Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO: G. Harold Duffey FROM: Guillermo Cespedes
Interim City Administrator Chief of Violence Prevention
SUBJECT: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts DATE: February 10, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution To:
1. Amend City Council Resolution No. 89273 To Increase The Amount Of Grant Agreements To Non-Profit Entities To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Twelve-Month Term Beginning July 1, 2022, And Ending June 30, 2023, For An Additional Amount Of Four Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($450,000) For A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Million Fifty Thousand Dollars ($1,050,000);
2. Waive The City of Oakland’s Local And Small Local Business Enterprise Program (L/SLBE) Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Award A New Grant Agreement To Family Bridges, Inc. To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Six-Month Term Beginning April 1, 2023, And Ending September 30, 2023, In A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000);
3. Waive The City of Oakland’s L/SLBE Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Award A New Grant Agreement To East Oakland Boxing Association To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Six-Month Term Beginning April 1, 2023, And Ending September 30, 2023, In A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will authorize the City Administrator to: (1) increase existing grant agreements with four non-profit entities (Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Destiny Arts Center, and TRYBE, Inc.) by $450,000 for a total amount of $1,050,000 to host or fiscally sponsor Summer 2023 Town Nights events at seven sites in Oakland; and (2) award new grant agreements to two non-profit entities (Family Bridges, Inc. and East Oakland Boxing Association) to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events at two sites in Oakland.
Mar 3, 2023
Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Town Nights is a multi-generational approach to violence prevention that involves hosting community events that provide free food, activities, and jobs for local residents on Friday evenings during summer months in neighborhoods with high rates of shooting with injury. The purpose of Town Nights is to engage families in a prosocial and safe activity during high-crime hours, build community cohesion as a protective factor against future violence, and engage individuals who are involved in violence in mediation discussions that reduce future violence. It is one component of the broader public health strategy funded by Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) and implemented by community-based organizations (CBOs), and it is designed to safely engage stakeholders of all ages, including individuals who may be potential victims or perpetrators of violence.
Town Nights involves the following four interrelated program elements:
1) Outreach to community members to attend events
2) Employment opportunities for residents to work at events 3) Recreational activities and food available for free to all attendees 4) Violence interruption dialogues facilitated by violence interrupters and community engagement teams that are intended to reduce future violence through the establishment of peace agreements
Town Nights is modeled after the highly effective Summer Night Lights program that has been implemented in Los Angeles for 13 years as part of the city’s comprehensive violence prevention strategy. It also builds upon evening events that were hosted by Oakland Unite at one site in West Oakland and one site in East Oakland for six weeks during the summer from 2010 to 2018.
In November and December 2021, the DVP funded community-based organizations to field test Town Nights events at eight sites on four evenings from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. More than 1,300 Oakland residents attended the events weekly and 92 part-time jobs were created. Additionally, 1,100 turkeys were distributed prior to Thanksgiving and 1,400 families received toys for their children in advance of Christmas. The sites were selected based on their location in or on the border of police beats that experience a disproportionate number of shootings with injury each year, as well as their ability to host hundreds of attendees.
During Summer 2022, the DVP added one site and one week to the Town Nights model, funding community-based organizations to host Town Nights events at nine sites for five consecutive Friday nights. Over 12,000 people attended the events across all sites and weeks, and 182 Oakland residents were employed to staff the events.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
During Summer 2023, the DVP will continue to fund Town Nights events at nine sites in Oakland and will extend the duration of Town Nights events to six consecutive Friday nights.
Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
Table 1 provides an overview of the locations where Town Nights events will be held, the organizations that will host the events, and the organizations that will provide fiscal sponsorship, where applicable. Host organizations were selected based on their deep connection to the community surrounding each site and their ability to coordinate large events. All host organizations listed in Table 1 also hosted events during Summer 2022 with the exception of East Oakland Boxing Association, which is a newly selected organization.
Table 1. Sites and funded organizations for Summer 2023 Town Nights.
Site Council
District
Host Organization Fiscal Sponsor
Organization
Acorn Learning Center 3 Khadafy Washington
Project
Building Opportunities for
Self Sufficiency
To-Be-Determined
(Likely Rainbow
Recreation Center)
6 Destiny Arts Center N/A
Arroyo Viejo Park 6 Homies Empowerment TRYBE, Inc.
