Sonoma City Council declares ‘state of emergency’

Proclamation temporarily broadens city’s powers during crisis|

The Sonoma City Council on Monday proclaimed an official state of emergency in response to the Valley fires.

The proclamation extended the temporary emergency declaration made by City Manager Cathy Capriola – under her dual guise as Director of Emergency Services – on Oct. 11, when the wildfires entered into their third day of conflagration.

The original emergency proclamation was good for only seven days and, under Capriola’s urging, the five-member Council voted unanimously to extend it several more days – with the possibility of lifting the emergency designation at the Council’s Oct. 23 meeting.

Capriola said that, while the City of Sonoma was largely untouched by the fires, the loss of homes, commercial buildings and agricultural lands around the Valley will bear certain economic impact on the city.

“While we as a city are out of crisis, emergency mode, I believe we still need a little time to figure out where we are before I ask the council to release this proclamation,” said Capriola.

According to the City staff report, an official state of emergency allows the City to issue or suspend orders pertaining to the protection of life or property, such as establishing curfews or evacuation areas.

Or, as Assistant City Attorney Veronica Webb, described it, such a declaration “allows a broader set of powers for the council and the staff at the emergency response center to respond on the fly” to changing safety conditions. She said such powers include invoking mutual aide, qualifying for reimbursements from federal and state agencies, exemptions from public-bidding requirements in the event emergency construction is necessary.

“It provides some flexibility,” said Webb.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Sonoma resident Ken Brown offered his support of the emergency declaration, but expressed general concern about whether local medical marijuana patients were able to access their medicine during the past week.

“It seems it makes it even more important that the City of Sonoma has a safe, local medical cannabis dispensary with delivery service to service our residents with their medicine,” said Brown.

Resident Chris Petlock, meanwhile, posed the idea of the city employing a type of siren to alert residents during middle-of-the-night emergencies.

“Monday morning when we woke up to the smoky smell and somebody knocking at our door, we saw flames but pretty much nothing else, otherwise it was completely silent,” said Petlock about the morning of Oct. 9 when the fire broke out. He suggested an old-fashioned air-raid siren would have alerted residents to the emergency more clearly than relying on social media or cell phones.

“As I went to wake up some of my elderly neighbors to tell them to pack your bag, you don’t have to go yet, but maybe soon – that was really up to people in the community,” he said.

The Council will consider rescinding or extending the emergency proclamation at its Monday, Oct. 23 meeting.

Email Jason at jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.

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