HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.11 - 3235 Veoci MOA Approval
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STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
DATE: June 16, 2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:
Linda Smith, City Manager
SUBJECT:
Consideration of a Memorandum of Agreement with the County of
Alameda Regarding Participation in the Alameda County Veoci System
Prepared by: John Stefanski, Assistant to the City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider adopting a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to
Execute a Memorandum of Agreement with the County of Alameda Regarding
Participation in the Alameda County Veoci System.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of
Agreement with the County of Alameda (County) Regarding Participation the Alameda
County Veoci System.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no immediate fiscal impact associated with executing the MOA with the
County. The County will be providing the City with 31 Veoci licenses at no cost. If the
City wishes to purchase licenses above this amount, the City can take advantage of the
County’s negotiated license rate of $152 per annual license. Staff has included sufficient
funding in the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget to purchase the additional Veoci licenses to
fully outfit designated Emergency Operations Center personnel, if Staff identifies a need
for more licenses.
DESCRIPTION:
Background on VEOCI
Prior to October 1, 2013, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
provided the Response Information Management System software to all county and city
jurisdictions for the purposes of coordinating response, reporting situation status, and
requesting resources during an emergency or disaster.
Cal OES then transitioned to WebEOC as the emergency management software for the
State but only provided it to co unty governments. The result left cities with no
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streamlined method for communicating with the operational area (county). This created
a large gap in the operational area’s ability to coordinate, gather situational awareness,
and request resources.
In 2019, the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services applied for and received
funding from the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) to fund the
purchase of Veoci for all agencies within the County. Under this structure, the County
and subsequent jurisdictions will operate using the same software during an
emergency.
Veoci is an interactive emergency management system that assists with situation
analysis in the event of an emergency, provide s cities an ability to send requests to the
County for incidents, and allows for the delivery of actionable information intended to
enhance public safety. The services provided by Veoci are intended to augment existing
situation analysis systems and strengthen the capabilities of the County by maintaining
an efficient, effective, and interoperable means of rapidly disseminating critical
emergency information to those who respond to incidents anywhere in the County.
The first use of this software has been during the current COVID -19 pandemic. The
Emergency Operations Center Coordinator/Assistant to the City Manager has utilized it
to communicate with staff throughout the County to troubleshoot issues as well as share
and receive vital information.
Memorandum of Agreement
The Alameda County Office of Emergency Services will be providing all cities in the
County with set number of Veoci licenses free of charge. The City of Dublin will be
receiving at least 31 licenses and will have the option to purchase additional license s at
the price negotiated by the County. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
memorializes the City’s participation in the Veoci System and provides mutually
agreeable guidelines for allowing the City to access and use the County’s Veoci system.
The MOA will remain in effect until December 22, 2024 unless (1) Veoci is no longer
used as the emergency management system for the County and a replacement
approved by the parties is not found; (2) either party provides sixty (60) day written
notification that it desires to terminate the MOA and withdraw from participation in
Veoci; or (3) either Party violates the terms of the MOA including, but not limited to, the
Use Policy.
The SHSGP will fund Veoci through December 2022. The County will continue to
pursue additional funding to sustain the program through the end of the term of the
MOA.
In addition, The Office of Emergency Services will form an Alameda County Veoci
Advisory Committee which will coordinate ongoing administration, training, and
modification to policies and guidelines, or other issues related to Veoci. Dublin’s
Assistant to the City Manager will serve as the City’s representative to this committee.
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Next Steps
Following execution of the MOA, Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staff will work
with the County to build out the City’s local Veo ci platform and integrate into the larger
County platform. Over the coming months, City and County staff will provide training
opportunities to ensure all EOC designated staff are trained on Veoci.
