Yes, the City of Richmond has an Emergency Operations Plan, a two-inch thick copy of which was furnished to each City Council member as recently as nine years ago in 1996. The plan was updated in 2000 with a revised Critical Facilities List (with names and phone numbers of contacts) and some diagrams on how to evacuate the City Hall over on Barrett.

 

Not that there isn’t a lot of good stuff in that binder, but if it is being updated, the updates are not being distributed to the City Council. The 1996 letter of transmittal to “City Officials. Employees and Citizens of the City of Richmond: states “This Emergency Operations Plan is an extension of the California Emergency Plan. It will be reviewed and exercised periodically, and revised as necessary to meet changing conditions,” and the Foreword states, “It is designed to be a document which can and should be updated as situations change.”

 

The 1998 transmittal of Revised Critical Facilities List states “This is a living document and is updated at least annually.” Since 2000, the War on Terror has begun; the City Hall has moved a mile south with its own emergency generator, and many other locations, individuals and relationships have changed, including City Council members.

 

I eagerly await my 2005 revision -- in case of emergency.