Attachment 1 - CalOES SubawardATTACHMENT 1
May 7, 2021
VIA: ELECTRONIC MAIL
The Honorable Evan Low
California State Assembly
State Capitol, Room 4126
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Assembly Budget Request – West Valley Cities Public Safety and Emergency Resiliency
Dear Assemblymember Low,
The West Valley Cities and our collaborating agency appreciate the overture to submit an Assembly
Budget request. The Town of Los Gatos, City of Monte Sereno, City of Saratoga, City of Cupertino,
City of Campbell, and the Santa Clara County Fire Department (SCCFD) respectfully submit the
following request to enhance the public safety and emergency resiliency of the West Valley in the event
of wildfire, earthquake, and other manmade and natural disasters.
While our communities have our own unique individual characteristics, we share many very real common
threats. The magnitude of response required to effectively manage an earthquake, wildfire or other
disasters will quickly overwhelm our individual communities and require a coordinated regional
response. To that end, our collaborative budget request is for $7 million to increase wildfire preparedness,
prepare our business community appropriately, and modernize our Emergency Operation and Police
Department Operation Centers (EOC/DOC).
Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, and Cupertino all either encompass or abut Wildland Urban Interface
(WUI) and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (Attachment 1). We have all made great strides
individually to address the risk of wildfire in our communities, but collectively we can have a greater
impact for our residents. As the map illustrates, wildfire knows no boundaries and a risk for one is a risk
to all (Attachment 1). This funding will help to implement a pilot defensible space Wildland Fire
Specialist Program for our communities to be implemented and overseen by Santa Clara County Fire
Department (SCCFD). The City of Montecito established a similar program in 1994 and it is widely
credited with sparing the city from the ravages of the 2017 Thomas Fire, now the seventh largest wildfire
in California history. The request would also provide funding to provide economic incentives to
modernize structures in the WUI to current Fire Code standards, such as upgrading wood shake roofs to
fire resistant Class A materials.
In addition, to ensure an effective regional response in any emergency situation, all our communities
need state-of-the-art effective Emergency Operation Centers and Police Department Operations Centers
(EOC/DOC). This request will help West Valley cities achieve safe, modern, and technologically
advanced EOCs and DOCs capable of facilitating regional joint emergency training and operation
activities when mutual aid is needed.
And lastly, the pandemic clearly illustrated that many of our small to medium-sized businesses were ill
prepared to respond to a disaster. Many businesses either know little, or never prioritize, effective
emergency planning. This funding request would provide a one-time Business Continuity and Resilience
program to provide resiliency improvements and technical assistance to businesses in emergency
planning.
As disasters have plagued our state over the years, never has the importance of a collaborative regional
approach to emergency preparedness and planning been more apparent. Our budget request would
provide SCCFD with the funding to pilot a Wildland Fire Specialist Program, create incentives to harden
structures in the WUI, enhance the effectiveness of our EOCs and DOCs to respond to emergencies,
provide critical mutual aid, and help our business community better prepare for the eventual next disaster.
Even during these challenging budgetary times, there is nothing more important than safeguarding our
residents and our communities. As such our West Valley Cities collaboration has chosen a selfless path
to this budget request knowing that protecting one of our communities from the potential ravages of
disasters protects all our communities.
Sincerely,
MAYOR MARICO SAYOC MAYOR SHAUN LEUTHOLD
Town of Los Gatos City of Monte Sereno
MAYOR YAN ZHAO MAYOR DARCY PAUL
City of Saratoga City of Cupertino
MAYOR ELIZABETH “ LIZ” GIBBONS CHIEF TONY BOWDEN
City of Campbell Santa Clara County Fire Department
LAUREL PREVETTI STEVEN LEONARDIS
Town of Los Gatos Town Manager City of Monte Sereno City Manager
JAMES LINDSAY DEBORAH FENG
City of Saratoga City Manager City of Cupertino City Manager
BRIAN LOVENTHAL
City of Campbell City Manager