Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND ON THE RANCHO
CORDOVA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Date: January 14, 2025
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council receive a staff report and discuss the item. No action will be taken. The intent of this item is to provide an overview and common understanding of the Community Council for possible further discussion during Strategic Planning.
Background
According to the Rancho Cordova Community Council (Community Council) website, “The Cordova Community Council was founded in 1959 as an “organization of organizations,” a forum for citizens to meet, dream about the future and plan community celebrations like fireworks on the Fourth of July....We're a curator of the community calendar and champion of our wonderful city, twice named an “All-America City” by the National Civic League....The Cordova Community Council Foundation is recognized by the federal government as a 501 (c) 3 public benefit non-profit organization. We are headquartered within Rancho Cordova City Hall.”
The City of Rancho Cordova was subsequently incorporated in 2003 with the Community Council already hosting several popular community events. To ensure the continuation of certain events and to provide more stability with personnel (from what had largely been a volunteer organization over the prior 44 years), Rancho Cordova provided initial annual funding of $150,000 per year. Over the subsequent 21 years, the annual City contribution has grown to $1 million per year today through a multi-year agreement. This is intended to fully fund the staffing of the Community Council as well as the various recurring events and programs that Rancho Cordova has contracted for. Additionally, the Community Council also applies separately for grants from Rancho Cordova’s Measure H sales tax. This is primarily for one- time expenses or to try out new programs and events. The current total budget of the Community Council is $2.7 million, with $1 million coming from Rancho Cordova and the other $1.7 million coming from other sources.
The Community Council has an eleven (11) member Board of Directors. Four (4) officers are listed on the website, which consist of a City Councilmember, a member of the “Cordova Planning Advisory Council”, a member from the local private water utility (Golden State Water), and a member from Dignity Health. The other seven (7) members of Board of Directors appear to represent various private businesses or individuals, with the exception of one City representative from the City Manager’s office. The funding agreement with Rancho Cordova mandates that at least one (1) seat on the Board of Directors is held by a City representative.
Staff of the Community Council include 8 staff, 7 full-time and 1 part-time. This consists of the Executive Director, 3 event specialists, 1 MACC Event Coordinator/Curator, 1 Director Rancho Cordova Athletic Association, 1 Event Engineer and Facility Manager, and 1 Event Support.
The programs run or facilitated by the Community Council includes:
The MACC - Mills Station Arts & Culture Center
The MACC is the place for art in Rancho Cordova. In its 8th year, it includes exhibits, spotlight artists, concerts, art workshops and art talks.
Art at City Hall
The Cordova Community Council, with the support of local artists, helped launch arts programs in Rancho Cordova. If you live or work in Rancho Cordova, you can participate in any of the juried City Hall shows for free. Non-residents can still join by becoming a member of the local nonprofit arts group, Rancho Cordova Arts (RC Arts).
Each Art@CityHall exhibition is displayed for about three months, with shows rotating quarterly. Three of these shows are themed, and every show is juried and judged by an external juror from the Sacramento arts community.
Living the Arts
This includes support of a variety of arts initiatives, including Rancho Cordova Arts, Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band, Symphony d”Oro, Swing Collective, Rise up Theatre Company, and other non-profits that support the arts. Rancho Cordova separately provides funding to the River City Concert Band and the Symphony, but the Community Council provides overall facilitation.
Rancho Cordova Athletic Association
The Rancho Cordova Athletic Association (RCAA) was formed in 2013 to collaborate and support various youth sports leagues. The focus is on the free or low-cost leagues that are accessible to the entire community, not the pay to play leagues.
Community Volunteer Awards
Each year, the council recognizes outstanding contributions to the community in various categories ranging from business to faith leadership. The prestigious "Rancho Cordovan of the Year" award can honor an exceptional contribution to the community during the year or over a lifetime.
Digital Grapevine Project
The Digital Grapevine Project brings alive Rancho Cordova history as seen through the pages of The Grapevine Independent, the longstanding hometown newspaper of our city.
Rent the Mine Shaft
The Mine Shaft, located at 2300 Mine Shaft Lane in the City of Rancho Cordova, is a location for holding outdoor non-profit events.
Various Events
The Community Council also holds a variety of events throughout the year, including monthly luncheons, observance of several national holidays with various events, including the annual tree lighting and 4th of July fireworks show. They also hold other various events such as a haunted house around Halloween, movies in the park, Kids Day in the Park, and Friday Night Concerts.
Analysis/Discussion
As a requirement of the Rancho Cordova grant agreement, the Community Council is required to provide Rancho Cordova with quarterly updates as well as quarterly financial updates. Since the Community Council is well-established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, it can also act as a fiscal agent for new or less established community non-profits.
Rancho Cordova is also overlaid with a Parks and Recreation District that includes Rancho Cordova but extends outside the limits in some areas. The Parks and Recreation District owns and operates the parks in Rancho Cordova and runs various park and recreation programs.
