Councilman Pelaez Calls for Greater Synchronization of Council Offices and Staff in Emergency Response Protocols

CONTACT: Erin Nichols, 210-207-2881
[email protected]

SAN ANTONIO (March 5, 2021) - Councilman Manny Pelaez has filed a council consideration request which calls for the greater synchronization of City Council offices and staff for emergency response plans and protocols. He issued the following statement on the push for this proposal:
'City Council offices are often the first step for neighbors when they need help interfacing with city services, and neighbors rely on their district offices as much for routine issues as they do for emergency information.

While each Council Office went above and beyond to serve the needs of neighbors in responding to the emergency weather and outages, it was evident that each experienced its own challenges and communication gaps with our utilities and emergency operations partners throughout this process.

I am part of the post-storm emergency preparedness committee in evaluating the city's response and opportunities for improvement. Over the next few months, we'll be developing a thorough response to everyone's questions. However, several of my colleagues on council and I believe it is critical to begin synchronizing and training council offices TODAY. We must immediately be included in local emergency response plans and more clearly define our role. We must not delay this training until the committee completes its work.'

I want to thank Councilman Perry, Councilwoman Cabello Havrda, Councilwoman Rocha Garcia and Councilwoman Sandoval for supporting this proposal to help identify strategies to ensure that our teams are best equipped to assist neighbors through some of the most challenging times.'