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
None.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of Agreement
with the County of Alameda Regarding Participation in the Alameda County Veoci
System
2. Exhibit A to the Resolution - Memorandum of Agreement
RESOLUTION NO. XX-20
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
*********
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
WITH THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN THE ALAMEDA
COUNTY VEOCI SYSTEM
WHEREAS, Prior to October 1, 2013, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal
OES) provided the Response Information Management System software to all county and city
jurisdictions for the purposes of coordinating response, reporting situation status, and
requesting resources during an emergency or disaster; and
WHEREAS, Cal OES then transitioned to WebEOC as the emergency management
software for the State but only provided it to county governments, leaving local governments
with no streamlined method for communicating with the Operational Area (County) during an
emergency; and
WHEREAS, VEOCI is an interactive emergency management system intended to
provide sufficient situation analysis in the event of an emergency, provide cities an ability to
send requests to the County for incidents, and provide for the delivery of actionable information
intended to enhance public safety; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services applied for and
received funding from the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) to fund the
purchase of VEOCI for all agencies within the County; and
WHEREAS, the City will receive at least 31 licenses at no cost as a part of this program
and will have the ability to purchase licenses above that amount at the price negotiated by the
County; and,
WHEREAS, the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services requires that all cities
participating in this program enter into a Memorandum of Agreement which memorializes
mutually agreeable guidelines for accessing and using the County’s VEOCI System.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin does
hereby authorize the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of Agreement with the County of
Alameda Regarding Participation in the Alameda County VEOCI System, as attached hereto as
Exhibit A to the Resolution.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of June 2020, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
______________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
City Clerk
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MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA AND THE CITY OF DUBLIN
REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN
THE ALAMEDA COUNTY VEOCI SYSTEM
THIS MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (“MOA”) is made and entered into this ___ day of
__________, 2020, by and between the County of Alameda (hereinafter referred to as
“County”), acting by and through its Office of Emergency Services (OES), and the City of
Dublin (hereinafter referred to as “City”). The County OES and the City of Dublin may be
referred to collectively as “Parties” or in the singular as “Party”, as the context requires.
RECITALS
The County and City have entered into this Memorandum of Agreement with reference to the
following facts and circumstances:
WHEREAS, prior to October 1, 2013, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
provided the Response Information Management System to all county and city jurisdictions for
the purposes of coordinating response, reporting situation status, and requesting resources during
an emergency or disaster. Cal OES transitioned to WebEOC as the emergency management
software for the State but only provided it to county governments. The result left cities with no
streamlined method for communicating with the operational area (county). This left a large gap in
the operational area’s ability to coordinate, gather situational awareness, and request resources ;
and
WHEREAS, through the funding made available by the State Homeland Security Grant Program
(SHSGP), County OES contracted for five years of Veoci services to function as an integral
component of the Alameda County emergency management system. The purchase of Veoci is
intended to strengthen the capabilities of the County by maintaining an efficient, effective, and
interoperable means of rapidly disseminating critical emergency information to those who respond
to incidents anywhere in the County. Veoci is an interactive emergency management system
intended to provide sufficient situation analysis in the event of an emergency, provide cities an
ability to send requests to the County for incidents, and for the delivery of actionable information
intended to enhance public safety. The services provided by Veoci are intended to augment
existing situation analysis systems; and
WHEREAS, Veoci operates through an internet portal supported and provided by the vendor.
Veoci also provides instant cloud storage, mobile/tablet application, as well as some offline
capabilities. Additionally, Veoci provides 24-hour technical support, seven days-a-week; and
WHEREAS, Veoci allows for high-speed delivery of various workflows and forms using multiple
devices: desktop computers, tablets, cellular phones, and the ability to fill out certain workflows
and forms offline (without internet connection); and
WHEREAS, it is intended that the County Veoci system be a shared resource benefitting all
participating cities within the geographic boundaries of the County. It is anticipated that each of
the cities will enter into a similar MOA.
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NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein, the Parties
hereby agree as follows:
1.PURPOSE
The purpose of this MOA is to establish mutually agreeable guidelines for allowing the City access
to and use of the County Veoci system.
