Hudson Rethinks Emergency Alerts and Event Safety

The Hudson City Council examines how emergency messages are sent, debated, and followed up—from CodeRED alerts and coordination with neighboring communities to closing the loop with residents after gas explosions and shootings. Council and staff also question the city’s clunky Notify Me system and weigh new tools and fireworks-site changes to improve safety at large events. 25mins

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Original Meeting

Tuesday, July 28th, 2026
9874.389002
City Council Workshop on 2026-07-28 7:30 PM
Full Meeting on Granicus
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In This Video
  • Kathleen Sullivan outlined Hudson’s crisis communication plan, explaining the roles of the incident commander and communications manager and describing the notification process used during emergency situations.
  • Kathleen Sullivan described how Hudson uses the Code Red system and social media to send geographically targeted emergency alerts, including reverse 911 messages to cell phones within city boundaries.
  • Council Member Brezovec, Kathleen Sullivan, and a speaker reviewed the gas explosion near Hudson, explaining that Twinsburg’s incident command held jurisdiction, used its own alert system, and that Hudson did not issue a CodeRED because it was not the lead agency despite some local impacts.
  • Council Member Brezovec and Council Member D'Eramo raised concerns that residents near the gas explosion were left without clear guidance and urged the fire department to commit to improved outreach and emergency notifications when incidents near city borders affect Hudson households.
  • Council President Bird emphasized the need for updated emergency communication processes, including prewritten alerts that frontline officers could quickly issue to nearby residents during incidents like active shooters just outside city limits.
  • Kathleen Sullivan discussed expanding the number of staff who can issue CodeRED alerts while stressing the need to limit access to prevent harmful misinformation.
  • The Mayor described past gaps in communication with the school system and neighboring communities and urged establishing links between crisis communication teams so the city could receive major incident information and quickly relay it to Hudson residents.
  • A speaker explained that border incidents like the gas line fire feeding Twinsburg homes rather than Hudson properties were very rare, and indicated that while Hudson crews focused on extinguishing the fire, the city could explore better connecting its CodeRED alert system with neighboring communities despite not yet knowing what platforms those communities use.
  • Council Member D'Eramo urged the fire chief to take greater responsibility for transparent, visible communication to residents after the gas incident, criticizing the lack of clear messaging from the fire and police departments on social media and in public-facing updates.
  • Council Member D'Eramo questioned post-incident communication after the Twinsburg gas event, and a speaker acknowledged that Hudson deferred to Twinsburg as lead agency and admitted they had not provided a follow-up summary to Hudson residents but could do so in future border incidents.
  • A speaker reflected on the city’s focus on stopping further drilling after the incident, acknowledged a possible failure to share that information with residents, and asked council for clearer guidance on communication expectations going forward.
  • A speaker stressed the need for better mutual alert systems with neighboring communities and urged Hudson officials to obtain safety information from the lead agency during incidents and relay it clearly to local residents.
  • Kathleen Sullivan described existing coordination through Summit County’s public information officer group and recounted post-incident communication with Twinsburg’s fire PIO, noting that while they aligned messaging on directional drilling, there was limited real-time collaboration between communication teams during the gas incident itself.
  • A speaker reflected on the rarity of recent border emergencies and committed to reviewing ways to improve communication so residents were better informed during future incidents.
  • Council Member Brezovec emphasized that crisis communication should include timely messages reassuring residents when an incident is resolved or poses no immediate threat to their safety, families, or homes.
  • Kathleen Sullivan recommended adding follow-up communications when incidents conclude, such as notifying residents when emergency road closures are lifted and roads are fully reopened.
  • Council Member Brezovec and Communications Manager Kathleen Sullivan discussed the limits of using CodeRED for reassurance messages and emphasized balancing non-emergency text and email alerts to avoid spam labeling and subscriber opt-outs.
  • Council Member Brezovec supported adding post-incident reassurance messages to improve transparency for residents and observed that Hudson could not rely solely on Summit County communications because part of the city lay outside the county.
  • Council President Bird and Council Member D'Eramo prompted Kathleen Sullivan to begin discussing the city’s Notify Me notification system.
  • Kathleen Sullivan described the city’s Notify Me website tool as clunky and underused, explaining that it sent broad page-update notices rather than targeted alerts and suggesting more streamlined communication channels for future use.
  • Council Member D'Eramo and Kathleen Sullivan discussed the limitations of the current Notify Me system and considered upgrading to a better notification platform bundled with the city’s website services.
  • Kathleen Sullivan and a speaker discussed adding a notification tool for text and email alerts about specific non-emergency events and noted that upcoming budget planning would be an opportunity to explore software options.
  • Council Member D'Eramo described the existing Notify Me system as confusing to use and suggested that residents would prefer quicker, more straightforward updates, especially given the city’s strong focus on social media.
  • Kathleen Sullivan and Jenna Stasik emphasized that many residents were not on social media and underscored the importance of maintaining additional methods to reach those households with city communications.
  • Council President Bird asked city staff to return with information on improving emergency communications, including faster CodeRED alerts, expanding authorized users, better post-incident messaging, and stronger coordination with other organizations to share information with residents.
  • Council President Bird referenced earlier comments about relocating the fireworks display to a site with better shelter options and emergency egress and asked staff to develop the idea further and report back at a later time.
  • Chief Tabak and Kathleen Sullivan described Hudson’s limited, late-stage role in a trooper-involved shootout, noting their challenge in crafting timely alerts as they caught up on details, debated using CodeRED, and ultimately issued only brief guidance to avoid the affected intersection after the incident had largely concluded.
  • A speaker reflected on residents’ fears after a past officer-involved shooting and urged the city to prioritize empathetic, supportive communication with affected neighborhoods even before full incident details are available.
  • Community Relations Manager Jenna Stasik outlined plans to enhance communication and safety at large city events, including adding message boards, drones with audio, improved radio access for staff, and evaluating Veteran's Way Park as a potential summer fireworks launch site to support downtown viewing and businesses.
  • Community Relations Manager Jenna Stasik and Communications Manager Kathleen Sullivan described exploring school grounds as a safer fireworks and event site with parking and shelter, plans to establish a command center for large gatherings, and the use of a direct National Weather Service line that had been consulted before the recent weather-related fireworks incident.
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