City Council
Evan Hutson, Mayor
Richard Thomas, Vice Mayor
Gary Hansen, Council Member
Lorri Pride, Council Member
Matt Busby, Council Member
City Manager
Marti Brown
City Clerk
Karleen Price
Willows City Council
Special Meeting
June 29, 2026
Willows City Hall
11:00 AM
201 North Lassen Street
Willows, CA 95988
(530) 934-7041
Agenda
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If you have documents you would like to submit to the Council, please deliver or mail them to the City Clerk at 201 North Lassen Street, Willows, CA 95988, or email [email protected].
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
4. DISCUSSION & ACTION CALENDAR
All matters on the Discussion & Action calendar will be discussed and acted on individually. Individuals wishing to speak on this item are asked to complete a speaker card and submit it to the City Clerk. Comments should be directed to the Mayor and Councilmembers and are limited to three minutes. By law, the Council cannot discuss or take action on items not listed on the posted agenda. a. Emergency Proclamation Declaring a Public Safety Emergency Recommended Action: Adopt an Emergency Proclamation of the City Council proclaiming a Public Safety Emergency due to lack of Law Enforcement Services beginning July 1, 2026.
Contact: Gretchen Stuhr, City Attorney, [email protected]
5. ADJOURNMENT
This agenda was posted on June 26, 2026.
______________________________
Karleen Price, City Clerk
A complete agenda packet, including staff reports and back-up information, is available for public inspection during normal work hours at City Hall at 201 North Lassen Street in Willows or on the City’s website at www.cityofwillows.org. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Willows will make available to members of the public any special assistance necessary to participate in this meeting. If requested, the agenda shall be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with a disability, as required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132). The public should contact the City Clerk’s office at (530) 934-7041 to make such a request.
Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
The City of Willows is an Equal Opportunity Provider.
DISCUSSION & ACTION
CALENDAR
Agenda Item #4a
_____________________________________________________________________ Date: June 29, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers
From: Gretchen Stuhr, City Attorney
Subject: Emergency Proclamation Declaring a Public Safety Emergency Recommendation:
Adopt an Emergency Proclamation of the City Council proclaiming a Public Safety Emergency due to lack of Law Enforcement Services beginning July 1, 2026.
Rationale for Recommendation:
The current Law Enforcement Services Agreement between the City of Willows and the Glenn County Sheriff's Office expires on June 30, 2026. Despite ongoing negotiations, the City and the Sheriff's Office have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract for law enforcement, dispatch, and animal control services. To date, the City has contacted other regional law enforcement agencies and has been unsuccessful in securing an alternative provider. The proclamation recognizes the imminent threat to public safety posed by the absence of adequate law enforcement services and enables the City to utilize emergency powers authorized under state law and local ordinance to protect residents and property.
Background:
In 2017, the City of Willows disbanded its police department and entered into a Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the Glenn County Sheriff's Office. Since that time, the Sheriff's Office has provided all law enforcement services within the City under successive agreements.
The current agreement expires on June 30, 2026. Negotiations for a successor agreement have not resulted in mutually acceptable terms. The City has actively sought assistance from other law enforcement agencies; however, no agency has agreed to provide comprehensive law enforcement services to the City beginning July 1, 2026.
Government Code Section 8630 authorizes the governing body of a city to proclaim the existence of a local emergency when conditions warrant such action. In addition, Chapter 2.55 of the Willows Municipal Code establishes the City's emergency services organization, designates the City Manager as the Director of Emergency Services, and authorizes the City Council to proclaim a local emergency when circumstances present actual or threatened conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons or property.
The California Emergency Services Act authorizes local governments to proclaim a local emergency when conditions of extreme peril threaten the safety of persons or property. The Willows Municipal Code designates the City Manager as Director of Emergency Services and authorizes the City Council to proclaim a local emergency when warranted.
Discussion & Analysis:
Without a law enforcement services provider beginning July 1, 2026, the City faces a significant threat to public safety and welfare. The absence of patrol, emergency response, dispatch support, and related public safety functions would leave residents, businesses, and visitors without adequate protection.