2.DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
Access to and use of the County Veoci system will be governed by the Alameda County Veoci
Policy (hereinafter referred to as “Policy”). Parties agree to comply with all terms of use as
stipulated in the Alameda County Veoci Policy. The Policy is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
3.TERM OF MOA; TERMINATION; OTHER MOUs/AGREEMENTS/CONTRACTS
This MOA shall be effective when it is signed by both Parties. This MOA will remain in full force
and effect until December 22, 2024, or until such time as: (1) Veoci is no longer used as the
emergency management system for the County and a replacement app roved by Parties is not
found; (2) either party provides sixty (60) day written notification that it desires to terminate the
MOA and withdraw from participation in Veoci; or (3) either Party violates the terms of the MOA
including, but not limited to, the Use Policy attached hereto as Exhibit A, and/or any subsequent
versions of this Policy.
The term and scope of this MOA is not dependent upon the execution or existence of any other
agreement between the County and City, or the terms of any such agreement, or the termination
of any such agreement.
This MOA may be modified at any time with the written consent of both Parties. All modifications
shall be in writing and signed by both Parties.
4.NOTICE
Any communication required during the term of this MOA, including, without limitation, notice of
termination, shall be deemed given when placed in the United States Mail, postage prepaid, and
addressed as follows:
Notice to OES: Emergency Manager
Alameda County Office of Emergency Services
4985 Broder Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568
Notice to the City: Linda Smith, City Manager
City of Dublin
100 Civic Plaza
Dublin, CA 94568
Any Party who desires to change its address for notice may do so by giving notice as described
above.
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5.PAYMENT FOR SERVICES
To date, the costs for the purchase of the Veoci system, services, and support has been funded
through SHSGP funds, which have been applied for and approved each year since the inception
of the program. Veoci is currently funded through December 2022. The County shall continue to
pursue additional SHSGP funding for continued sustainment of the project. As long as SHSGP
continues to fund the costs for Veoci, the County will make this service available to all participating
cities within Alameda County, at no cost. All participating cities will have the ability to purchase
additional licenses, through the County, at their own expense. The City will be invoiced by the
County for the additional licenses at the County’s contracted rate. The City agrees to reimburse
the County for those licenses in excess of that provided at no cost by the County, within 60 days.
Participating cities may contract directly with Veoci for professional services or their own licenses
at a rate agreed upon by Veoci.
6.ADMINISTRATION
For purposes of ongoing administration, an Alameda County Veoci Advisory Committee shall be
maintained and led by the Alameda County Veoci System Administrator(s). The City shall
designate a representative to the Advisory Committee as a standing member with authority to
represent the City on matters related to use of Veoci. The Advisory Committee shall meet on a
semi-annual basis, or more often as needed, to coordinate ongoing administration, training,
modification to policies and guidelines, or other issues related to Veoci.
7.PERSONNEL MATTERS
In the performance of any of the services under this MOA, each of the Party’s employees shall
act as independent contractors or operators (whichever is applicable to the government agency)
in relation to the other Party and its employees. Each Party shall assume responsibility for all
personnel costs for its respective employees, including income tax withholding and workers’
compensation liability.
8.NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
No relationship of employer and employee is created by this MOA; it being understood and agreed
that City is an independent contractor. City is not the agent or employee of the County in any
capacity whatsoever, and County shall not be liable for any acts or omi ssions by City nor for any
obligations or liabilities incurred by City.
Any officer, employee or agent of City shall have no claim under this MOA or otherwise, for
seniority, vacation time, vacation pay, sick leave personal time off, overtime, health insu rance,
medical care, hospital care, retirement benefits, social security, disability, Workers’
Compensation, or unemployment benefits, civil service protection, or employee benefits of any
kind.
9.INDEMNITY
The County shall assume the responsibility and liability for, and the County shall indemnify,
defend, and hold harmless, the City, its agents, officers and employees from and against any and
all liabilities, obligations, losses, damages, penalties, fines, claims, actions, suits, costs and
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expenses and disbursements (including legal fees and expenses) of any kind and nature imposed
in, asserted against, incurred or suffered by the City or its agents, officers or employees by reason
of damage, loss or injury (including death) of any kind or nature whatsoever to persons or property
caused by or in any way relating to or arising out of any negligent act or action, or any neglect,
omission or failure to act when under a duty to act on the part of the County or any of its agents,
officers or employees in its or their performance of services hereunder.