Rancho Cordova has contributed to improve the public swimming pools, but also separately operates a youth center as well as the various events run by the Cordova Community Council with City funding.
Other Examples
While the Cordova Community Council has gradually evolved into more expansive responsibilities, there are other examples closer to home. Within Sonoma County, there are several 501(c)(3) organizations that have either been established by cities or work in partnership with cities to promote certain community objectives. The following is an incomplete sample of these types of organizations.
Rohnert Park
Initially formed in 2008, the City of Rohnert Park has a Rohnert Park Foundation (https://www.rpcity.org/city_hall/commissions_committees_boards/city_of_rohnert_park_found ation), was established by and is run directly by the City as a separate 501(c)(3), however the Board is the City Council and the staff are City staff. This captive non-profit is primarily funded by Casino Mitigation Funds. The City then uses the funding for community grants and to pay for fee waivers requested by various groups. The City also has Performing Arts Donation and Endowment funds, although these are not separate 501c3 organizations.
Windsor
Coming out of the budget cuts in 2012, an independent group, in coordination with the Town, started the Windsor Parks and Recreation Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) organization (https://www.people4parkswindsor.org/ourprojects). Intending to model itself along the lines of the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Foundation, this group was initially formed as a foundation with the goal of raising significant funds for park projects. The initial project planned was the new playground on the Town Green. While funds were raised to partially fund this project, the original Board transitioned from a fundraising focus to a community events volunteer focus.
Today, they are able to receive funds for park and art programs but are primarily focused on efforts such as running the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree program in the Town Green, the Town mural project and the Windsor Pride Festival in 2024.
The Town of Windsor has contributed funds to assist in holding events, but there is no regular funding from the Town.
Sonoma County Parks Foundation
The Sonoma County Parks Foundation (https://www.sonomacountyparksfoundation.org/) was established in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The foundation's mission is to:
Raise money for park programs and services, Foster partnerships, Advocate on behalf of the parks, Support the development of environmental education programs, Fund natural resources projects, Provide financial support to develop new parks and trails, and Host community events raises funds, fosters partnerships and advocates on behalf of Sonoma County Regional Parks.
Today, this is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports programs and projects at 60+ Sonoma County parks and trails.
When fully appointed, the board of directors consists of 19 members. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors appoints 10 members, and the Parks Foundation board appoints nine. Board members raise funds for Regional Parks’ projects, serve as parks ambassadors in the community, and oversee the staff and budget of the Parks Foundation. The organization is run by an executive director and 3 staff.
Other
While there may be other examples of 501(c)(3) organizations that work as an extension of a city in Sonoma County to achieve common community goals, staff are not currently aware of them.
There are various partner organizations that may loosely coordinate, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, Laguna Foundation, Sonoma Ecology Center, Redwood Empire Food Bank, various community centers, etc.
Financial Considerations
Rancho Cordova is a town of approximately 83,000 residents with a General Fund budget of $79.6 million (FY 24-25). Rancho Cordova also has two 1/2-cent special sales tax measures (Measure H and Measure R, aka the Community Enhancement & Investment Fund). Although these are unrestricted General Fund, they are tracked in a different fund. In FY 24-25, each are estimated to produce $12.5 million annually ($25 million total), pushing the total unrestricted funding for the City to $104.9 million. As a point of reference, in Fiscal Year 24-25, the City of Cotati has approximately $10.5 million in General Fund revenue.
Rancho Cordova does not have its own police, fire, park and recreation, water, or sewer services - each of these are either contract, special district, or privatized. Aside from land use authority, and economic development, its primary in-house services are public works (streets and storm drains).
As mentioned earlier, the Cordova Community Council has a current year budget of $2.7 million, with $1 million coming from Rancho Cordova (Measure H). According to those involved, approximately $500,000 of the other $1.7 million comes from the haunted house, a small amount comes from memberships, with the remaining funding coming from corporate sponsorships or 1-time funds. The City of Rancho Cordova provides no-cost space to the Community Council and the Chamber of Commerce at their City Hall.
The Chamber of Commerce also receives approximately $600,000 per year from Rancho Cordova to support existing businesses through training and other retention programs.
Separately, Rancho Cordova also has an Economic Development Department, which is focused on business attraction and acting as an ombudsman for the permitting process.
The $25 million ”Community Enhancement & Investment Fund”, primarily consisting of revenue from Measure H and R, are allocated as follows for FY 24-25:
Community Enhancement & Investment Fund (FY 24-25)
Community Grants are budgeted at $3.5M, which is the primary source of funding for the programs described in this report. Community/Economic Development is budgeted at $3.7M, which is used for business retention and attraction, as also described above.
Neighborhood/Corridor Revitalization is budgeted at slightly under $1M, which is used for various beautification projects.
Environmental Issues
Where it can be determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA review.
This general rule can be applied to activities which could be subject to the CEQA process, but which logic dictates should not be subject to CEQA review. Therefore, based on the information provided above, the proposed resolution is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 14.03.021 of the CEQA Guidelines in that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant impact on the environment.