HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.17.20 Email from Shari McCracken - County Operations RE EOC & COVID-19
From:McCracken, Shari
To:Alpert, Bruce;Bennett, Robin;Clerk of the Board;Connelly, Bill;Cook, Holly;Lambert, Steve;Lucero, Debra;
McCracken, Shari;Ring, Brian;Ritter, Tami;Rodas, Amalia;Sweeney, Kathleen;Teeter, Doug
Subject:County Operations
Date:Tuesday, March 17, 2020 6:35:52 PM
Board Members,
We’ve been extremely busy today expanding our EOC functions so that we can be better
prepared for this quickly expanding COVID-19 event. I don’t have a summary of all of those
actions yet, but they have been focused on responses to the Governor’s directives, many of
which we are finding the State is not prepared to support, as well as focusing on Continuity of
Operations and guidance for social distancing and reducing crowds to less than 10 people.
In summary, some departments will completely close their facilities to the public and provide
services viaelectronicand telephonic devices by staff working remotely from home. Some
departments will remain open with a skeleton staff and other staff working remotely. Staff
that we determine serve in a non-essential function and cannot work from home will be
redirected where we need assistance, such as in call centers or in EOC functions. We are
compiling all of the information this evening and will do the following to provide the
information to you and the publicthis week:
General press release in the morning asking the public to contact offices by phone
before coming to County facilities to determine how services are being provided.
Social media posts about checking with County departments before making a trip to
an office.
A list on the County’s home page listing the status of each department’s offices,
with a link to department websites for further details (some department websites won’t be
updated immediately).
All offices will have information posted physically at their sites, and on their
websites, with a phone number or e-mail address people may use to contact staff, if a facility
is closed down and they didn’t call ahead.
I can tell youthatthe following officeshave already closed orwill be closed by tomorrow to
the public, with services provided electronically and telephonically by staff either on-site or
working remotely from home:
Library branches
Development Services
Public Services – non-Road and non-Landfill functions (the Road and Landfill
functions remain fully operational)
Assessor’s Office
Human Resources
Water and Resource Conservation
UC Cooperative Extension (at the direction of the Chancellor’s Office)
Clerk-Recorder’s Office
I will provide more information tomorrow night on the others.
th
I will be bringing you actions on March 24related to afew personnel and payroll decisions I
have had to make in response to this emergency, and I will be requesting ratification of those
actions. The actions are based on whatappear will be passed tonight thourhg federal
legislation, and aretaken to meet the Governor’s and President’s intent that employees not
be harmed, where possible, by the extreme actions being asked of governments,non-profits,
andbusinesses across the nation.
I am holding a conference call with Department Heads every day at 4:00 to address continuity
of operations and will provide you updates, if new information arises. I have asked General
Servicesto contract for enhanced cleaning/sanitizing services at all County facilities that
remain open to the public, as well as provision of sanitizing wipes so that employees can spot
clean their workstations (phones, keyboard, etc.). In addition, I’ve requested auto hand
sanitizer dispensers be placed at each public entrance to facilities.
As soon as I receive the final version of our Incident Action Plan (IAP) for the EOC, I will provide
it to you. Please know that this is an internal planning document and not meant for sharing. It
will give you a clear idea of the EOC assignments, butthe phone numbers are not for public
use. We will set up call centers to assist the public and will provide that information to you
and the public as soon as it is available. I will ask that you notdirectlycontact staff in the EOC
via phone, as it can be disruptive. Please do continue to send concerns and questions to
Danette and I so we can get them to the appropriate staff. Don’t be deceived by the high level
objectives, there is a lot of work going on behind each of them.
The communication on this incident will get smoother and more predictable once we are fully
established in the EOC, and as we see whatthe federal and State governments, and local
Health Officers, ultimately direct usto do. I realize there are more questions than answers,
and that is frustrating. We thought the Camp Fire was an unprecedented event, but COVID-19
is much more complex and far reaching, and we are having to create response strategies
never used before. As stated before, the federal and State governments are struggling as
much as local jurisdictions to keep pace and provide guidance and information.
Have a good evening.
Shari
Shari McCracken
Chief Administrative Officer
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
T:530.552.3305 M: 530.990.5029
***Please note this is a new phone number and update your records accordingly***
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