The City shall assume the responsibility and liability for, and the City shall indemnify, defend, and
hold harmless the County, its agents, officers and employees from and against any and all
liabilities, obligations, losses, damages, penalties, fines, claims, actions, suits, costs and
expenses and disbursements (including legal fees and expenses) of any kind and nature imposed
in, asserted against, incurred or suffered by the County or its agents, officers or employees by
reason of damage, loss or injury (including death) of any kind or nature whatsoever to persons or
property caused by or in any way relating to or arising out of any negligent act or action, or any
neglect, omission or failure to act when under a duty to act on the part of the City or any of its
agents, officers or employees in its or their performance of services hereunder.
The provisions contained herein include any violation of applicable law, ordinance, reg ulation, or
rule, including where the claim, loss, damage, charge or expense was caused by deliberate,
willful, or criminal acts of the County or the City, or any of their agents, officers, or employees in
its or their performance hereunder.
It is the intent of the Parties that, where negligence is determined to have been contributory,
principles of comparative fault will be followed and each Party shall bear the proportionate costs
of any loss, damage, expense and liability attributable to the Party’s negligence.
The Parties shall establish procedures to notify the other Party where appropriate of any claims,
administrative actions or legal actions with respect to any of the matters described in this
indemnity provision. The Parties shall cooperate in the defense of such actions brought by others
with respect to the matters covered in this indemnity provision. Nothing set forth in this MOA shall
establish a standard of care for, or create any legal rights in, any person not a party to this MOA.
The indemnity provisions of this MOA shall survive the termination of this MOA such that any
incident and/or cause of action that arises during the term of this MOA shall be cover ed by the
indemnity provisions in this Section 9 when a legal action is brought forward within the applicable
statute of limitation.
10.NON-WAIVER
Waiver of any breach of, or default under, this MOA shall not constitute a continuing waiver or a
waiver of any subsequent breach either of the same or of another provision of th is MOA.
11.ENTIRE AGREEMENT; MODIFICATION
This MOA contains all of the terms and conditions as agreed upon by the Parties, and supersedes
any and all oral or written communications by and between the Parties.
No waiver, alteration, modification, or termination of this MOA shall be valid unless made in writing
and signed by the Parties. In the event of a conflict between this MO A and any other agreement
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or understanding executed by the Parties subsequent to the commencement of this MO A, the
terms of this MOA shall prevail and be controlling unless such other agreement expressly provides
to the contrary.
12.ASSIGNMENT PROHIBITED
No Party may assign any right or obligation pursuant to this MO A. Any attempt or purported
assignment of any right or obligation pursuant to this MOA shall be void and of no effect.
13.SEVERABILITY
If any term, covenant, or condition of this MOA is held to in a final decision by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, the remainder of this MOA shall remain in full force and effect.
14.GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE
The interpretation and enforcement of this MOA shall be governed by the laws of the State of
California, the state in which the MOA is signed. Any disputes as to the interpretation and/or
application of this MOA shall be heard in the Superior Court, County of Alameda, California or the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
15.COUNTERPARTS
This MOA may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an
original, but all of which together shall constitute but one and the same instrument.
16.CAPTIONS
The headings or captions contained in this MO A are for identification purposes only and shall
have no effect upon the construction or interpretation of this MOA.
17.AMBIGUITIES
The Parties have each carefully reviewed this MOA and have agreed to each term of this MOU.
No ambiguity shall be presumed to be construed against either Party.
18.INTERPRETATION OF MOA
By entering into this MOA, the Parties do not intend to violate or cause a violation of the terms of
collective bargaining or other labor MOUs to which either may be a party, nor the policies, rules
or regulations governing the employees of either Party. If any provision of this MOA is inconsistent
with such collective bargaining or other labor MOUs, or with such policies, rules, or regulations,
then the applicable provisions of such collective bargaining or other labor MOUs, and such
policies, rules, or regulations shall take precedence for purposes of the construction and
interpretation of this MOA.
