3. REQUEST that the Emergency Services Division of the Sheriff's Office meet with any Standby Officer that requests it, and provide an overview of the County Emergency System, to include written procedures and contact information, and address any questions raised by the Standby Officers.
None to the County from this action.
Pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act, Article 15, Preservation of Local Government, the governing body of a political subdivision of the State is required to appoint three Standby Officers for each member of the governing body. Accordingly, Section 42-4.004 of the County Ordinance Code requires the Board to make such appointments.
A Standby Officer appointed by the Board is to serve in place of a regular Board member when the regular Board member is unavailable during a state of war emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency. (Unavailable means that the regular Board member has been killed, is missing, or is seriously injured as to be unable to attend meetings and otherwise perform his/her duties.) Appointment of the specified Standby Officers will assure a line of succession so that in the event of the unavailability of one or more regular Board members during a state of war emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency, the business of the Board of Supervisors may continue to be conducted with a full complement of Board members. A Standby Officer shall serve until the regular officer becomes available or until the election or appointment of a new regular officer. As required by County Ordinance Code, the status of these Standby Officer appointments will be reviewed annually to determine if any changes in appointees is necessary.
Government Code section 8641 sets out the duties of Standby Officers for the Board of Supervisors:
1) To be informed of the Supervisor's duties.
2) To be informed of the business and affairs of the County.
3) To immediately report for duty in the event of a state of war emergency, state of emergency, or state of local emergency.
4) To fill the Supervisor's post when the Supervisor is unavailable (dead, missing, or seriously injured) due to a state of war emergency, state of emergency, or state of local emergency.
The County must provide the Standby Officers with copies of California Emergency Services Act, Article 15: Preservation of Local Government (Gov. Code, §§ 8635-8644.) (See attachment.) The County can also host meetings to keep the Standby Officers informed about County business and can require their attendance at these meetings. (Gov. Code, § 8641 (b).) Standby Officers must take the same oath of office as the Supervisor and serve at the pleasure of the BOS. (Gov. Code, § 8640.)
Without the appointment of the specified standby officers, there will be no line of succession in the event of the unavailability of one or more regular Board members during a state of war emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency. Therefore, the business of the Board of Supervisors may not continue to be conducted with a full complement of Board members.