2022 FDAC Annual Conference Agenda

ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROGRAM

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WELCOME MY FELLOW FDAC MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS! Our 2022 FDAC Annual Conference is our first opportunity to gather, share and gain knowledge, since 2019. Thank you so very much for attending and participating. FDAC Education Committee and staff have worked very hard to put together this comprehensive and dynamic program. Please make sure you provide feedback after each session so we may better serve your needs in the future. We are happy to see familiar faces and new ones too.

Make sure to visit and talk with our vendor partners as we could not provide this high level of training without their support.

Enjoy the conference!

Chief Jim Comisky, Ret. President FDAC

EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS Ret. Chief Steven Hall, Education Committee Chair Ret. Chief Jim Comisky, FDAC President Chief Frank Frievalt, FDAC 1st Vice President Chief Kirk Noffsinger, FDAC At – Large Director Ret. Chief Steve Kovacs, FDAC Immediate Past President

THANK YOU TO OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS!

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FDAC 2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE PRE-CONFERENCE – TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM FDAC Board Meeting

Atlas/Castle

11:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Grand Foyer

Registration Open

All Today’s General Sessions Will Be In:

Mt. Veeder/Howell Mt.

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

The Ethical and Transparent Fire District: Ethics in Public Service

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Refreshment Break

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Preventing Workplace Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation in Fire Districts

CONFERENCE DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Exhibitor Set – Up

Grand Ballroom

8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Grand Foyer

Registration Open

10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Exhibit Hall Hours

Grand Ballroom

All Today’s General Sessions Will Be In:

Napa Ballroom

8:30 AM - 8:45 AM

Opening Ceremonies and Welcome from Napa Mayor Ret. Captain Scott Sedgley and FDAC President Chief Jim Comisky, Ret.

8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

Just Another Day: Creating Safer Environments Through Trauma Normalization & Response

10:15 AM – 10:30 AM Coffee Break Grand Ballroom 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Trends in the Fire Service – Hot Topics 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunch Pool Patio

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Impactful Use of Grant Funding Carneros/Mt. Veeder Howell Mt./Stags Leap

Fire District Governance: What you Need to Know!

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Water In-Fusion Networking Break Grand Ballroom

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Recruitment and Retention: How to Successfully Replenish Your Most Valuable Resource

Carneros/Mt. Veeder

The Truth About Covid Howell Mt./Carneros 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Liberty Cassidy Whitmore Sponsored Reception

Grand Ballroom

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FDAC 2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE CONFERENCE DAY 2 – THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Registration Open

Grand Foyer

8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Exhibit Hall Hours

Grand Ballroom

8:00 AM – 8:45 AM

Continental Breakfast Exhibit Hall

8:45 AM – 10:00 AM General Session

Napa Ballroom

FDAC General Membership Meeting and Elections 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM Concurrent Sessions Joint Legislative Task Force Update Napa Ballroom

Pension Liability Management & Pension Obligation Bonds

Atlas/Castle

11:00 AM – 12:30 AM Concurrent Sessions

H & SC Section 1797.201 & Other EMS Stuff

Carneros/Mt. Veeder

First Responders Resiliency Howell Mt./Stags Leap

Emergency Management: Who We Are; Why Are We Critical to the Mission?

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Lunch Pool Patio

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Rules of Engagement: Fostering a Culture of Positive Community Participation in a Virtual World

Howell Mt./Stags Leap

Where Does WUI and Insurance Costs Intersect?

Carneros/Mt. Veeder

Public Information Officer in Today’s Communities

Atlas/Castle

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Raffle Prize Drawing Grand Ball

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Concurrent Sessions

Firefighter Health & Wellness - Are We Hitting the Target?

Fire District Consolidations:

Helping the Magic of LAFCO Work for You

Atlas/Castle

Carneros/Mt. Veeder Howell Mt./Stags Leap

Inclusion, Equity and Diversity: Effective Tools for Succession Management Atlas/Castle 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

FDAC Membership Reception Garden

CONFERENCE DAY 3 – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Registration Open

Foyer

General Sessions Merlot/Syrah

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8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

FDAC Members Breakfast

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Update from California State Fire Officials

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Past, Present, and the Future: A Generational Perspective

12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

FDAC EBA/FASIS Joint Board Meeting

Atlas/Castle

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SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS PRE-CONFERENCE – TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022 TIME SESSION 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

The Ethical and Transparent Fire District: Ethics in Public Service

California law requires periodic ethics training for each elected official, member of a legislative body, and any employees who may be so designated by their agency. This training will satisfy the state’s legal requirements and will teach you what you need to know to ensure you and your district are operating fairly, ethically, and transparently in accordance with California ethics laws.