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19.INSURANCE
The Parties agree to procure and maintain such policies of general liability and other insurance
including self-insurance as shall be necessary to insure against any claim or claims for damages
arising in connection with the performance of their respective duties under this MOA. Both the
City and the County’s self-insurance currently provide, and each Party agrees to continue to
provide, the following self -insurance coverage: workers’ compensation as required by law,
general commercial and automobile liability, and professional liability. Certificates evidencing said
insurance and/or self-insurance policies shall be exchanged by the Parties as soon as practical
and are attached hereto as Exhibit B.
20.AUTHORITY
The persons executing this MOA have the capacity and are authorized to execute this MOA as
the representatives of their respective Party, and to bind their respective Party to the terms of this
MOA.
[REST OF PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto by their duly authorized representatives
have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the effective date.
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
By: _____________________________
Gregory J. Ahern
Alameda County Sheriff/OES Director
CITY OF DUBLIN
By: _____________________________
Linda Smith
City Manager
Attest
By:_____________________________
Marsha Moore
City Clerk
Approved As To Form
By:_____________________________
City Attorney
Approved As To Form:
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY COUNSEL
DONNA R. ZIEGLER
______________________________
By: Clay J. Christianson
Deputy County Counsel
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
ALAMEDA COUNTY EOC SOFTWARE SYSTEM
USE POLICY
I.Purpose:
This policy establishes guidelines for the use of the virtual Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) software, VEOCI, for cities and the county. VEOCI is designed to be versatile
enough for everyday use, such as project management and inventory upkeep, but most
importantly it will be the County’s emergency management system during EOC
operations. This will be the county’s virtual incident management system that can be used
in small incidents to large scale incidents.
II.Policy:
This policy establishes the appropriate use of VEOCI. This policy applies to Alameda
County and the Cities participating with Alameda County.
The VEOCI software will be designed for incident management, EOC operations, and
day-to-day operations under this policy. VEOCI provides the ability to connect various
county and city agencies in the response to various incidents. VEOCI provides a cloud
management system that allows for instant updates to the various forms and workflows;
notifications with users; offline capabilities; submit situational status reports; act as a
document repository; submit resource requests; track expenses; and day to day
management of projects.
Participating agencies agree that VEOCI can be used as an emergency management
application under a variety of scenarios:
▪Day-to-day emergency management projects
▪Incident management
▪EOC operations
▪Equipment inventories
▪Documentation storage
▪Internal contact management
▪Training curriculum
III.Definitions:
1.Participating Agency: Participating Agencies include the Alameda County
Sheriff’s Office and any other County or City agency that has been authorized by
the County of Alameda to access and use the VEOCI system.
2.System Administrator: Each Agency’s System Administrator is responsible for
ensuring the Agency adheres to the established policies and guidelines for the use
of VEOCI. Annually, the System Administrator shall provide the Alameda
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
County Sheriff’s Office, in writing, the names of those personnel who are
authorized by the Agency to utilize VEOCI.
3.Authorized User: A person who has received permissions to the VEOCI system,
and has received either the VEOCI Bootcamp provided by VEOCI; has taken an
Alameda County administered course; has participated in an exercise and utilized
VEOCI with no prior training.
4.Administrator: This is a role in VEOCI as well as a role created by Alameda
County. Administrators have permissions within VEOCI to create new forms and
workflows, as well as create authorizations within those forms and workf lows.
5.Member: This is a default role in VEOCI. Members have authorization to make
entries into forms and workflows within the VEOCI system.
6.Observer: may be people who do not have VEOCI account and should only be
used for “one off” type events. Observers only exist at the room level.
7.Plans: A VEOCI product that launches sets of information and allows for
templates. These templates are completely customizable, and it allows creators to
add forms, workflows, contact lists, and other information from the ORG and
Group level into a template.
8.Documents/Files: Non-VEOCI products such as Emergency Operations Plans
(EOP), Grand Jury Reports, or any product that was created outside of VEOCI but
placed into a folder via upload.
9.Forms: A VEOCI product that is customizable with various informational fields
from a text box, a single selection, mapping, as well as a few other informational
fields. Certain users will be able to create forms.
10.Workflow: A VEOCI product that gives management a chance to review
information from pre-built forms and other VEOCI products before acceptance.
