(Editor’s note: The following is a transcript of the remarks made by Seal Beach City Manager Jill Ingram at the City Council meeting on October 24, 2011.)

Before I ask Chief Luman to discuss the incident response of the October 12th shooting tragedy from a law enforcement perspective, I would like to emphasize some of the major City resources that were utilized to assist the victims, their families, police and fire personnel, assisting agencies, and our community in the incident response.

I know without a doubt that I am speaking on behalf of the City Council, myself, all City staff, and our entire community when I say that I could not be any more proud of the men and women of the Seal Beach Police Department. They are to be highly commended for their professionalism, stellar performance, dedication, and compassion for the victims and their families and our entire community over the past 13 days.

I am just as grateful for the amazing work that all City staff has continued to perform under some of the most challenging conditions imaginable. Once the immediate work of the police department and paramedic response diminished, the number one goal of City staff was to ensure that the needs of the families and the needs of the community were adequately addressed; because how a city government responds and cares for its citizens in a crisis is ultimately how we as public employees are to be measured. I believe that without a doubt our team stepped up in this crisis and stood very tall in the face of horrific sorrow, shock, and grief. We recognized very quickly that this was a tragedy for so many, of course the families, the co-workers, the nearby businesses and residents, and, most certainly, our community and the greater region. This touched so many people. And so the response of City staff in a tragedy such as this is to do all we can to help everyone affected try to get through the days and weeks which follow.

Tonight I think it is imperative that the Council and the citizens of Seal Beach hear of some of the tasks, both large and small, that were undertaken to help so many get through this difficult time.

As the response unfolded, our community immediately received assistance from over 40 agencies, including police, fire, grief counselors, Red Cross, local churches,
Chamber of Commerce, Watson & Associates, and several service and community organizations. The City Council will be formally recognizing each of these agencies for their selfless and tireless efforts next month.

I want to thank the Council for your continued support and patience with all City staff during the past 13 days and in the days ahead. As you know, it has not been business as usual, and I’ve had all hands on deck since minutes after the incident occurred, specifically focusing on and supporting the incident response; not only all department heads, but management staff, and support staff as well. I especially want to thank and commend the support staff for their hard work in continuing with the regular day-today operations of the city so that the rest of us could focus our efforts wholeheartedly on the incident response and the days that followed. Tonight I would like to briefly highlight some of the more significant efforts of our professional staff:

* All Public Works crews, with the exception of 3 employees, responded to the site within 20 minutes to assist with traffic control; every barricade from the
Public Works yard was brought to the location in order to immediately block off surrounding streets.

* In less than one hour after the incident, the Community Services staff and Public Works crews set up the Senior Center at the Mary Wilson Library to function as a family support center for the families of the victims while they waited unbearably to hear news about their loved ones. Water and refreshments were purchased, as well as tarps to install around the perimeter fence of the Senior Center to provide privacy for the families.

* Within the first few hours, staff coordinated with the Red Cross and numerous grief counseling agencies to provide immediate on-site assistance to the families of the victims at the Senior Center, as well as emergency responders.

* The following day, the crush of news media from around the world continued to descend on our community. Staff from the City Manager’s Office,
Public Works, Community Services, and Development Services departments, and the City Clerk’s Office assisted with preparations and set-up, including the closing of surrounding streets, staging area, and sound system logistics for a press conference at the pier to ensure that the media could inform and update our citizens and those in our region and beyond.

* Immediately following, staff assisted with preparations for a community candlelight vigil in front of the Salon Meritage where approximately 3,000 community members were in attendance. Staff support included arranging transportation to and from the beach lots to assist with parking control, closing streets, set-up for the event, including sound and lighting systems, and street clean-up at the conclusion of the event.

* The executive management team continued to assist with and provide policy development regarding the joint establishment of the Seal Beach Victims’ Fund by the City, Chamber of Commerce, and Watson & Associates, to benefit the families of the victims of the shooting. This was a vital step so that those who wished could contribute to a fund that could be relied upon to ensure all money donated would reach the families.

* The executive management team assisted with and provided policy development and a system to track all public requests for City support and sponsorship events to support the Seal Beach Victims’ Fund. This work continues in earnest now.

* City staff established a cell phone hotline to assist with calls from the media and community in response to several City-issued press releases and to handle the numerous offers of assistance.

* City staff worked with our website developers to immediately address our City’s website layout and content in order to post City press releases, events, grief counseling and church resources, and other pertinent information on the home page of our website so that the community could access the website regularly for updated incident information.

* The City Manager’s office assisted the police department with media relations strategy development and community outreach assistance for press conferences, press releases, community vigil, media events, recommended public outreach opportunities, and planned and attended various community gatherings, including a candlelight vigil, memorial services, and public gatherings.

* City staff worked diligently from moments after the incident with community churches and grief counseling organizations to set-up grief counseling to assist City employees and the community in the hours and days after the tragedy.

Some of the key points to remember:

* Through the City’s focus on the incident response over the past 13 days, the community has continued to receive seamless customer service by City staff.

* The Development Services Department has continued to meet an already extremely aggressive schedule for release of the DWP EIR.

* The Public Works Department continued to make progress with oversight of several large construction projects, including the paving of Seal Beach Blvd., Ocean Avenue alley project, and the College Park East sewer project.

* While continuing to support the incident response efforts and day-to-day operations, the City Clerk was appointed to the Seal Beach Victims’ Trust Fund Board of Directors to represent the City and provide transparency of the disbursement of funds to the families of the victims. This work continues in earnest now.

* And finally, the Community Services Department was completely inundated with supporting all facility and logistics needs of the incident response and memorial services.

In closing, the shooting tragedy of October 12th tasked our police, fire, and emergency dispatch personnel, over 40 assisting agencies, and City staff to respond to the most horrific emergency in the history of our city and Orange County. I am extremely proud of the heroic work of our police, fire, and emergency dispatch personnel, all City staff, the coordination among the several jurisdictions assisting in this tragedy, the community, and all courageous efforts during and after the shooting. My personal commitment is that through a lot of challenging work ahead of us over the next several months, we will assure our residents and businesses that Seal Beach will continue to be an extremely safe community and that this very tragic incident will not define who we are as a city and community.

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