Ferndale’s City Council is being asked to formally approve a written response to a Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury report on emergency preparedness that sets two deadlines for follow-up action.
In the response attached to the council packet, the city says the council will direct the chief of police or another department representative to attend regular Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services meetings by Dec. 31, 2026, and will review and update disaster-response documentation by March 31, 2027. The packet says the city had received the Grand Jury report, titled Emergency Preparedness – The Role of Local Law Enforcement Agencies, and that the council reviewed and approved its response at the Aug. 19, 2026 meeting.
The written response says Ferndale already holds monthly Disaster Preparedness Meetings with city stakeholders, including the city manager, a council representative and the chief of police, along with representatives from the fire department, Ferndale High School and the Humboldt County Fair. It also says the chief of police attends monthly Law Enforcement Chiefs’ meetings where emergency operations, after-action reports and training needs are discussed.
For the recommendation on county emergency-services meetings, the city says the recommendation had not yet been implemented but “will be implemented in the future.” For the documentation update, the city says it adopted the Safety Element of its General Plan in May 2024 and maintains an Emergency Response Handbook last updated in 2022, and that it will supplement those materials as needed to ensure they include a complete list of local disaster-response needs, priorities and protocols.
The response also says the chief of police reviewed the document and concurs in it as an invited respondent. The packet places the response under the city council’s Aug. 19 agenda and identifies Mayor Randy Cady as signing on behalf of the council.
