DATE: August 20, 2024
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Special Events: Provide Feedback on Updates to Special Event Permitting and Grant Processes and Priorities for Marquee Events
RECOMMENDATION
That Council receives this report on special event permitting and funding processes and provides feedback on priorities moving forward.
SUMMARY
Hayward residents have long enjoyed a variety of special events, including festivals and markets, that bring the community together and foster civic pride. Outside organizations can apply for City funds and permits to organize events of their own. The special event permitting and funding program has recently moved to the Community and Media Relations (CMR) Division of the City Manager’s Office. CMR staff, along with other departments, have conducted an audit of current processes with the goals of simplifying the application process, setting clear expectations for event organizers who seek City support, and fitting within budgetary constraints. Staff is now seeking feedback from Council on 1) the updated special event grant application and permitting process, and 2) priorities for staff and resource allocation for events.
BACKGROUND
In early 2024, the Community and Media Relations (CMR) Division of the City Manager’s Office, along with other departments, reviewed the City’s special event permitting and funding processes to identify strategies to make the program easier to navigate and more feasible under current budgetary and staffing constraints.
The City’s special events program has changed hands several times in recent years before migrating to CMR and had previously required community organizations to apply for funding far in advance — this made the application and permitting process cumbersome, disproportionally so for smaller events that didn’t require as much planning. This opportunity to re-evaluate existing processes allows the City to better serve the community.
To identify potential improvements, CMR staff collaborated with Planning, Fire Prevention, the City Attorney’s office, as well as the Police Department’s Vice/Intel and Community Services divisions. To broaden context, field new ideas, and understand staffing and funding requirements, staff also interviewed several municipalities across the state and country about their similar processes.
FY 2024 Budget and Expenditures
The special events funding budget is $100,000 for CMR and $30,000 to cover overtime costs in the Maintenance Services Department (MSD). This budget covers both community grants as well as City-run “marquee” events. City-run marquee events are high-profile, signature events produced and funded all or in part by the City of Hayward. These events, which historically have been Light Up the Season, the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, and Hearts of Hayward, take up significant staff resources.
Attachment II shows the City contribution of funds by event in FY 2024. Note that these amounts do not include MSD overtime or any fees that were waived.
In FY 2024, the City spent a total of $156,208 in CMR funds and $52,488 in MSD overtime, which resulted in being over budget by $78,696. The additional funding primarily came from salary savings. The costs fall under these categories:
$81,708 on grants for community-sponsored events
$59,500 on the three “marquee” events
$15,000 one-time appropriation for the Juneteenth Celebration, a community-run event with significant staff support $52,468 in overtime for MSD staff
Staff Support for Special Events
Starting in FY 2025, special event staffing will be centralized in the CMR Division, which will be taking the lead on administering special event grants, organizing marquee events, and providing “concierge” support to special event applicants. The CMR Division can commit 0.8 full time employees to these activities, which is approximately 1,600 hours. For reference, this roughly equates to running four marquee events and administering ten special event grants per year.
In addition, the Maintenance Services (MSD) and Development Services (DSD) Departments provide significant support to special events. DSD is responsible for processing special event permits and ensuring events meet City requirements, in partnership with the Police and Fire Departments. MSD provides staffing support for street closures, event setup, and facility rentals. Some of the DSD and MSD staff support is paid for through fees.
Finally, there are several marquee events that are run by departments other than CMR. These departments have committed to continue running these events using their staff and funding. While these events are not the subject of this report, they are well-attended and important to the City’s branding:
August: National Night Out, hosted by the Police Department September: Airport Open House, hosted by Public Works and Utilities October: Trunk or Treat, hosted by the Library Department April/May: Citywide Cleanup Event, hosted by Public Works and Utilities
DISCUSSION
Special Event Process Streamlining
Since June, staff has worked to update the grant application and permitting processes for special events with the goal of improving customer service. These updates include the below items. Staff is seeking Council feedback on the updated special events permitting and funding processes. In addition, staff is seeking Council feedback on the City’s requirements for special events, which are provided as a checklist in Attachment III.
An Updated Webpage: This page centralizes information and forms https://www.hayward-ca.gov/discover/special-events/planning-guide A Streamlined Intake form for Permitting: Applicants no longer need to submit several forms, applications, and plans independently. The new intake form (Attachment IV) collects basic event details, which CMR staff will use to prepare the necessary permit packet for DSD.
Concierge Support during Permitting: CMR staff will meet with applicants to guide them through the permitting process and requirements, including reviewing additional permits or licenses required by other agencies.
A Faster First-Come-First-Serve Grant Application Process: For event organizers that would like to apply for City grant funding, CMR has created a streamlined application (Attachment V). In addition, applications will be reviewed as they are received rather than once-a-year. This allows organizers to apply throughout the year, rather than having to plan twelve or more months in advance of their event.
Set Grant Funding Tiers with Clear Criteria and Deadlines: Staff has set the following criteria for funding levels based on event attendance.
