Yolo County and four of its cities are among entities about to create a shared Office of Emergency Services to eliminate costly overlap and to jointly serve the area in the event of a disaster.
Patrick Blacklock, Yolo County executive, said the effort is "just one in a series of services we're taking a look at" to work on cooperatively and to jointly fund. "OES will be first."
The joint effort includes the cities of Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and Winters, the Yolo County Housing Authority and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. The aim: eliminate the need for each locale to create and run its own emergency system.
Blacklock said the county is working to avoid layoffs in the coming fiscal year but to conserve funds as tax revenues show signs of stabilizing after several years of decline.
The shared services approach is part of that effort to add efficiency despite reduced costs.
Participants to the OES plan are finalizing a memorandum of understanding to establish the program for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
"The Office of Emergency Services provides a critical role within each county and each service area," said Mark Deven, Woodland city manager. "Each city maintains a group of people who duplicate much of what OES does."
That means each entity needs to provide training and be in control of its own financial reports and to submit paperwork to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deven said.
The aim in collaboration, he said, is to provide more coordinated and effective emergency response.
"That's huge – all of us coming together," Deven said. "We're all going to have to work together should, God forbid, a disaster strike."
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