[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6654805,"mediaKeyId","5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf","parentId",5442762,"title","Public safety committee forwards board vacancy recommendations to full council","audioSeconds",202,"startMs",3242000,"endMs",3444000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf&start=3242&end=3444","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf/thumbnail_3242000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6654805/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Public-safety-committee-forwards-board-vacancy-recommendations-to-full-council","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6654805-199e2526f71cd0850a0f74ba7fabf337/orig.mp4?Expires=1770529701&Signature=bEgqB7XAbNdccdEicGWvhosfXmXaCtRZScPocSBQFbiaBFsKNirUjjBPwC4kfj8~ARI-~DFZLQZ~FtZQPPZvQCOd92kZZkb24CbICeol0nsReeaCXFCu8bYy5Y66ewcRNu9RhlLEyvR1pUQz9kPTcfEc2k2sbDEq1LCSUbc6LWCXiPsRCv9VeZtqk8pk~fxag80b7a1U9~VMAJiF8DBfRgt0uCxijp0Ihy94EZySTwOb-Sn2m~k8MrQx2AJ2hhl61hlU2afhV7KbDK5KkVE0SUaQayuOKAQlllr7KnKgzMl~kr21saHQ3c244IYs1bic9NTVAsEAZ9xmB0EtX89J5g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Richmond City","date","2025-07-22T00:00:00Z","article","The Richmond Public Safety Standing Committee voted to forward a quarterly vacancies report to the full City Council, sending nominations and reappointment applications for multiple advisory bodies for full‑council consideration.

Pamela Nichols, council management analyst, reviewed the report and identified specific vacancies: one seat for a towing and recovery operator (application from Tabitha Sheeran), one public‑defender slot and three at‑large vacancies on the Community Criminal Justice Board (reappointment applications from Tracy Painter and David Smith were noted), and five vacancies on the Richmond Ambulance Authority for which reappointment applications had been received and the individuals qualified for reappointment.

A committee member recommended forwarding the full vacancy report; a second was recorded. The roll call record in the meeting transcript shows Committee Member Abubaca voting \"Aye\" and Chair Trammell Aberbacher voting \"Aye.\" The chair announced the motion had been approved and the recommendations will proceed to the full council. The committee did not hold a public hearing on the vacancies at this meeting.

The committee record did not specify the public‑hearing requirement for each vacancy; Nichols said most vacancies require city residence or principal employment within the city and that the Clerk's office will continue outreach for qualified applicants.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Richmond City - Public Safety Standing Committee on 2025-07-22 1:00 PM - To access the meeting via Microsoft Teams, please use the following link: https://go.rva.gov/PublicSafety-JULY22 or dial *67-804-316-9457 and enter ID: 521 227 397#. - Jul 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The committee voted to forward a quarterly vacancies report — including openings for towing advisory, Community Criminal Justice Board and Richmond Ambulance Authority seats — to the full City Council for consideration.","taxTitle","Richmond City (Independent City), Virginia","taxId",5755,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6654808,"Sierra Club member warns gas leaks are straining Richmond Fire Department resources",160,2986000,3146000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf&start=2986&end=3146","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf/thumbnail_2986000.jpg","/articles/6654808/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Sierra-Club-member-warns-gas-leaks-are-straining-Richmond-Fire-Department-resources","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6654808-f56ebe09833e7b3a540e6bbfebc6530d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770529701&Signature=NO2XY6fEr0oLt9PbEWttaLNe3EJMpF~o1Mxfcq3KI2uMuLIX9ed0M-d9luGU-1iHG5GndG7jYHZckwSq87hap9yob1SQJi4pECKHM6fcu9LAA-4z1xqNmdsP5K70HyZ47A1cX9ZBd6jFXiha557JYhZI9pjcqw9QPe~W6LadqRXeyl5PeVNCLSwDSf4iYbtLBpepD9XJoWX1uHcVt8vtn6T18jQz1QFDgiDg5Q3EdQF~2z2yQ9xydzY5ItHeIDARpnhekGt4vAMO1u4xSQYLm8g2qKvq7RcmBBzmTetrqlujEsfuYB-Bi-pUt7FNE4M0oeGcgWWIoGSGyWwT44x8Pg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Lee Williams, advocacy chair for the Sierra Club’s Falls of the James Group, told the Richmond Public Safety Standing Committee during public comment that volunteers in the group's Beyond Methane and Electrify RVA working groups used 911 alerts and the PulsePoint app to document suspected natural gas leaks across the city.

Williams said the group cataloged calls and the Richmond Fire Department's responses. \"So as, from 01/01/2024 to 06/30/2025, there were 919 9 1 1 calls. 3,946 vehicles were deployed by Richmond Fire Department, and the personnel deployed roughly is 12,217 in a 1 year period,\" he said, and added, \"We are just sharing this information with you all, so you are aware of the significant financial burden this places on our Richmond Fire Department.\" He said the volunteers will leave maps and copies of their data with committee members for budget planning.

Williams described how the group used instrumentation where available but relied primarily on the city 911 alerts and PulsePoint to capture incidents and response details. He said the dataset includes personnel information drawn from Richmond Fire Department responses after consultation with a hazmat captain and other fire personnel.

Williams told the committee the group’s map currently shows six months of visible, non‑overlapping points because a full year's incidents overlay too densely on the graphic; he said he is leaving copies of the maps for committee members and council staff.

