Title
Committee on City/School Relations Meeting Highlights of November 10, 2014
Body
CITY OF SAN LEANDRO
COMMITTEE ON CITY/SCHOOL RELATIONS
November 10, 2014
7:00 p.m.
San Leandro City Hall
835 East 14th Street
San Leandro, California
(Sister Cities Gallery)
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Welcome and Introductions
Mayor Cassidy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Committee Members present:
City Council: Stephen Cassidy, Benny Lee and Diana Souza
San Lorenzo School Board: Isabel Polvorosa and Penny Peck
San Leandro School Board: Vince Rosato, Lance James, Diana Prola, Ron Carey
Staff present:
City of San Leandro: Marian Handa, Richard Pio Roda, Mike Sobek, Chris Zapata
San Lorenzo Unified School District: Fred Brill
San Leandro Unified School District: Mike McLaughlin
Alameda County Fire Dept: Hilda Quiroz, David Rocha
Public present:
Yesenia Martinez, Jim Prola and Trevor Schirmer
With the consent of the Committee members, Mayor Cassidy moved Item 4-Public Comments, up on the agenda, to accommodate a member of the public who wished to address the Committee.
4. Public Comments
Trevor Schirmer, speaking on behalf of the Floresta Baseball League, asked the City and School Districts to consider waiving the field rental fees for the league, as was done until a few years ago. Mr. Schirmer commented that the $10 per hour rental fee for use of City and School District fields cost the league $6,500 last year, and creates a financial hardship on the league, its players and their parents.
City Manager Zapata offered to discuss the matter further with Mr. Schirmer.
2. DISCUSSION ITEMS
Item 2.b. was taken out of order, to accommodate the public safety staff.
2.b. Lessons Learned from Napa Earthquake
Police Lt. Mike Sobek reported on Get Ready San Leandro, a joint effort by the Police and Fire Departments to increase the community's preparedness for a disaster. The educational efforts, which this year included a 2-hour community meeting and classes at elementary schools, will continue in 2015.
Alameda County Fire Chief David Rocha introduced himself and new Emergency Preparedness Manager Hilda Quiroz. Chief Rocha reported that in the aftermath of the Napa earthquake, miscommunicated requests for mutual aid resulted in fire and rescue resources not responding as anticipated.
Ms. Quiroz gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Napa earthquake, the lessons learned from the event, and the need for a tailored preparedness program and recovery plan for the city and community. Ms. Quiroz emphasized the need to develop relationships and work with a variety of community partners, and to incorporate roles for volunteers into the emergency operations plan.
Lt. Sobek, Chief Rocha and Ms. Quiroz responded to questions from the Committee.
City Manager Zapata, Superintendent McLaughlin and Superintendent Brill reported on their organizations' disaster preparedness efforts.
Committee members discussed suggestions for partnering and sharing resources, and the idea of a joint emergency preparedness exercise with the City and both school districts. Mayor Cassidy suggested holding an earthquake preparedness drill, and Superintendent Brill suggested coinciding the drill with the Great American Shakeout in October. Chief Rocha recommended that the participants receive training prior to conducting a drill.
2.a. Preparation for 2015 Joint Work Session of City and School Districts
Monday, April 27, 2015 was identified as a tentative date for a joint City Council and School Boards meeting. Some suggested topics included emergency preparedness and training, energy conservation and solar energy, update on the newly-formed San Leandro Arts Commission, offering homework/study sites with computer access for students to study together, and teen drug/alcohol/substance abuse. City Manager Zapata suggested rotating meeting facilities/logistics between the City and school districts. The group discussed ways to share responsibility for developing meeting topics. Superintendent McLaughlin suggested the general topic of safety, which would include many of the suggested topics. Superintendent Brill expressed a preference for fewer topics with deeper discussion. The group expressed interest in the general topic of safety for the next joint meeting, to be held at the Main Library.
3. Next Steps/Meeting Dates
4. Public Comments
This item was discussed earlier in the meeting.
5. Committee Comments
None.
6. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 p.m.