11.Organization (ORG): VEOCI is built as a hierarchal software system. An ORG
is the highest level in the software; it is where users are added and Groups can be
created.
12.Group: The second highest level in the VEOCI hierarchal structure, the Group
level, is where various forms, workflows, plans, and other VEOCI products are
created and transferred to rooms and side rooms.
13.Room: The third tier in the VEOCI hierarchal structure, the Room, is where
operations will exist. Incident management, projects, and EOC operations happen
at the room level.
14.Side Rooms: The bottom tier in the VEOCI hierarchal structure is the Side Room.
Side Rooms are created at the Room Level, and information in the Side Rooms
can feed upwards.
15.Group Roles: Created by System Administrators; it creates a hierarchy in the
system based off the Incident Command System (ICS). The administrator has the
ability to customize this hierarchy.
16.Lists: Two types – Generic and Contact Lists:
▪Generic lists are the basic list type. It allows adding members of the
current organization, and it can be used to quickly grant access in a room
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
or group, or assign a task to a pre-defined number of people. Generic lists
can be extended with forms.
▪ Contact lists are a restricted list type. They can only be used in select
functionalities, such as Notifications/Check-Ins and email notifications. Its
members can be regular users or "contacts", who may not have any rights
to modify information, but may have access to view information in the
system.
IV. Procedure:
A. VEOCI Advisory Committee:
The City of Pleasanton, Alameda, Livermore, San Leandro, and the Alameda County
Office of Emergency Services (OES) started a VEOCI working group in 2019, and the
expectation is to expand these efforts countywide. This Advisory Committee will be
comprised of participating City and County agency representatives; maintained and led
by the Alameda County OES System Administrators. The Committee shall meet monthly
during the first year, and semi-annually after the first year, to conduct after action reviews
of the system’s usage, discuss improvements on the VEOCI system, coordinate ongoing
administration, training, modifications to the policy, and other concerns from sitting
members. All recommendations for the substantive changes to the VEOCI Policy shall be
submitted to the Operational Area Council for approval.
1. Other Committees:
Because the VEOCI system has a lot of capabilities, there could be a need for
other sub-committees for the VEOCI system. People do not have to be part of the
VEOCI Advisory Committee to be part of these sub-committees. Personnel who
are in the VEOCI Advisory Committee, however, can participate, even as a
facilitator, in one or multiple subcommittees. These subcommittees could include:
City Sub-Committee: This subcommittee was formed in 2019 by Alameda,
Pleasanton, Livermore, San Leandro, and the County. The County wishes this
group continues to move forward with their meetings, and focus on correcting
potential pitfalls that would prevent/further strain the City’s ability to
communicate effectively with the County during EOC Operations. This
subcommittee will also be able to share new products they have created at their
city org that could be incorporated in other cities or the County.
Other Committees as they are identified will be approved by the VEOCI Advisory
Committee.
B. Operations:
System Access and authorization shall be the responsibility of the Alameda County
Sheriff’s Office and designated personnel in each participating city.
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
VEOCI can be used as project management tool for day to day aspects, but its main use
will be during EOC operations. VEOCI is being designed to act as the conduit for cities
to relay information to the county with the added ability to interact with the state system
for emergency operations and recovery operations.
VEOCI’s large cloud-based storage system allows for a lot of outside documents to be
stored as well as the added ability to transfer information between other systems such as
ESRI. Because of this outstanding tool, Alameda County OES plans on using VEOCI as
a repository for all plans that have been approved by the County Disaster Council, any
state or federal plans, any plans from cities or special districts in Alameda County, as
well as connect with other systems necessary for EOC operations. The system also is able
to maintain inventories such as equipment and personnel. City’s are urged to use their
VEOCI Org to do the same.
The County contract is set for a specific number of licenses. The County will distribute
licenses to other county departments with roles in the EOC, and to the cities who agree to
the policy and have signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Cities will be able to
receive a (insert number here) maximum amount of licenses from the county. Cities are
able to contract directly with VEOCI for more licenses if they believe there is a need for
more licenses than the county can provide.