Committee members accepted the materials and asked clarifying questions about the environmental and fiscal consequences; Williams said the three‑minute comment was a summary and that his group could present at greater length if the committee requested it.","An advocacy chair for the Sierra Club told the Public Safety Standing Committee volunteers used 911/PulsePoint data to catalog gas leaks and that those incidents have required substantial Richmond Fire Department deployments; he urged council to consider the fiscal and health impacts during budget planning.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6654811,"Richmond emergency-management officials outline hurricane readiness, Hagerty follow‑up after January water crisis",0,3605000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf&start=3605&end=3605","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5442762-4f23daaa7d7970d49279833034b4b5bf/thumbnail_3605000.jpg","/articles/6654811/Richmond-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Richmond-emergency-management-officials-outline-hurricane-readiness-Hagerty-followup-after-January-water-crisis","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6654811-8ac072e77be9b58bd7a2f72fe3d52229/orig.mp4?Expires=1770529701&Signature=AkHJw5K3d-15UIHPO0RvCpXLWIdWRL1VW2U-BeCm0E9KkZlkQc0A1tCSeV8ADyfB-TOi6rXQSYpU8-1hljDUZOPJCOZkPw3x0~gOkg-9nJITokv6Lqm6Aswj9H98-8keDpJ3fR9yAuVLlfpgxcp9kJ3eEps~SRyeM3n-fXizWElYAJYvOiQ5zOeeFmy2VKz8ZEQt4VuSPp6VEQqVU4UeMwVxJyVeNckUr~sZK2KK6jGmPSbsZA2vCGS64539qRYGueuq-wfG9v4zD59oYVn5Az1osh2dCfMEws~3JGKc~ORq~VCN0bJgHy4mmxrF5pfV6tUkJeXjNuaDbx7BPV9m1Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City emergency-management officials briefed the Richmond Public Safety Standing Committee on local preparations for the 2025 hurricane season and on steps to implement recommendations from an outside incident response assessment conducted after the January water crisis.

Stephen Willoughby, director of emergency communications, preparedness and response for the city of Richmond, said the city will update multiple plans, strengthen operational coordination and improve public information and logistics, and pledged periodic public updates on progress. \"Find it, fix it,\" Willoughby said, summarizing the mayor's direction after Hagerty's assessment.

Hagerty's incident response assessment identified gaps in planning, operational coordination, logistics and public information during the January event. Willoughby told the committee the city will begin work on an integrated preparedness plan within 30 to 45 days and expects a comprehensive update of the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) to take up to about 18 months, with higher‑priority amendments made sooner. He listed six specific follow‑on plans the administration intends to produce over the next two years, including a resource‑management plan, point‑of‑distribution plan, crisis communications plan, volunteer-and-donations plan and a citywide cost‑recovery plan.

The presentation summarized steps already taken: the city replaced its previous mass‑notification platform with Richmond Ready (built on the Everbridge product), is formalizing an emergency management liaison (EML) program through an administrative regulation the director said is cited as 1.9, and is revising continuity-of‑operations templates to align more closely with FEMA standards rather than the older VDEM template used previously. Willoughby said departments will be prioritized for updated continuity planning based on their risk to core city services.

Willoughby and Paul Hunley, an emergency planner in the Department of Social Services embedded with the Office of Emergency Management, outlined operational issues identified in January. Those included inconsistent use of WebEOC as the incident tracking system, ad hoc logistics handoffs that produced supply chain problems, and an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) setup that requires large amounts of equipment to be assembled because the city lacks a permanent EOC location. Willoughby said the library basement currently designated in the EOP is inadequate for a city of Richmond's size and recommended a permanent EOC where equipment and staff could immediately operate.

On public alerts, Taylor Fuqua, detailed from the Office of Strategic Communications to emergency management, described Richmond Ready and how it differs from Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). Richmond Ready requires subscription and allows targeted opt‑ins; WEA goes to all cell phones in a geofenced area but is limited by federal criteria for approval. Willoughby said Richmond Ready subscriptions have grown from about 7,500 to “closer to 8,000” after recent marketing pushes and that the city will accept paper signups for residents without the technical ability to register themselves. He said the administration has issued a directive that boil‑water advisories will be pushed via WEA going forward.

Council members pressed staff for more specificity and faster progress. Councilwoman Trammell Aberbacher said council and residents experienced poor communication during January's incident and asked Willoughby to return with a fuller update in September. At several points Trammell sharply criticized the city's early response and told staff, \"you failed us,\" urging a 100 percent effort to reach vulnerable residents. Staff acknowledged the Office of Emergency Management had been small relative to comparable cities; Willoughby said the office previously had two employees and an operating budget of $114,000, and that the office now has five staff and has increased funding, requiring continued use of contractors to accomplish the full work program while the office grows.

Willoughby said the city plans to publish Hagerty's recommendations and post quarterly public progress reports. He also described efforts to improve situational awareness, establish a consistent \"battle rhythm\" for reporting within the EOC, expand EML training with baseline and enhanced curricula, and improve coordination with agencies such as Richmond Ambulance Authority, public works and utilities for sheltering, distribution and recovery operations.

Council members asked for metrics on community emergency response teams (CERT), district‑level breakdowns of volunteers, and clearer expectations for communications to council members during incidents. Willoughby said CERT training is being expanded and that he will provide numbers and district details to the committee.

The committee did not take formal votes on these items at the meeting. Willoughby said the administration will begin implementing several high‑priority changes immediately and provide regular briefings to the committee and council.

Looking ahead, Willoughby and staff signaled an administration focus on institutionalizing lessons from the January incident through plan rewrites, training, and improved use of WebEOC and Richmond Ready so the city can better coordinate logistics and communications in future storms and utility outages.","City emergency-management leaders told the Public Safety Standing Committee they are implementing consultant Hagerty’s recommendations, updating continuity and emergency operations plans, expanding alerting via Richmond Ready and auditing logistics after the January water incident.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Public safety committee forwards board vacancy recommendations to full council

Sierra Club member warns gas leaks are straining Richmond Fire Department resources

Richmond emergency-management officials outline hurricane readiness, Hagerty follow‑up after January water crisis