Fremont City Council Meeting: 05/02/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: City Manager's Office
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4887) DOC ID: 4887
Updated: 4/27/2023 1:32 PM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 1 HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE STRATEGIC PLAN SERVICE AGREEMENT – Authorize the City Manager or their Designee to enter into an Agreement with EdeColigny Consulting, LLC, for the planning and development of a City-wide Strategic Plan to Respond to Homelessness, in the amount of $112,000.
Contact Persons:
Name: Laurie Flores Allen DeMers
Title: Homeless Services Manager Assistant to the City Manager Div/Dept: City Manager's Office City Manager's Office
Phone: 510-574-2040 510-494-4651
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: This staff report requests that City Council approve the execution of a Standard Services Agreement, with EdeColigny Consulting, LLC, to provide consulting services for the development of a City-wide Homelessness Response Strategic Plan, in alignment with Council Priorities.
BACKGROUND: Homelessness continues to be one of the most complex challenges in the Bay Area and the City Council recently reaffirmed that addressing homelessness is one of its top priorities. At the May 3, 2022 City Council meeting, the Council passed a resolution endorsing Alameda County’s Home Together 2026 Community Plan to end homelessness.
Home Together 2026 is Alameda County’s strategic alignment plan which prioritizes funding for effective programs that prevent, address and end homelessness. At the October 18, 2022 City Council meeting, staff presented a report summarizing the City of Fremont’s citywide coordinated efforts and resources to respond to encampments and operate programs serving unhoused residents. In that meeting, staff also identified that the development of a Fremont-specific strategic plan to address homelessness would be a key next step to support the City Council’s priority of addressing homelessness.
On December 15, 2022 staff posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) and encouraged vendors to submit proposals of their qualifications to develop a plan to guide the City in a comprehensive response to homelessness, inclusive of long-term best-practice recommendations to assist in reducing overall homelessness, alignment with the Alameda County Home Together 2026 plan, and a framework to respond to the street level community impacts of homelessness.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The City received six responsive proposals. A cross- departmental team of City Staff from the City Manager’s Office, Community Development, Community Services, Fire, Human Services, and Police Departments reviewed and scored all six proposals. EdeColigny Consulting, LLC scored the highest on the proposal review .
A subgroup of staff from Human Services and the City Manager’s Office interviewed the top three scoring respondents. During this interview round, EdeColigny Consulting, LLC demonstrated the most direct knowledge of Alameda County’s resources, regional resource availability, and Homeless Management Information System. While several vendors proposed intriguing individual elements in their proposals, the EdeColigny Consulting, LLC Council Staff Report (ID # 4887) Meeting of May 2, 2023 Updated: 4/27/2023 1:32 PM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 2 proposal was ranked the highest amongst respondents due to its comprehensive inclusion of the following elements:
• A cost-effective plan that closely aligns with budgeted City resources. • The inclusion of a racial equity lens intended to address the disparate impact of homelessness in the Bay Area.
• A project team of experienced professionals with decades of experience in consulting, non-profit service delivery, and local government. • The intent to incorporate the perspective and needs of unhoused community members by including project team members with lived expertise to facilitate engagement with unhoused community members input on the plan. • A plan to balance the coordination of internal processes for encampment response, while developing a work product that provides a roadmap to reduce inflow into homelessness; reduce suffering of those currently experiencing homelessness and increase solutions to resolve homelessness.
• A comprehensive communication and stakeholder outreach plan which includes engaging Fremont’s residents and business community through community work sessions and surveys.
• The intent to create a balanced plan that will be visionary and aspirational in its objectives but practical in its construction and local applications to the City of Fremont.
The assembly and implementation of the plan is anticipated to take approximately 8 months, beginning with a landscape analysis of existing resources and programs, with a complete plan expected by winter of 2023/24.
FISCAL IMPACT: Staff anticipate that the $112,000 agreement with EdeColigny, LLC will cover 100% of the consulting and project costs. In anticipation of the strategic planning effort, the City has already appropriated sufficient funding for the Homelessness Response Strategic Plan in fund 001(Human Services Administrative Fund), in the FY 2022/23 City budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The authorization of an agreement with EdeColigny, LLC to provide strategic consulting services, is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), each as a separate and independent basis, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15183 (projects consistent with the general plan or zoning) and/or 15061(b)(3), which is the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager, or their designee, to execute a Standard Services Agreement with EdeColigny Consulting, LLC as consultant for Fremont’s Homelessness Response Strategic Plan, in the amount of $112,000.