“There are so many people in the City who are working on response and recovery, and we are all being moved forward by something internal to get to a common goal.”
As Director of Emergency Preparedness, Jessica has seen this agency through coastal storms, fires, building collapses, and more, but nothing close to the COVID-19 pandemic. This emergency has gone on longer and has been more disruptive than any other, but thanks in part to her planning and leadership, HPD has kept up its services to the public while also being heavily involved in a number of the City’s overall COVID efforts.
I am a planner by nature but there is something to be said for the adrenaline that comes in during a disaster. There are so many people in the City who are working on response and recovery, and we are all being moved forward by something internal to get to a common goal. Most agencies, if not all, have a point person for Continuity of Operations (COOP) to make sure that agencies stay up and running even in emergencies. We’re all working to make sure that the public is getting the services that they need — it’s why many of us chose to work for city government in the first place.
When COVID began to pose a threat, HPD activated the pandemic planning team early. It was really helpful to get a whole agency picture of what was going on and what we needed to do to keep up as many services as we could, not just those that were deemed essential because we knew that this could last for more than a of couple weeks. It has ended up being one of the longest crises that we’ve had to go through as a city.
The collaboration across offices and the willingness of folks to take on new roles has truly been amazing. From the outset, our Tech team was already talking about getting the equipment employees would need if we switched to telework and increasing our capacity for remote work. Human Resources, Fiscal, General Services, and Asset Property Management have come into the office regularly to do work they just couldn’t do from home. And of course, our field staff across the agency have continued to go out to ensure that the apartments that people are living in are safe. Housing code inspectors, construction project managers, and demolition inspectors have continued to work throughout COVID. They’ve stepped up in truly heroic ways.
We’ve also had more than 200 employees volunteer for 12 different citywide COVID efforts, from food distribution to the hoteling operation. Through the Get Cool program, volunteers helped distribute free air conditioners to vulnerable seniors, and social distancing ambassadors handed out masks and information to the public. Now, we have nearly 100 of our housing inspectors on special assignment visiting businesses in COVID-19 clusters to focus on zone and mask compliance. That is something we’ve always had as an agency, volunteers who want to help others through difficult times. I think that’s one of the greatest strengths that that we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, and it makes me really proud to be a part of this team.