Elmhurst Park 7 East Oakland Boxing
Association
N/A
Hoover Elementary
School
3 Hoover-Foster Resident
Action Council
Building Opportunities for
Self Sufficiency
Josie De La Cruz Park 5 Communities United for
Restorative Youth Justice
N/A
Lincoln Park 2 Family Bridges, Inc. N/A
San Antonio Park 2 TRYBE, Inc. N/A
Verdese Carter Park 7 Adamika Village Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency
In Spring 2022, the DVP underwent a competitive request for qualifications (RFQ) process through which it awarded contracts to 32 non-profit and public agencies to preform violence prevention and intervention services using funding from Measure Z funds and the General Purpose Fund for a total of $19,350,000 for the period of July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023 (Resolution No. 89273 C.M.S.). Through this process, the DVP awarded contracts to Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Destiny Arts Center, and TRYBE, Inc. in the total amount of $600,000 to fully fund Summer 2023 Town Nights activities at three sites and partially fund activities at two sites. In order to fully fund the Summer 2023 Town Nights strategy, partial funding is needed for two sites and full funding is needed for an additional four sites.
Approval of the proposed resolution advances the citywide priority of holistic community safety by investing in community events as a way to reduce shootings and homicides rather than enforcement efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to increase the amount of existing grant agreements with Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Communities United Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
for Restorative Youth Justice, Destiny Arts Center, and TRYBE, Inc. to fully fund these non- profit entities to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events at seven sites. Approval of this resolution will also authorize the City Administrator to award new grant agreements to Family Bridges and East Oakland Boxing Association to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events at two sites. Table 2 provides an overview of the agencies receiving funding for Summer 2023 Town Nights events, the amounts that have already been allocated through Resolution No. 89273 C.M.S., and the amounts that are still needed to fully fund the strategy.
Table 2. Organizations funded to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events and status of funding.
Organization Number
of sites
Amount in
Resolution 89273
Additional or New
Award Amount
Total
Building Opportunities
for Self Sufficiency
3 $225,000 $225,000 $450,000
Communities United
for Restorative Youth
Justice
1 $150,000 $0 $150,000
Destiny Arts Center 1 $75,000 $75,000 $150,000
East Oakland Boxing
Association
1 $0 $150,000 $150,000
Family Bridges 1 $0 $150,000 $150,000
TRYBE, Inc. 2 $150,000 $150,000 $300,000
Total 9 $600,000 $750,000 $1,350,000
As outlined in Table 2, $750,000 is needed to fully fund contracts with six nonprofit entities to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events. This funding will be allocated from Measure Z reserve funds: Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2014 Fund (2252), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Measure Z Reserve Project (1004313), Program Code (PS37).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Town Nights host organizations were selected due to their extensive work and established relationships in the neighborhoods surrounding their respective Town Nights sites. Through their successful operation of Town Nights events during Fall 2021 and Summer 2022 or participation in the events, these organizations have been vetted by the communities in which they operate.
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and the City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and corresponding resolution. The DVP will coordinate closely with host organizations to plan and operate Summer 2023 Town Nights events. The DVP will also coordinate closely with numerous city departments to operate the events, including the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Youth Development, the Department of Public Works, the Oakland Public Library, and the Oakland Fire Department.
Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
Organizations selected to sponsor or host Summer 2023 Town Nights events are the same ones that were engaged to sponsor or host Summer 2022 Town Nights events, with the exception of Basic Ministries and Black Cultural Zone. Table 3 provides information on sites, host and fiscal organizations, attendance, and employment for Summer 2022 Town Nights events. Basic Ministry and Black Cultural Zone were not selected to host Summer 2023 Town Nights events due to low community attendance at their sites in Summer 2022 and other operational challenges. Instead, East Oakland Boxing Association will host the events at Elmhurst Park and Destiny Arts Center will host the events at a to-be-determined location in Council District 6 that is more accessible to community members than Liberation Park.
Table 3. Sites, host organizations, total attendance, and employment for Summer 2022 Town Nights events.
Site Council
District
Host Organization Fiscal Sponsor
Organization
Total
Attendance
People
hired
Acorn Learning
Center
3 Khadafy
Washington
Project
Building
Opportunities for
Self Sufficiency
940 10
Arroyo Viejo
Park
6 Homies
Empowerment
TRYBE, Inc. 1,190 30
Elmhurst Park 7 Basic Ministry N/A 792 17
Hoover
Elementary
School
3 Hoover-Foster
Resident Action
Council
Building
Opportunities for
Self Sufficiency
1,377 17
Josie De La
Cruz Park
5 Communities
United for
Restorative Youth
Justice
N/A 1,505 30
Liberation Park 6 Black Cultural
Zone
N/A 519 19
Lincoln Park 2 Family Bridges,
Inc.
