Mayor Sharona Nazarian was joined by Beverly Hills Fire Chief Gregory Barton and other city staff for the first “Straight Talk with Sharona” public session of her term.
The mayor said she decided to begin the discussion on the topic of fire safety initiatives due to the January blazes in the Palisades.
“When the recent Palisades fires hit, it was a rude awakening for many of us,” she said. “I thought that it would be important to discuss steps we’re taking to be proactive as a city.”
In March, new maps from the State Fire Marshal extended the “very high” fire hazard severity zone from Sunset down an additional block, near Lomitas and surrounding areas, according to Barton.
Since local officials did not have any input in the decisions, Nazarian traveled to San Francisco to provide a public comment. Upon returning, Barton said the mayor urged the Fire Department to write a letter to reverse the change, promising to sign it on their behalf.
“Residents aren’t getting credit for what they’re doing to mitigate brush fire hazards around their house,” Barton said.
Nazarian agreed with the assessment, thanking a representative of California State Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur in attendance.
Barton then continued to highlight some existing measures in the city. Beverly Hills was recognized as a “Firewise Community” in 2005, the third such municipality in the state, owing to volunteer evacuation drills, a dozen outdoor warning sirens and other city-community interactions. The usual brush inspections, usually occurring in April or May, would begin this year in early June because of the new maps, making sure that trees were trimmed and private property met safety standards.
According to Barton, residents have been compliant overall. The program does not issue citations for fire code violations unless someone fails to address a notice within a certain amount of time.
“We’re not trying to be punitive,” Barton said. “We want to make sure everybody is working together.”
In response to a question from Nazarian about water, Barton touted the department’s Insurance Service Organization (ISO) Class 1 rating, the highest such benchmark, including a perfect score on the public works and water system section.
After additional discussion about the Beverly Hills Fire Department Wellness Network, BH Fire Watch technology, mental health resources and long-term equipment plans, Nazarian opened the session to audience questions.
Some public input related to Barton’s presentation, including a question about cameras and fire activity in Franklin Canyon, but others focused on adjacent topics. After a written question on 911 alternatives for smaller issues, Nazarian introduced Beverly Hills Police Captain Max Subin to remind attendees of the non-emergency phone number, which is 310-550-4951.
Todd Johnson, President and CEO of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, asked the mayor for guidance about spreading awareness of fire-related issues among local business owners. Generalizing her response to the entire community, Nazarian explained the functions of resources like Just in Case BH, a “collaborative emergency preparedness program” with trained community responders and facilitated access to emergency health and security services.
In the last quarter-hour of the session, Nazarian fielded questions on separate issues, from an Oct. 7 memorial site and attracting local restaurants to earthquake alert systems and Metro preparation.
Regarding the city’s Metro projects, she confirmed a finished contract to install a ridership safety kiosk for customers at the La Cienega station, prompting City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey for additional information.
“We’ll be a model for the entire Metro system by having a public safety kiosk on the site,” Hunt-Coffey said. “We’re hoping they’ll see how valuable that is; maybe they can consider implementing that at other plazas.”
