Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel this afternoon released her latest audit of the city’s emergency preparedness, following up on a 2008 review that criticized the lack of a clear vision or strategic plan to respond to a major natural or man-made disaster.
Four years later, Ms. Greuel found that although progress has been made in creating a comprehensive disaster response, the city has a long way to go to resolve red flags that were raised by the previous audit.
“Los Angeles is vulnerable to a multitude of disasters from earthquakes, mudslides and fires, to terrorist and other man-made threats,” Ms. Greuel, a candidate for Mayor, said. “We need a world-class response plan to fulfill our most important obligation, ensuring the safety of all Angelenos.
“I urge the Mayor and the City Council to take a hard look at my audit and implement its recommendations.”
The report concludes that nearly half of the Controller’s previous recommendations have not been implemented. Twenty-two of 56 recommendations only have been partially implemented or untouched. Most notably, the Emergency Management Dept. (EMD) and each of the five departments reviewed for this audit, including the Airport, Port, Convention Center, Department of Transportation, and Recreation and Parks, need to strengthen inter-agency cooperation.
Additional Findings
• The city has not produced a comprehensive plan for sheltering persons in the event of a major disaster or emergency incident. Many park facilities that would serve as shelter sites do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, nor have they been assessed for seismic safety;
• Little progress has been made toward creating a system for identifying and locating the most vulnerable people during an emergency, developing suitable shelter infrastructure, or ensuring availability of specialized equipment and other support;
• The economic recession and resulting budget reductions have impacted the city's ability to effectively fund staff resources to coordinate emergency preparedness activities or effectively conduct training and exercises, which could be exacerbated by the possibility that substantial federal and state grant funds could be curtailed; and
• The Emergency Management Dept. does not assess or oversee department efforts to identify, prioritize, and mitigate facility and infrastructure hazards, diminishing the city’s ability to strategically fund facility and infrastructure improvements that would improve emergency preparedness.
Additional recommendations that still need to be implemented from the 2008 audit include:
• Altering the Administrative Code to vest the Emergency Management Dept. with enough authority to effectively coordinate citywide preparedness;
• Establishing a process to prioritize mitigation efforts across departments and standardize threat assessments;
• Developing a long term strategy for sustaining emergency management activities in the face of diminishing federal and state resources.
However, some actions have been taken to improve the city’s preparedness efforts, including establishing a new Emergency Operations Center to serve as the focal point for coordination of the emergency planning, training, response and recovery efforts. The city has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the American Red Cross to provide a collaborative framework for emergency planning and response.
Ms. Greuel has conducted more than 50 audits and uncovered more than $130 million that the city has lost to wasteful spending, fraudulent activity and abuse of city resources.
To view the complete report, log onto http://controller.lacity.org/index.htm