Speaker Moderator Lisa Charbonneau, Associate Chief Brian Helmick Liebert Cassidy Whitmore East Contra Costa Fire Protection District 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

The training and education provided in this workshop includes defining harassment, discrimination, and retaliation – and how it differs from “abusive conduct.” It affords participants a forum for discussing how these terms specifically apply to fire district employees. The workshop also covers the types of responses to claims that are necessary, and strategies to prevent harassment in the workplace. The focus of the workshop is practical guidance and includes discussions of common situations and examples.

Speaker Moderator Jennifer Rosner, Partner Chief Christian Tubbs Liebert Cassidy Whitmore Southern Marin Fire Protection District

CONFERENCE DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 TIME SESSION 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM

Welcome and Opening Ceremonies

8:45 AM – 10:15 AM

Just Another Day: Creating Safer Environments Through Trauma Normalization & Response Millions of acres caught fire, a pandemic raged on, mandates were enacted, job descriptions and responsibilities suddenly shifted into unheard of arenas, staffing levels imploded, fire stations and personnel became targets, civil disturbances caught your staff in their crosshairs, and in the middle of everything, you still had to show up for your “every day” without a moment to decompress. Our keynote session will discuss normalizing trauma and how to take the constant changing landscape of your district’s responsibilities and challenges and create effective response and mitigation programs. Most importantly, how do you do all of that without drastically impacting your already tight budget?

Speaker Moderator Rachael Frost, Master Investigator Ret. Chief Jim Comisky President Frost/ICED FDAC President

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FDAC 2022 SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Trends in the Fire Service – Hot Topics Today’s fire service faces more significant challenges than ever before, from recruitment and retention to addressing cultural change; the state of our economy (present and future) to supply chain concerns; increased service demand to firefighter safety. Each of these challenges and many more are impacting the way we run our business – the business of protecting life, property, and the environment within our communities.

Trends in the Fire Service – Hot Topics is a panel-led discussion sharing challenges affecting your fire district large or small, career or volunteer. We ask that you bring your concerns, engage in the group dialogue, and leave with potential solutions after this interactive session.

Panelists Moderator Chief Jim Comisky, Ret. Chief Kirk Noffsinger, FDAC At-Large Director Chief Frank Frievalt, Mammoth Lakes FPD Chief Steven Hall, Ret. CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Impactful Use of Grant Funding Topics for discussion include: Federal grant programs to consider for funding your projects; Importance of understanding grant guidance; Understanding the significance of demographics when considering federal funding sources; Use of multiple federal funding sources to fund a project; Understanding procurements requirements and vendor relationships; Methods of meeting matching requirements; Understanding how to access de-obligated funds; Utilization of multi-jurisdictional/multi-discipline project partnerships; and helpful tips for successful grant writing. There will be time reserved at the end of the session to answer any questions of those in attendance.

Speaker Moderator Kamala Kuhn, Deputy Administrator Chief Frank Frievalt, All Things First Net FDAC First Vice President Fire District Governance: What you Need to Know!

The most effective districts have an engaged and informed Board of Directors. The Board is charged with governing the district within all legal parameters as well as what is in the best interest of the constituents.

District staff leaders are responsible for implementing the vision and direction provided by the Board.

Building this partnership is crucial to the success of the fire district. This session will provide a high-level overview of fire district law, governance and finance and review strategies in developing collaborative teams and themes for organizational success.

Speaker Moderator Chief Rich Pearce Chief Eric Walder Tiburon Fire Protection District Waterloo Morada Rural FPD CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Recruitment & Retention: How to Successfully Replenish Your Most Valuable Resource Join us for a panel forum discussion to explore the current state of recruitment in a COVID-19 world, where remote working, and the challenges of working in the street has lost its post 9-11 appeal. Learn what other special district leaders are doing to ensure that they can attract and retain employees to provide sustainable fire and life safety services to their communities. Long gone are the days of one hundred candidates for every one opening. This dilemma effects our metro departments as well as medium and smaller organizations. The ability to meet equity and diversity goals compounds this problem as we compete within the same applicant pool.

Panelists Facilitator/Moderator Ted Peterson, Deputy Fire Chief Personnel & Administration Ret. Chief Jeff Meston, Cal Chiefs Southern Marin Fire Protection District Executive Dir. Chief Mark Heine, Sonoma County Fire Protection District 6 6

FDAC 2022 SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS Chief Steve Kovacs, Ret. FDAC Immediate Past President The Truth About Covid Did we overreact or underreact to Covid? Fire department reaction to the Covid pandemic, the communications breakdown, and freelancing. This session will focus on what has always been known about SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and why it was lost in translation. Participants will learn where to look for trustful information and how to interpret the information. Why did some departments take an extreme approach and others take a minimalist approach? The presenter will explore the future of Covid and how to manage the chaos.

