The declared purposes of this chapter are to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of persons and property within the city in the event of an emergency, the direction of the emergency organization, and the coordination of the emergency functions of the city with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations and effected private persons.
(Prior code § 10,100)
As used in this section, "emergency" means the actual or threatened existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the city caused by such conditions as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, or earthquake, or conditions resulting from war or imminent threat of war, but other than conditions resulting from a labor controversy, which conditions are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of the city, requiring the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat.
(Prior code § 10,101)
The city disaster council is created and shall consist of the following:
A. 
The mayor, who shall be chairman;
B. 
The director of emergency services, who shall be vice chairman;
C. 
The assistant director of emergency services;
D. 
Such chiefs of emergency services as are provided for in the current emergency plan of the city, adopted pursuant to this chapter; and
Such representatives of civic, business, labor, veterans, professional or other organizations having an official emergency responsibility, as may be appointed by the director with the advice and consent of the city council.
(Prior code § 10,105)
It shall be the duty of the city disaster council, and it is empowered, to develop and recommend for adoption by the city council, emergency and mutual aid plans and agreements and such ordinances and resolutions and rules and regulations as are necessary to implement such plans and agreements. The disaster council shall meet upon call of the chairman or, in the absence of the chairman from the city or inability to call such meeting, upon call of the vice chairman.
(Prior code § 10,105.01)
A. 
The director is empowered to:
1. 
Request the city council to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a "local emergency" if the city council is in session, or to issue such proclamation if the city council is not in session. Whenever a local emergency is proclaimed by the director, the city council shall take action to ratify the proclamation within seven days thereafter or the proclamation shall have no further force or effect;
2. 
Request the governor to proclaim a "state of emergency" when, in the opinion of the director, the local available resources are inadequate to cope with the emergency;
3. 
Control and direct the effort of the emergency organization of the city for the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter;
4. 
Direct cooperation between and coordination of services and staff of the emergency organization of the city and resolve questions of authority and responsibility that may arise between them;
5. 
Represent the city in all dealings with public or private agencies on matters pertaining to emergencies as defined in this chapter;
6. 
In the event of the proclamation of a "local emergency" as provided in this chapter, the proclamation of a "state of emergency" by the Governor or the Director of the State Office of Emergency Services, or the existence of a "state of war emergency," the Director is empowered:
a. 
To make and issue rules and regulations on matters reasonably related to the protection of life and property as affected by such emergency; provided, however, such rules and regulations must be confirmed at the earliest practicable time by the city council,
b. 
To obtain vital supplies, equipment, and other such properties found lacking and needed for the protection of life and property and to bind the city for the fair value thereof and, if required immediately, to commandeer the same for public use,
c. 
To require emergency services of any city officer or employee and, in the event of the proclamation of a "state of emergency" in the county in which this city is located or the existence of a "state of war emergency," to command the aid of as many citizens of this community as deemed necessary in the execution of duties; such persons shall be entitled to all privileges, benefits, and immunities as are provided by state law for registered disaster service workers,
d. 
To requisition necessary personnel or materials of any city department or agency, and
e. 
To execute all ordinary powers as city manager, all of the special powers conferred by this chapter or by resolution or emergency plan pursuant hereto adopted by the city council, all powers conferred by any statute, by any agreement approved by the city council, and by all other lawful authority.
B. 
The director of emergency services shall designate the order of succession to that office, to take effect in the event the director is unavailable to attend meetings and otherwise perform those duties during an emergency. Such order of succession shall be approved by the city council.
C. 
The assistant director shall, under the supervision of the director and with the assistance of emergency service chiefs, develop emergency plans and manage the emergency programs of the city, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be assigned by the director.
(Prior code § 10,106)
All officers and employees of the city, together with those volunteer forces enrolled to aid them during an emergency and all groups, organization, and persons who may by agreement or operation of law, including persons impressed into service under the provisions of subsection A6c of Section 2.56.050 of this chapter, be charged with duties incident to the protection of life and property in the city during such emergency, shall constitute the emergency organization of the city.
(Prior code § 10,201)
The city disaster council shall be responsible for the development of the city emergency plan, which plan shall provide for the effective mobilization of all the resources of the city, both public and private, to meet any condition constituting a local emergency, state of emergency, or state of war emergency; and shall provide for the organization, powers and duties, services and staff of the emergency organization. Such plan shall take effect upon adoption by resolution of the city council.
(Prior code § 10,202)
Any expenditures made in connection with emergency activities, including mutual aid activities, shall be deemed conclusively to be for the direct protection and benefit of the inhabitants and property of the city.
(Prior code § 10,205)
A. 
No structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on the California Register of Historic Places, or meets the definition of an "historic structure," and that has been damaged due to a natural disaster, including, but not limited to, an earthquake, fire, or flood, may be demolished, destroyed, or significantly altered, except for restoration to preserve or enhance its historical values, unless the structure presents an imminent threat to the public of bodily harm or of damage to adjacent property as determined by the building official, or unless the State Office of Historic Preservation determines, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Public Resources Code § 5028, that the structure may be demolished, destroyed, or significantly altered.
B. 
For purposes of this section, "historic structure" means any structure that is:
1. 
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
2. 
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
3. 
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or
4. 
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either by an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states with approved programs.
(Ord. 25-1134, 9/15/2025)