A question for Lago Vista City Council.

I am not yet a City Council member, so I will not claim credit for official work I have not performed. However, emergency preparedness and resident education are important parts of my public safety priorities. Lago Vista’s geography, limited access routes, and exposure to wildfire and other emergencies make advance planning especially important. We cannot afford to wait until an emergency occurs to determine how residents will be warned, where they should go, or who is responsible for coordinating the response. Travis County ESD No. 1 is an independent emergency services district. The City’s responsibility is to cooperate with the ESD, support coordinated emergency planning, and ensure City departments understand their roles. I understand that an emergency services tabletop exercise was scheduled for October 8, 2026. I welcome these coordinated preparedness efforts and look forward to any public debrief, particularly the lessons learned, gaps identified, and improvements recommended. If elected and invited to participate in future exercises, I will attend. I believe reviewing the results of these exercises and following through on recommended improvements are important parts of maintaining community preparedness. If elected, I would support reviewing existing emergency management and evacuation plans with ESD No. 1, law enforcement, Public Works, Travis County, and other appropriate agencies to identify gaps and strengthen coordination. That review should address evacuation zones, primary and alternate routes, traffic control points, emergency communications, sheltering arrangements, and transportation assistance. It should also consider what happens if a major evacuation route becomes impassable. Special attention must be given to seniors, residents with disabilities, people without reliable transportation, families with pets, and those with medical or mobility needs. Plans must also account for power outages, cellular service interruptions, and other communication failures. Residents deserve a clear, accessible, public facing emergency preparedness and evacuation guide explaining how warnings will be delivered, where to obtain reliable information, and how to prepare their households. Sensitive operational details should remain with emergency personnel. Finally, I would support regular tabletop exercises, coordinated training, and practical drills when appropriate. Plans should be reviewed, tested, and updated as conditions change. My goal is not simply to have an evacuation plan on paper. It is to make sure our emergency responders, City departments, and residents understand their roles and are prepared to act when every minute matters.

Written by the candidate

Emergency preparedness has been something I've been actively working on, and I think the key is recognizing that an emergency doesn't stop at the city limits. Just this past week, we participated in a regional emergency tabletop exercise, coordinated by ESD 1 with the Texas Division of Emergency Management. It brought together our neighboring communities, emergency responders, schools, transportation agencies and other organizations to work through how we would respond together when an emergency happens. One thing we've been told is that there isn't one evacuation plan that works for every emergency in Lago Vista. Our geography, limited major roadways, the type of emergency and where it's happening all affect how people should respond. For example, the safest route during a wildfire on one side of town might be the very road we need people to avoid during a different emergency. In some situations, sheltering in place may be safer than evacuating. That doesn't mean we shouldn't plan. It means we need plans and procedures that can adapt to the circumstances, with clear responsibilities, reliable communication and coordination among the agencies responding. I've also been working on the community side of preparedness. I shared information with our Lions Club about Emergency Support Functions—essentially, how different organizations and volunteers can help during an emergency. I was instrumental in bringing our Presidents' Council together around the idea of a North Shore United Response, so our community organizations have a way to coordinate their efforts when help is needed. I've supported Mayor Saum's efforts to strengthen our emergency response capabilities and regional partnerships, along with pursuing grants that can help us prepare without placing every cost on local taxpayers. One result is the City's 2026 AARP Community Challenge Grant, which is helping us offer four free emergency preparedness workshops beginning October 14. They cover household preparedness, emergency alerts and evacuation, mobility and medical needs, and neighbors helping neighbors. But I also want to be clear: preparedness activities are not a substitute for an actual evacuation plan. We live in a beautiful area, but our geography and limited major roadways create real challenges. An evacuation plan needs to address how traffic will move, what happens if a road is blocked, how residents will receive instructions, and how we help people who cannot simply get into a car and leave. My next step would be to continue working with ESD 1, City staff, law enforcement, TxDOT and our regional partners to identify gaps in our evacuation procedures, agree on responsibilities, and test those procedures through exercises. I also want residents to understand what they should do before an emergency happens. Where will they get reliable information? What should they have ready? Who might need help in their neighborhood? We can't promise that every emergency will unfold the way we planned. But we can prepare, practice, identify what doesn't work, and improve. I don't want our first real test of an evacuation plan to be the day we need it. And I believe our community organizations and neighbors can be an important part of making that preparation work.