Speaker Facilitators/Moderators Arlene Nunez, Fire Fighter and Molecular Microbiologist Chief Frank Frievalt, FDAC First Vice Pres.

SFFD Engine 40 Ret. Chief Jim Comisky, FDAC President

CONFERENCE DAY 2 – THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 TIME SESSION 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM

FDAC General Membership Meeting and Elections This session will also include program updates from FAIRA, FASIS and FDAC EBA as well as an overview of the FireRescue GPO Program through the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

10:10 AM – 11:00 AM

Joint Legislative Task Force Updates FDAC/CalChiefs Legislative Task Force Advocates will set the political context facing FDAC at the Capitol during this election year with a historic number of open seats. The presentation will explore opportunities for the fire service stemming from a State Budget with a projected large surplus and describe significant active emergency management, fire mitigation and wildfire response legislation with potential impact on all Fire Districts.

Speaker Facilitator/Moderator Public Policy Advocates, LLC. Chief Jeff Willis, FDAC Chair Julee Malinowski-Ball, Legislative Advocate Joint Legislative Task Force Russ Noack, Legislative Advocate Pension Liability Management and Pension Obligation Bonds Most public agencies covered by the CalPERS pension plans have been experiencing sharp unfunded accrued liability and annual pension cost increases in recent years. This session provides an overview of the CalPERS’ operating practices and various optimization and cost saving strategies available to fire districts.

Issuance of pension obligation bonds and other similar pension-related financings (“POBs”) have been a popular approach recently. We will discuss how to determine if the POBs are the right tool for your district and how they could be a part of your pension cost optimization strategy. Both the bond market and the bank private placements will be considered.

Panelists Dmitry Semenov, Principal, Ridgeline Municipal Strategies, LLC Reed T.C. Glyer, Shareholder, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth Jeff Land, Executive Director, Municipal Capital Markets Group, Oppenheimer Don Butz, Fire Chief, Lakeside Fire Protection District Moderator Chief Steve Leighton North Tahoe Fire Protection District

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FDAC 2022 SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS CONCURRENT SESSIONS

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

H & SC Section 1797.201 and Other EMS Stuff This session will provide recent updates to Section .201 and how fire service EMS benefits your communities in times of crisis.

Speaker Moderator Ray Ramirez, Deputy Chief, Ret. Chief Walter White Attorney Amador Fire Protection District First Responders Resiliency This session includes an introduction to the physiological and psychological impacts of stress and trauma, and how it affects one’s neurological, physical, emotional, and relational well-being. We additionally pair scientific data and research with holistic modalities that work to mitigate these impacts, enhancing one’s health, home life, and job performance.

Speaker Moderator Sue Farren, Paramedic (ret.), Executive Director Chief Jim Comisky, Ret. First Responders Resiliency, Inc. FDAC President Emergency Management: Who Are We; Why Are We Critical to the Mission?

What is emergency management? Who are we? What do we do? What is our goal? Emergency management is more than just an EOC and EOC training. As local jurisdictions are faced with more frequent and more complex challenges, emergency management has been a critical player in coordination, collaboration, and support.

Walk through the phases of emergency management; Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

What does it truly mean to you, your organization, the people you serve? Last let’s look at how this has paid off for Sonoma County since the 2017 devasting wildfires, where 24 lives were lost and 5,000 homes were destroyed in just a few hours.

Speaker Moderator Jeff DuVall, MPA and Deputy Director Chief Frank Frievalt, Mammoth Lakes FPD Department of Emergency Management for Sonoma CONCURRENT SESSIONS

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Where Do WUI and Insurance Costs Intersect?

Recent, rapid, and substantial property insurance cost increases are a direct result of staggering structure losses in the wildland urban interface (WUI). The use of historical data to predict future losses has proven unreliable to insurers, just as traditional fire suppression resources and tactics have been overwhelmed by a new normal in wildfire behavior. This session will discuss shared interests between the insurance industry and the fire service. Attendees will learn how four key stakeholder groups in California are being aligned behind a core set of “mitigations-that-matter” to improve property survivability, and insurability, in the WUI. Speaker Moderator Chief Frank Frievalt, FDAC First Vice President Chief Richard Pearce Mammoth Lakes Fire Protection District Tiburon Fire Protection District Rules of Engagement: Fostering a Culture of Positive Community Participation in a Virtual World Ensuring inclusive public participation is even more challenging online. Join the Institute for Local Government presenters to learn what is allowed, how to do it better and how to get the results you want. Our team will share best practices and lessons learned over the past years for using high-tech and low-tech virtual platforms to engage residents on a variety of topics without meeting face-to face.

