To: Board of Supervisors, County of Sonoma
Department or Agency Name(s): Emergency Management/ Office of Equity
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jeffrey DuVall / (707)-565-1152; Melissa Valle / (707) 565-8980
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Recovery Operations Plan and Disaster Recovery Analysis
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Receive and approve a new Recovery Operations Plan to serve as a companion plan to the Emergency Operations Plan.
B) Receive and approve the accompanying Disaster Recovery Analysis Report
C) Approve a Resolution receiving and approving the Recovery Operations Plan and Disaster Gap Analysis.
end
Executive Summary:
On October 26, 2021, your Board accepted $374,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to develop a Disaster Recovery Plan. Using this funding, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) partnered with Constant & Associates to develop a comprehensive Recovery Operations Plan (ROP) and Recovery Gap Analysis Report for Sonoma County. The ROP serves as a companion to the County’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), providing a parallel structure for high-level coordination and guidance focused on disaster recovery. The plan incorporates best practices from prior recovery responses in Sonoma County and aligns terminology with that of state and federal partners to promote clear communication and facilitate timely external support. A key innovation is a new, three-tiered recovery activation system that initiates recovery as soon as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated. This enables the County to scale staffing and resources in accordance with predefined triggers. The ROP Analysis provides the County with a clear framework for organizing and improving recovery operations following future emergencies. Much of the work needed to close the majority the analysis findings have already been completed or is currently underway
Discussion:
Beginning in April 2024, DEM established a working group with the Office of Equity (OoE) and Constant & Associates to evaluate Sonoma County’s past disaster responses, with a particular focus on recovery. This process included a review of after-action reports, interviews with County staff involved in prior recovery efforts, and an examination of existing concept of operations documents related to recovery. The working group also incorporated feedback from community meetings that discussed the County’s past recovery experiences. This work informed the development of a recovery analysis report, which identified opportunities for improvement and recommends potential expansions of recovery programs and investments in resources.
Building on the findings of the gap analysis, DEM and its partners developed the Recovery Operations Plan (ROP) to establish a comprehensive framework for recovery coordination. Both the ROP and Gap Analysis were informed by extensive engagement with County departments, Operational Area partners, and community members. DEM hosted multiple workshops and listening sessions-offered in both English and Spanish-to ensure diverse community input shaped the plan’s design and priorities. Community workshops were held on:
1. June 27, 2024 (Countywide Virtual)
2. July 17, 2024 (Finley Community Center, Santa Rosa)
3. July 18, 2024 (Petaluma Community Center, Petaluma)
4. August 3, 2024 (Countywide Virtual)
5. March 6, 2025 (Countywide Virtual)
6. March 12, 2025 (North Bay Builder’s Exchange, Santa Rosa)
7. March 13, 2025 (Nuestra Comunidad Resilience Hub, Windsor)
8. March 19, 2025 (Countywide Virtual)
Throughout the planning process, County departments, agencies, and Operational Area partners provided regular input to ensure the plan reflects practical implementation needs and aligns with the County’s broader emergency management framework.
By appproving the Recovery Operations Plan and analysis report, the Board establishes a consistent framework to guide the County’s recovery operations in future emergencies, and its coordination with Operational Area partners.
Recovery Analysis
The analysis was conducted following an in-depth review of all existing plans and systems related to recovery across the County. It identifies opportunities to improve recovery and highlights areas where the County can seek opportunities to address key recovery needs. A comprehensive summary of the methodology used in developing this recovery analysis, including its findings and recommendations, is presented in the analysis itself.
The recovery analysis identified 14 key opportunities to improve Sonoma County’s recovery capabilities. The majority of the key opportunities have either been addressed or are in the process of being addressed. A list of all the opportunities, recommendations, and actions taken can be found in Attachment A.
After reviewing after-action reports, coordinating with county staff involved in recovery efforts, and examining the current county concept of operations documents on recovery operations, along with state and federal guidance on recovery efforts, as well as community feedback from previous sessions, the working group developed the county’s recovery operations plan.
Recovery Operations Plan
The Recovery Operations Plan (ROP) is a “base plan”. A base plan provides high-level guidance and data to the County on providing recovery services to the Sonoma County community. As with its companion plan, the Emergency Operations Plan, the ROP will have additional annexes and guides written under its structure to address recovery specifics, such as how to set up and run Local Assistance Centers.
The Recovery Operations Plan is composed of six sections:
1. Introduction: A summary of the plan’s purpose, scope, and applicability
2. Situation and Planning Assumptions: An overview of high-risk hazards and how this plan connects to other County plans, as well as state and federal guidance. This section also outlines the County’s commitment to providing resources and services to individuals with access and functional needs (AFN) and culturally diverse communities.
