Public Safety Committee
July 14, 2026
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Elizabeth Lake FROM: Damon Covington
Acting City Administrator Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Operational Agreement Between City
Of Oakland And Alameda County For
Period From Ratification Through
December 31, 2035
DATE: June 22, 2026
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator, or Designee, To Enter Into An Operational Area Agreement With Alameda County To Participate In An Intermediate Level Of The State Emergency Services Organization That Will Comply With The State Of California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) For The Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Passage of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator, or her designee, to enter into an Agreement with Alameda County to continue to participate in an intermediate level of the State’s Emergency Services Organization comprised of Alameda County and all cities and special districts within its boundaries. The purpose of the agreement is to provide policies and procedures to guide how jurisdictions within Alameda County will prepare, respond, mitigate, and recover from natural and human-caused disasters.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
After the 1991 Firestorm, the California State Legislature established the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) under Government Code Section 8607(a). One of the key elements of SEMS is the validation and formation of the Operational Area. The Operational Area is defined as:
"An intermediate level of the state emergency services organization, consisting of a county and all political subdivisions within the county area." [Government Code Section 8559(b)]
Betsy Lake (Jul 2, 2026 10:19:54 PDT)
Jul 2, 2026
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Operational Agreement Between City Of Oakland And Alameda County For Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035
Date: June 22, 2026 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
July 14, 2026
The Oakland City Council adopted the original ten-year Operational Area Agreement in 1995, which authorized Oakland's participation in the Alameda County Operational Area Emergency Management Organization. On January 11, 2006, the Oakland City Council adopted Resolution No. 79704 C.M.S. to renew the Operational Area Agreement for another ten years. On February 20, 2018, the Oakland City Council adopted Resolution No. 87063 C.M.S. to renew the Operational Area Agreement, which then expired on December 31, 2025.
On January 27, 2026, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors ratified a new ten-year agreement and invited the cities and other local public entities within the county to once again participate in the Alameda County Operational Area Emergency Management Organization (Attachment A). This report and resolution recommend re-adoption of the Alameda County Operational Area Agreement. Re-adoption of the Alameda County Operational Area Agreement facilitates compliance with California’s Standardized Emergency Management System.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The current agreement approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in January 2026 (Attachment A) is identical to the previous agreements and has the following features:
• Establishes a partnership for exchanging disaster intelligence, mutual aid, and resource requests during emergencies;
• Allows for cooperative training, exercises, and drills; • Operates under SEMS guidelines and regulations;
• Identifies the Alameda County Sheriff, who is also the Director of Emergency Services, as the Operational Area Coordinator. The Operational Area Coordinator is responsible for assuring the representation of all affected jurisdictions in decision-making before, during, and after a disaster occurs;
• Ensures that a representative Operational Area Council is established to review and approve policies and procedures, and serve as Alameda County's Civil Defense and Disaster Council; and,
• Requires each local jurisdiction to designate individuals to be trained on policies and procedures of the Alameda County Operational Area Emergency Management Organization, and to designate a line of succession of officials who are empowered to represent the jurisdiction to the Operational Area Emergency Management Organization.
RELATED PLANNING EFFORTS
This agenda item supports the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) (https://www.oaklandca.gov/Public-Safety-Streets/Fire/EMSD/Emergency-Operations-Plan). Re- adoption of the Alameda County Operational Area Agreement directly supports multiple foundational elements of the City of Oaklands EOP. The EOP explicitly identifies the Alameda County Operational Area as the intermediary through whom Oakland coordinates with the State of California during declared emergencies. Participation in the Operational Area Agreement is the mechanism by which the coordination relationship is formalized and maintained. Without a Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Operational Agreement Between City Of Oakland And Alameda County For Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035
Date: June 22, 2026 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
July 14, 2026
current signed agreement, Oakland's EOC would lack a defined legal basis for accessing Operational Area resources, submitting mutual aid requests, or receiving state-directed support.
Additionally, the EOP requires that all City emergency operations comply with SEMS. The Operational Area Agreement operationalizes Oakland's SEMS compliance at the county tier by establishing the organizational structure, lines of communication, and resource-sharing protocols required under California Government Code §8607.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no direct fiscal impacts to the City of Oakland as a result of re-adopting the Operational Area Agreement. Section 2 of the Agreement, titled Consideration, specifically states, "There shall not be any monetary compensation required from any to another party as a condition of assistance provided under the agreement, except for reimbursement of direct costs as designated in mutual aid agreements.”
Sufficient funds are included in the Fiscal Year 2025-2027 Biennial Adopted Budget for exchanging disaster intelligence, supporting mutual aid and resource requests, and supporting emergency preparedness training and exercise activities.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Emergency preparedness is a community effort that can only be accomplished by working together for a common result. It is a partnership of residents, businesses, schools, non-profits, community-based organizations, special districts, and local governments to prevent loss of life, loss of property, and damage to the environment.
The City of Oakland was an active participant in developing the original Operational Area Agreement thirty years ago. Therefore, staff recommends that the Oakland City Council continue its support of the partnerships represented by this umbrella agreement in order to effectively prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures because the item concerns an intergovernmental emergency management coordination agreement among public agencies and participating organizations.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau.
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Operational Agreement Between City Of Oakland And Alameda County For Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035
Date: June 22, 2026 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
July 14, 2026
RACE AND EQUITY
Staff did not complete a Racial Equity Impact Analysis on the recommended policy/program/planning action; going forward, the following data will be tracked in order to measure the short- and long-term impacts of this Memorandum of Agreement: Geographic distribution of mutual aid resources deployed during activations within Oakland, cross- referenced with the environmental justice neighborhoods to assess equitable reach; Number of emergency preparedness education events and training hosted in Oakland environmental justice neighborhoods; Number of Oakland Community-Based and Faith-Based Organizations to be incorporated into emergency preparedness and response planning, training, exercises, and/or response.
Elizabeth Lake, Acting City Administrator
Subject: Operational Agreement Between City Of Oakland And Alameda County For Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035
Date: June 22, 2026 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
July 14, 2026
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator, or Designee, To Enter Into An Operational Area Agreement With Alameda County To Participate In An Intermediate Level Of The State Emergency Services Organization That Will Comply With The State Of California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) For The Period From Ratification Through December 31, 2035.
For questions regarding this report, please contact JESSICA FEIL, EMERGENCY SERVICES MANAGER, at (510) 238-6067.
Respectfully submitted,
DAMON COVINGTON
Chief, Fire Department
Prepared by:
Jessica Feil, Emergency Services Manager
Emergency Management Services Division
Attachments (1):
A: 2026 Operational Area Agreement with Alameda County Board of Supervisors Letter