Tier
Criteria
Funding
City-Run Marquee Events
Annual events that are high priority for the Council and a key component of the City’s branding Varies, usually over $10,000, plus $2,944 in permit waivers Tier I Grant
Attendance 500+, possibly requiring street or plaza closures and/or amplified noise $10,000, plus $2,944 in permit waivers
Tier II Grant
Fewer than 500 attendees with minor closures
$5,000, plus a possible $2,944 in permit waivers
Tier III Grant
Fewer than 200 attendees using off-street venues
$2,500
Tier IV Grant
Fewer than 200 attendees - Parades, races, and walks involving full or partial street closures $2,500, plus $2,944 in permit waivers
A Post-Event Evaluation Process for Grant-Funded Events: Moving forward, CMR will be conducting a post-event evaluation process designed to measure an event’s success based on staff and community feedback. This process allows CMR to continuously audit grantees and ensure that City-funded events provide the requisite community benefit to justify the cost and staff hours.
Event Fees
Special event organizers may face a few City fees, depending on the type and size of the event. These include a special event permit fee for street closures, a business license fee when money is exchanged for goods or services, alcohol daily license fees, and facility rentals. In addition, event organizers may be responsible for other costs, including insurance and security (see Attachment III for a list of requirements by event type).
In prior years, staff has not had a consistent rule for which fees the City will waive. For transparency and equity, staff recommends creating a rule that will be applied across all events. Staff is recommending that the City waive the special event permit fee for all events that receive City funding, so those events do not need to use the grant funding towards that cost. Staff also recommends that all other fees, including facility rentals, be required for all applicants starting October 1, 2024. In particular, the City does not have budget to cover the costs of janitorial and staffing for facility rentals, and therefore relies on fees to cover these costs. Attachment VI shows the cost to rent City facilities.
FY 2025 Event Priorities
As stated in the background section, the City overspent the event budget in FY 2024. In order to stay within budget and within staff capacity, staff is seeking direction from Council on priorities for FY 2025. Specifically, staff is seeking feedback on 1) which criteria CMR should use to rank events for grants when funding is limited, and 2) which marquee events are the highest priority. CMR staff can only support four major marquee events a year with current capacity.
Criteria for Ranking Events: Staff is suggesting the following criteria for Council consideration. These criteria would be used to rank grant applications if funding is limited. These criteria could also be used to prioritize marquee events:
The event’s reach/impact, primarily measured by attendance The event’s relevancy to the cultural heritage and diversity of the Hayward community, with consideration for the overall diversity of events the City supports The event’s fit within the City’s calendar, with consideration for events hosted by other agencies like the Hayward Area Recreation and Parks District The ability of the event organizers to comply with city requirements and timelines, which will be informed by the previous year’s post-event evaluation Marquee Events: As stated above, CMR staff can support up to four marquee events per year with current capacity. In addition, the budget for marquee events comes from the same pot of funding as special event grants.
Last year, the City spent $59,500 on three staff-run “marquee” events, which were Light Up the Season, the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, and Hearts of Hayward. In addition, CMR committed substantial staff time to the Juneteenth event and the City contributed $15,000. If the City were to spend the same amount on those four events this year, there would only be $25,500 remaining for grants. Staff is currently exploring reinstating the partnership with the Chamber of Commerce for Light up the Season, which could reduce costs for that event.
Staff is seeking Council’s feedback on which events Council would like to see as the City’s marquee events, which could be the same or different as the events from prior years, as well as the level of financial investment Council envisions for each event. For reference, Attachment II provides a list of all events that received City funding in FY 2024, as well as the estimated or predicted attendance at each event.
For context, staff support for marquee events includes securing permits, executing contracts, preparing printed materials, fielding calls for sponsors, procuring vendors for equipment, and managing production on the event day. In addition, the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration planning committee currently meets monthly year-round. There is currently one permanent staff position in CMR who is responsible for these activities, on top of other work. For FY 2025, the City Manager’s Office is also assigning the Management Fellow to assist with event related tasks. Without the Management Fellow’s support, staff capacity would be lower.
Seeking Council Feedback
In summary, staff is seeking Council feedback on the following five items at this work session:
The process and requirements for special event permits
The process and tiers for special event grants
The proposed guidelines for fee waivers
The criteria for ranking which events to support first, given limited resources Which marquee events are the highest priority for Council, given limited staff capacity
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this work session. Staff’s recommendations in this report use existing operating funds and staffing.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Roadmap Priority of “Cultivate Vibrant Neighborhoods.” Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following metric and project:
Metric NM9: # of event attendees at City-run and City-sponsored events Project NP4: Work with Council to determine funding priorities for City-run and City-sponsored events and implement new granting processes
NEXT STEPS
CMR staff will continue to move forward with updated special events permitting and funding processes and slate of marquee events, and implement any changes based on Council feedback. The more efficient and equitable use of resources will make planning and hosting events easier for both staff members and the community.
Prepared by: Justin Redman, Management Fellow Zachary Ebadi, Community Program Specialist
Recommended by: Regina Youngblood, Assistant City Manager Approved by:
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Dustin Claussen, City Manager