The proposed proclamation formally recognizes the existence of a threatened public safety emergency and authorizes the City Manager, as Director of Emergency Services, to exercise emergency powers and coordinate with state, regional, and local agencies to secure temporary or long-term law enforcement resources.
Adoption of the proclamation will also establish the legal framework necessary for the City to pursue emergency assistance, mutual aid, and other resources available under the California Emergency Services Act.
The proclamation requires City Council review every sixty (60) days to determine whether the emergency conditions continue to exist.
Consistency with Council Priorities and Goals:
The proposed action is consistent with the City Council's priorities of protecting public health and safety, maintaining essential municipal services, and ensuring the welfare of residents and businesses within the City of Willows.
Fiscal Impact:
The fiscal impacts associated with securing emergency law enforcement services are currently unknown. Adoption of the proclamation itself does not authorize any specific expenditures; however, future actions to obtain public safety services may have budgetary implications that will be brought before the City Council as necessary.
Attachments:
• Attachment 1: Emergency Proclamation Declaring a Public Safety Emergency Attachment 1
AN EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WILLOWS
PROCLAIMING A PUBLIC SAFETY EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, the City of Willows and the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office have been unable to negotiate a new contract for law enforcement services, including dispatch and animal services; and
WHEREAS, the City of Willows disbanded its police department in 2017 and entered into a Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office; and WHEREAS, the City of Willows and the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office have operated under Law Enforcement Services Agreements since 2017 in which the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office has provided all law enforcement services to the City of Willows; and WHEREAS, the current Law Enforcement Services Agreement between the City of Willows and the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office expires on June 30, 2026; and WHEREAS, the City of Willows and Glenn County Sheriff’s Office have been unable to reach an agreement on new terms for a law enforcement contract beginning July 1, 2026; and WHEREAS, the City of Willows has requested assistance from other law enforcement agencies in the region, and to date, no other agencies have agreed to provide law enforcement services to the City; and
WHEREAS, the City needs to provide for the safety and protection of its citizens within the city limits; and
WHEREAS, the California Emergency Services Act, Chapter 7, commencing with Government Code section 8550 confers upon the governing bodies of California cities the emergency powers necessary to protect health and safety and preserve lives and property; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 8630 states that a Local Emergency may only be proclaimed by the governing body of a City or by a designated official; and WHEREAS, City of Willows Municipal Code (“WMC”) section 2.55.050(1) appoints the City Manager as the director of emergency services; and WHEREAS, “emergency” is defined in WMC section 2.55.020 as the “actual or threatened existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within this city …”; and
WHEREAS, section 2.55.060 empowers the director of emergency services to request the City Council to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency; and WHEREAS, the City will be without adequate law enforcement presence within the City limits beginning at 12:00 a.m. July 1, 2026; and
WHEREAS, the lack of law enforcement presence in the City represents a circumstance of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City.
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED AND PROCLAIMED that a Local Public Safety Emergency now exists and shall continue throughout this City until terminated by the City Council, and shall be reviewed by the City Council every sixty (60) days to ensure that the need for the emergency still exists.
IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said Local Emergency, the powers, functions, and duties of the Director of Emergency Services and the emergency organization of the City shall be those prescribed by law, ordinance, and resolution, and by the City’s Emergency Operations Plan, as approved by the Council.
IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said Local Emergency, the City Manager, as the Director of Emergency Services, shall take all reasonable and legal steps to mitigate the increased peril to the public health, safety, and welfare of the persons and property within the City, including working with state and other local agencies to secure law enforcement services to the City.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Proclamation was resolved, proclaimed and adopted at a Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Willows on the 29th day of June, 2026, by the following votes:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
APPROVED: ATTESTED:
__________________________________ ____________________________________ Evan Hutson, Mayor Karleen Price, City Clerk
FORM APPROVED:
___________________________
Gretchen Stuhr, City Attorney