Attachment 3
Summary of Brightline Defense Conclusions and Recommendations (from November 1, 2021 Report)
1. “Upward mobility” refers to economic advancement, with an individual or family’s improved social status chiefly reflected in an increase in income and wealth. The Measure HH Program should ensure that residents are equipped to follow career paths necessary to keep up with the Bay Area’s high cost of living.
2. Measure HH revenue, while significant, is not sufficient to mimic other Bay Area workforce development programs. Instead, take a more distributed approach to funding. Select small initiatives to support which: a) have a clear path to placing local residents in sustainable career pathways; and b) are scalable to produce more job training and placement results for the community.
3. The City’s Measure HH investments should target assisting specific individuals in achieving higher wage jobs. Compensation should be based on the number of East Palo Alto residents that an organization supports through commitment to and completion of a specific workforce training program.
4. The City should consider funding related activities to eliminate barriers to participating in a job training program, such as childcare, transportation, or wages. Require that proposers incorporate barrier reducing services in their calculation of per participant cost: childcare, transportation, hourly stipend, etc.
5. Leverage the expertise of well-established third-party organizations, such as community-based organizations (CBOs), training programs, non-profits, or forprofit companies. CBOs that are not based in East Palo Alto may consider partnering with organizations that are located in and serve the community.
6. Pre-apprenticeship programs for building trades are the best first initiative.
Several partner programs with long-standing infrastructure already exist with a history of success. Early conversations with them have suggested paths for establishing an East Palo Alto employment pool that can enter existing programs.
7. STEM jobs are highly sought after, competitive, and present multiple barriers to entry. Educational requirements remain the toughest barrier to entry, and even when hired, minority employees face retention rates much lower than the industry average. Tactical investments with Measure HH can help guide skilled residents to this sector.
8. Measure HH-funded initiatives aimed at STEM career paths should be modest ventures at the outset. Because tech companies are reticent to look at alternative candidates, successful case studies should be presented to these companies that they can believe and invest in. Be deliberate and patient and allow these programs to take root and grow over time.
9. The Bay Area has a large number of middle-income jobs in the life sciences industry, such as lab technician positions at anchor institutions like Stanford University. Coupled with the potential new R&D/lab jobs in the Ravenswood Business District, there is an opportunity to train residents to fill both existing and future positions.
10.In line with Measure HH, exercise broad discretion in funding potential programs to serve a wide variety of options. While there are specific higher priority initiatives that offer the most logical path to jobs with a middle-income or higher, be open to other options which may provide equally valuable job opportunities.
11.The Measure HH programs and the First Source Hiring policy will be best served by being connected in some way. This may include job set asides for graduates of HH programs and priority recruitment.