During Recovery operations, VEOCI will be used to will be a great asset for documents
to be submitted, management of recovery operations, as well as tracking reimbursement
for equipment rented and/or personnel.
At the end of any incident, response, or EOC activation administrators will download the
content from the cockpit as a means to create an after action report, improvement plans
(AAR-IP), and overall improvement actions necessary.
C. City Orgs:
Cities who agree to this policy, and the VEOCI MOA, have autonomy within their own
Org. Cities are encouraged to integrate as many people who work in their city EOC’s to
be as familiar with the system as possible.
City Administrators have the ability to make forms, workflows, and other VEOCI
products at their discretion. Cities will not be allowed to modify, adjust, or edit any
county products within the County’s Organization. If a city creates a VEOCI product that
could be incorporated at a County level, the product should be discussed with the VEOCI
Advisory Committee.
D. EOC Operations:
The main use of the VEOCI system will be for EOC operations. Through VEOCI, cities
will be able to track response efforts through various forms, workflows, and establish the
incident command system quickly in an incident. During EOC operations, cities will be
able to work within their Org and submit important information such as situation reports,
resource requests, and meeting times will be able to transfer that information to county
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
operations. Users will do their best to utilize “common language” and reduce the number
of acronyms.
The VEOCI contract allows for administrators to add an unlimited amount of users
during emergencies, and these licenses should expire shortly after the resp onse; unless
these users will be involved during recovery operations.
VEOCI establishes the main communication pathway to alert cities and the county of
information that needs attention; its chat feature allows for synchronizing meeting times
and allows users to ask clarifying questions; the dashboard allows for aggregating
different types of information; the mapping features give the county a good
understanding of the incidents happening in the county; its offline capability allows for
instant updates when they are back online; and its mobile app creates a system that is
multifunctional in different aspects of EOC operations.
E. Non-EOC Operations:
Alameda County is building a room for daily operations; this room will be kept open
24/7/365 for Law Enforcement Mutual Aid (LEMA) and Emergency Management
Mutual Aid (EMMA) purposes.
In this room, the LEMA process will be operated and managed by Police and Sheriff
Office personnel for smaller incidents in the county with the added ability to respond to
LEMA requests outside of Alameda County.
Also managed in this room will be EMMA requests. There will be a dynamic list of
people who are able to toggle themselves as “ready to respond” or “unavailable to
deploy” to disasters outside of Alameda County. The reasoning is to expedite the EMMA
process.
V. Other:
A. Privacy Policy:
It is the policy of the Alameda County Sheriff and each member jurisdiction to preserve
and protect the integrity and the privacy of personal data that is collected for use with
VEOCI. Such data includes personal contact information including business addresses,
home phone numbers, work phone numbers, pager numbers, cellular telephone numbers,
and email addresses.
It is understood that the notification data contained within the VEOCI service contains
proprietary information that is designated “for authorized personnel use only”. No
personal data will be disseminated or extracted from the master telephone number and
contact path table, which is a part of VEOCI, nor are reports produced by VEOCI.
B. Resolution of Issues or Disputes:
The resolution of any issues or disputes in the use of VEOCI will reside with the
Alameda County Director of Emergency Services.
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY
VEOCI – Virtual Emergency Operations Center Interactive
C. VEOCI System Training:
No person or entity shall be able to activate and utilize the system except those who are
authorized and approved in writing by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Such
persons representing a City or County Agency shall complete all training required to
become an authorized and trained user of the VEOCI System. Any individual or agency
who is determined to have violated the policies and procedures governing the use of the
VEOCI System is subject to removal from the list of authorized users.
D. Licenses:
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is in charge of managing the limited number of
licenses distributed to the cities. Cities are allocated, based of the population of their city,
a limited number of free licenses that were purchased as part of the contract with Grey
Wall. It is incumbent on the VEOCI City Administrator to manage the number of licenses
by removing permissions when employees leave their city. If the city wishes to obtain
more licenses, they can either contract directly with VEOCI for more licenses, or contract
with the County to obtain more licenses. The preferred method being the city contracts
with the County for more licenses.
EXHIBIT A-VEOCI USE POLICY