach out. And so it creates more of an of a network. Okay. And it is the a system that works together is actually the strongest. So Uh-huh.

Working in silos and having people that work, in individual cities that, have the connections and the and the, the relationships so that, shared resources. Once again, this is the regional approach that is in place, so that, for for the participation, all of the the exercises, like, as the liaison for for Cupertino that I participated in through the the the the city, they've been members from pretty much most jurisdictions at. So so it's it's definitely a network. There's no even though there's just one person in some of these areas, they're not alone. It's it's a little bit like the mutual aid system.

So Mhmm. With that, I would agree, Tom, and and Martha have been great partners in doing a fantastic job, and they continue to do so. I apologize for but I but I don't because Tom's all

I

will not take your apology, but I understand.

But he still will be available as a as a resource from the county level. So, you know, they're the the these partnerships are actually valuable. So he's still he's he's still accessible or ever as a resource.

I actually saw him yesterday. That was.

He's still on our.

I see him quarterly. I'm on another county region where did I see him with other managers, which is why I mean, it's it's almost unsustainable for a city of our size to have our own emergency management division. We rely heavily on county on a lot of the regional information. So town has been a wonderful bridge for us in the past. So that uniform looking for is something of the same caliber. But keep in mind that Marshall has always been heavily on the and and other other mandate that city council has provided to us. So she's kinda doing a two men two people's job right now.