3. Concept of Operations: Describes the activation, authority, and phases of recovery. This section also outlines the County’s commitment to recovery throughout the disaster lifecycle by identifying pre-disaster activities and how the OA will scale recovery efforts based on the complexity of the emergency impacting the area.
4. Recovery Support Functions (RSFs): Describes each RSF’s mission and objectives and identifies the lead Department and supporting agencies. (See below for more details)
5. Plan Development and Maintenance: The process used to develop this ROP and the responsibility and procedures for updating it in the future, in alignment with the state standardized emergency management system (SEMS), and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
6. Training and Exercises: Describes the training and exercises supporting the implementation of this plan for future disasters with county staff through the DEM training and exercise program.
Under Section 3, Concept of Operations, the plan establishes an innovative, three-tier activation structure. Depending on the scale of the incident and damage incurred, recovery activities under the ROP may be expanded to ensure additional services and resources are provided to the community.
Tier 3:
The lowest tier of recovery operations, Tier 3 is activated automatically whenever the EOC is opened to ensure the County stays ahead of recovery planning needs. To facilitate this, a recovery unit is established within the Plans Section.
Tier 2:
In Tier 2, recovery expands from a unit under the Plans Section into its own, standalone Recovery Section. The Recovery Section Chief reports directly to the EOC Director. At this point, the Recovery Section Chief may recommend activation of one or more Recovery Support Functions (see Roles and Responsibilities below for more information).
Tier 1:
If a disaster results in widespread unmet needs and catastrophic damage in the OA, the County Executive or Director of Emergency Management may activate the Recovery Operations Center to Tier 1 - a full activation of the Recovery Operations Center. The Recovery Operations Center is a stand-alone emergency structure modeled on the Emergency Operations Center. It will coordinate with the EOC to lead ongoing recovery efforts.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Recovery Operations Plan adopts the Recovery Support Function (RSF) model of classifying areas of recovery. This provides Sonoma County with a shared lexicon when collaborating with state and federal partners.
The RSFs provide a coordinating structure to build, sustain, and deliver resources to support recovery in six (6) key functional areas. Each RSF has been assigned an RSF Coordinator, who is responsible for fostering coordination among government agencies, businesses, and community partners to provide more effective and efficient services. Each RSF has also been assigned primary agencies responsible for carrying out the associated functions.
DEM has met with the department directors responsible for each RSF to introduce the concept, answer questions, and secure their buy-in. Department directors responsible for each RSF have accepted the associated mission.
These are listed below:
RSF 1 - Community Assistance: brings together expertise and assistance programs to coordinate the delivery of recovery resources to the community
1) Coordinator: Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management
2) Primary Agencies: Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management and Sonoma County COAD
RSF 2 - Economic: restores economic stability and fosters new opportunities for post-incident, sustainable growth
1) Coordinator: Sonoma County Economic Development Collaborative Executive Director or designee
2) Primary Agency: Sonoma County Economic Development Collaborative
RSF 3 - Health, Education, and Human Services: restores and strengthens local health, social services, and education networks
1) Coordinator: Sonoma County Health Officer or designee
2) Primary agencies: Sonoma County Department of Health Services & Sonoma County Office of Education
RSF 4 - Housing: addresses disaster housing challenges by providing feasible, sustainable, sanitary, and resilient solutions.
1) Coordinator: Sonoma County Community Development Commission Executive Director or designee
2) Primary Agency: Sonoma County Community Development Commission
RSF 5 - Infrastructure Systems: supports the restoration of essential infrastructure systems and services
1) Coordinator: Sonoma County Public Infrastructure Director or designee
2) Primary Agency: Sonoma County Public Infrastructure
RSF 6 - Natural and Cultural Resources: coordinates efforts to preserve, protect, conserve, rehabilitate, and restore the County’s natural and cultural resources.
1) Coordinator: Permit Sonoma Director or designee
2) Primary Agency: Permit Sonoma & Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
By approving these plans, your Board will lay the groundwork for successful recovery efforts in future emergencies. In recognizing the accompanying gap analysis, your Board will provide the County with a roadmap to greater recovery readiness. The work needed to close the majority these gaps has already been completed or is currently underway. Taken together, these documents will help the County to improve our services to the community during and after disasters for years to come.
Strategic Plan:
N/A.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
Yes - A Racial Equity Analysis was conducted for this item and is included as Attachment 6 (English) and Attachment 7 (Spanish)
Prior Board Actions:
10/26/2021: Delegation of Authority For Obtaining and Managing Grant Assistance Provided by the State of California’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery
Fiscal Summary
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
None.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
1) Resolution
2) Recovery Operations Plan
3) Plan de Operaciones de Recuperación
4) Disaster Gap Analysis
5) Analysis de Deficiencias
6) Gap Analysis Findings
7) Hallazgos del Análisis de BrechasRacial Equity Analysis
8) Análisis de Equidad Racial
9) PowerPoint (English/Español)
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.