City of Santa Clara, CA

02/06/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/06/2023 13:53

City Council Recognizes Retiring Chief Emergency Services Officer Lisa Schoenthal

City Council Recognizes Retiring Chief Emergency Services Officer Lisa Schoenthal

At the January 31st City Council meeting, retiring Chief Emergency Services Officer Lisa Schoenthal was recognized for her outstanding service to the City of Santa Clara, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lisa led the City's efforts for COVID-19 response and conducted advance planning for Infectious Disease response in February 2020. Her planning enabled the City to quickly respond to the shelter-in-place order that became effective on March 17, 2020. Lisa activated the Emergency Operations Center during the COVID-19 pandemic and led a team to ensure residents were informed on a weekly basis with COVID updates.

Lisa introduced the Commodity Points of Distribution (CPOD) which enabled City staff, with partners, to rapidly distribute food to the community early on in the pandemic. During this time, Lisa enabled City teams to distribute over 10,000 meals a week through the Healthy Meals Santa Clara program for students and the Senior Nutrition Program, reaching our most vulnerable residents - youth, seniors, and families, who were impacted by the pandemic.

"Your profound leadership in emergency management has taken our City to exceptional levels to be able to mitigate and respond in any emergency," Mayor Lisa M. Gillmor said. "Thank you, Lisa, for ensuring the City of Santa Clara builds community resilience and is better prepared."

View Chief Emergency Services Officer Lisa Schoenthal's remarks to Council.