EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: February 7, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin Gaines, City Manager
BY: Maurice Baker, Acting Community Services Manager
Patrick Heisinger, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: City Participation in the Age Friendly Communities Certification Recommendation
By motion, authorize staff to work with the Center for Age Friendly Excellence (CAFE) to begin the process of becoming an age friendly city and attaining an AARP/WHO Network of Age Friendly Communities (AFC) certification.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 3: Promote Public Health and Safety
Priority No. 7: Enhance Community Services and Parks
Background
The concept of Global Age Friendly Cities was developed in 2005 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help cities consider and implement policies and services to support older adults as they continue to live healthy and vibrant lives. According to WHO, population aging and urbanization are two global trends that comprise major forces shaping the 21st Century.
The WHO also recognizes that older people often require supportive and enabling living environments to compensate for physical and social changes associated with aging. Thus, in order to retain a vibrant and enriching population of older adults, cities must provide the structures and services to support their well-being and productivity. Making cities more age friendly is a necessary and logical response to promote the well-being and contributions of older urban residents and to keep cities thriving.
WHO has identified eight (8) key domains of livability requiring a conscious effort to create an age-friendly community. It includes:
1. Housing
2. Transportation
3. Social Participation
4. Respect and Social Inclusion
5. Civic Participation and Employment
6. Communication and Information
7. Community Support and Health Services
8. Outdoor Spaces and Buildings
Many cities are experiencing rapid increases to their aging population, particularly the proportion of people aged 65 years old and over. In 2018, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors committed to joining WHO’s Age-Friendly Global Network and established the San Mateo County Age Friendly Initiative. The County also partnered with the Center for AgeFriendly Excellence (CAFE) to help achieve this designation over the coming years. CAFE, a project of the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation, has a mission to create vibrant, sustainable, supportive, and inclusive communities for all generations.
The County also arranged for CAFE to provide technical assistance to cities in it’s territory working to achieve their Age Friendly Communities (AFC) certification. This assistance is available through December 31, 2023.
According to the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 15.5% of East Palo Alto’s population is 65 years old or older. East Palo Alto could better serve this population of older adults by becoming an age friendly community and attaining its Age Friendly Communities (AFC) certification. There are currently eleven (11) cities that are classified as being Age Friendly in San Mateo County, East Palo Alto is one of two cities next proposed to receive the AFC certification with support from CAFE and the County.
Staff requests Council authorization to work with CAFE to begin the process of becoming an Age Friendly Community and attaining an AARP/WHO Network of Age Friendly Communities Age Friendly Communities (AFC) certification.
Analysis
To become designated as an "Age-Friendly City," East Palo Alto must demonstrate that it is committed to providing places for older adults to be engaged, as well as providing for social opportunities and services that ensure older adults can thrive and be part of the community.
During the upcoming months, East Palo Alto will work closely with CAFE, who will be providing technical assistance, consultation, applied research access, community organizing synergy, coordination of the assessment process, and will also help write the official application to be submitted to WHO for East Palo Alto to receive the Global Age-Friendly Cities Designation.
The process begins with identifying a task force with various stakeholders to oversee the process. The task force which would include City Council members, City staff, and other community leaders and residents. To date, the following individuals have agreed to serve on the task force.
1. Mayor Lisa Gauthier
2. Councilmen Ruben Abrica
3. Leroy Knight Jr. (Chair of EPA Senior Center Board)
4. Bridget Grant (Senior Center Inc. Board Member)
5. Joya Joseph (Senior Center Inc. Board Member)
6. Yolanda Cruz-Hernandez (Senior Center Inc. Board Member)
7. Paris Hill (Chair of Senior Advisory Committee)
8. Jeffrey Austin (Vice Chair of Senior Advisory Committee)
9. Maurice Baker (City Staff)
The next steps will be to conduct a series of focus groups to assess the baseline “agefriendliness” of East Palo Alto in the eight CAFE key livability domains mentioned above. The focus group and survey results will then be reviewed, identifying indicators so progress can be monitored against an action plan. As CAFE helps in guiding this process, the task force will need to recommend potential projects and services to address unmet needs that will be implemented over the next 1 to 2 years.
This will lead up to the completion of the Age-Friendly City application, which includes a letter of intent signed by the City Council. Communities that actively demonstrate a commitment to foster the full participation of older people in community life and that promote healthy and active aging are invited to become members of the Network and receive formal designation as an "Age-Friendly City".
It should be noted that the expected duration of the task force is for the initial five- month planning stage. Once the planning stage is over, the task force will continue to meet as needed to assist with and guide implementation of inaugural East Palo Alto Age-Friendly Community Projects. CAFE will be available for consultation, as needed.
If the City of East Palo Alto applies to AARP to participate in the WHO Global Network of AgeFriendly Cities and Communities and the application is approved, the City's five-year commitment will begin with Cycle One being the submission of said application. Upon acceptance, Cycle Two will be to create a plan to make the City more livable for people of all ages.
Fiscal Impact
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with the acceptance of this report; however, there is an estimated 12-15 hours of staff time during Cycle One of this process. If related projects are identified in the future that require additional resources, these would be brought to City Council for consideration.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice of this agenda item by posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s website and at the San Mateo County Library located at 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.