Speaker Moderator Karalee Browne, Assistant Executive Director Chief Kirk Noffsinger Institute for Local Government Linden – Peters Fire District Melissa Kuehne, Institute for Local Government

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FDAC 2022 SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS Your Public Information Officer in Today’s Communities The “Public Information Officer (PIO)” has traditionally been thought of in the fire service as part of the command staff on incidents, preparing the collection, approval, and coordinated release of incident information to the public. Used in this way, the PIO function is important, but most frequently limited to information release for incident awareness. During the pandemic, we realized this function needed to do much more. It became the sharp end of the “operations” spear by influencing the masses in each community to make choices about personal behavior that were difficult, polarizing, and costly which were needed to slow the rate of spread. Masking, testing, distancing, washing, quarantine, and immunization were/are the strategies of managing this “incident” and they could only be accomplished, ultimately, through individual compliance. This session will reveal the hidden capacity of traditional PIO’s leveraged through Joint Information Centers/Groups (JIC’s) to effectively influence personal actions and choices in our communities.

Speaker Moderator Laura Provencher, Fire Prevention/Operations Admin/PIO Chief Frank Frievalt American Canyon Fire Protection District Mammoth Lakes Fire Protection District CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Firefighter Health and Wellness: Are We Hitting the Target?

This session will focus on the components of a well-rounded Fire District Health and Wellness Program covering personnel, facilities, SOP’s, best practices, and the team approach to be successful. Also included will be an introduction to the statewide FSTEP Behavioral Health and Cancer Awareness curriculum as developed by State Fire Training, covering information on behavioral health, cancer, and stress for frontline responders, first level supervisors, and organizational leaders. It will include identifying and describing factors while demonstrating practices for resilience; describing types, prevalence, causes of cancer; exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, minimizing exposure and risk to cancerous contaminates.

Speaker Moderator Caryn Petty, Deputy State Fire Marshall III (Specialist) Chief Don Butz Cal Fire/Office of the State Fire Marshall, SFT Division Lakeside Fire Protection District Chief Steve Kovacs, Ret. FDAC Immediate Past President Fire District Consolidations: Helping the Magic of LAFCO Work for You! The recently formed Sonoma County Fire District is leading the way in fire service consolidations in Sonoma County. This session will use the recent experiences of this rapidly expanding agency to illustrate the steps you need to take for a successful fire district consolidation. The session will explore the lessons learned in several successful consolidations, demystify the role of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), and share the vital need for strong collaboration amongst key stakeholders that will pave the path for your consolidation efforts to be successful.

Speakers Moderator Chief Mark Heine, Sonoma County Fire District Chief Jim Comisky, Ret. FDAC President Chief Steven Hall, Ret. William Adams, General Counsel Sonoma County Fire District Inclusion, Equity and Diversity: Effective Tools for Succession Management Does your organization struggle with recruiting a diverse workforce? Do you have a succession management plan? This workshop will provide answers to the “Why?” as well as tools and techniques that can be utilized to enable your organization to be more attractive to qualified applicants and to keep the talent you already have.

Speakers Moderator Pat Lynch, Ph.D., Senior Associate, AP Triton, LLC Chief Kyle Heggstrom Kurt Lapitow, Vice President of Operations, AP Triton, LLC Linda Fire Protection District

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FDAC 2022 SESSION DETAILS AND DESCRIPTIONS CONFERENCE DAY 3 FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Update from California State Fire Officials

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Past, Present, and the Future: A Generational Perspective Differences have occurred within the fire service for hundreds of years. Those differences can be described as many things, from cultural behavior to organizational structure or “that’s just the way we’ve always done it.”

Past, Present, and the Future: A Generational Perspective is a moderated session, as seen through the experiences of a seasoned veteran fire chief and a newer member of today’s ever-changing fire service.

Please join Chief Kurt Henke and Firefighter Ian Brady as we discuss where we’ve been, where we are today, and how we forge an informed path to the future. We’re hoping this session will give our members insight into topics that may be discussed at each of your organization’s kitchen tables on a daily basis.

Speakers Facilitator/Moderator Ian Brady, Firefighter Chief Steve Hall, Ret. Sacramento Metro Fire District FDAC Education Committee Chair Kurt Henke, Chief (ret.) and Owner, AP Triton, LLC.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore

®

Holman Capitol Corporation CSDA

Fire Facilities

Lexipol

PARS Sleep Number Corporation

National Child Safety Council

Advanced Traffic Products, Inc. 10

Neighbors by Ring

ParcelQuest

FireRescue GPO/Sourcewell

BK Technologies

CalTRUST

CalPERS

www.1582exam.com GovDeals Philips

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore

®

Holman Capitol Corporation CSDA

Fire Facilities

Lexipol

PARS Sleep Number Corporation

National Child Safety Council

Advanced Traffic Products, Inc.

12

Neighbors by Ring

ParcelQuest

FireRescue GPO/Sourcewell

BK Technologies

CalTRUST

CalPERS

www.1582exam.com GovDeals Philips