N/A 1,559 20
San Antonio
Park
2 TRYBE, Inc. N/A 2,950 22
Verdese Carter
Park
7 Adamika Village Building
Opportunities for
Self Sufficiency
1,472 27
To explore the impact of Summer 2022 Town Nights events on community violence, the DVP compared the number of assaults with a firearm and homicides that took place in police beats that hosted Summer 2022 Town Nights events and all adjacent police beats during the following time frames in 2022 and comparison days in 2021:
▪ Event hours: 6:00 to 10:00pm on Fridays (4 hours)
▪ Entire Friday night: 6:00pm on Friday to 6:00am on Saturday (12 hours) ▪ Entire weekend: 6:00pm on Friday to 6:00pm on Sunday (48 hours) ▪ Entire implementation period: First night to final night (4 weeks) Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 6
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
Tables 4 and 5 present results from these analyses, which suggest that 37% fewer assaults with a firearm and homicides took place during weeks that Summer 2022 Town Nights operated compared to the same weeks during Summer 2021, when Town Nights did not operate. For comparison, assaults with a firearm were down 22-26% and homicides were down 13-19% in Oakland overall during the weeks that Summer 2022 Town Nights operated compared to 2021.
These results are not causal but suggest that Town Nights may indeed have an impact on reducing violent crime. The City of Oakland has contracted with Urban Institute to evaluate Measure Z-funded activities in Fiscal Years 22-23 and 23-24; this evaluation will include a more rigorous assessment of the impact of Town Nights.
Table 4. Number of assaults with a firearm and homicides that took place during Town Nights event hours, nights, and weekends in 2022 and during comparison days in 2021.
Time period Summer 2022
Town Nights
Comparison days
in 2021
% Change from
2021 to 2022
Event hours
(4 hours)
3 5 - 40%
Entire Friday night
(12 hours)
12 20 - 40%
Entire weekend
(48 hours)
30 52 - 42%
Table 5. Number of assaults with a firearm and homicides that took place during the entire Summer 2022 Town Nights implementation period and comparison dates in 2021 by region of Oakland.
Region of Oakland Summer 2022 Summer 2021 % Change from 2021 to 2022
West Oakland 17 27 - 37%
Central Oakland 23 29 - 21%
East Oakland 42 75 - 44%
All regions 82 131 - 37%
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Funding provided to organizations that host Summer 2023 Town Nights events will allow the organizations to hire local residents to work at the events. During Summer 2022, host organizations hired 192 residents to staff the events.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits.
Race & Equity: Summer 2023 Town Nights events are intentionally held in or on the border of police beats that experience a disproportionate number of shootings with injury and homicides each year, with the intention of reducing violence in those neighborhoods. Since Black residents constitute a majority of homicide victims and plurality of shooting victims each year, any reductions in shootings and homicides that result from Town Nights events would disproportionately benefit Black residents.
Harold Duffey, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Summer 2023 Town Nights contracts
Date: February 10, 2023 Page 7
Public Safety Committee
March 14, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Council To:
1. Amend City Council Resolution No. 89273 To Increase The Amount Of Grant Agreements To Non-Profit Entities To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Twelve-Month Term Beginning July 1, 2022, And Ending June 30, 2023, For An Additional Amount Of Four Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($450,000) For A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Million Fifty Thousand Dollars ($1,050,000);
2. Waive The City of Oakland’s Local And Small Local Business Enterprise Program (L/SLBE) Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Award A New Grant Agreement To Family Bridges, Inc. To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Six-Month Term Beginning April 1, 2023, And Ending September 30, 2023, In A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000);
3. Waive The City of Oakland’s L/SLBE Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Award A New Grant Agreement To East Oakland Boxing Association To Conduct Town Nights Violence Intervention Events For A Six-Month Term Beginning April 1, 2023, And Ending September 30, 2023, In A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000).
For question s regarding this report, please contact Guillermo Cespedes , Chief of the Department of Violence Prevention, at 510-238-2916.
Respectfully submitted,
Guillermo Cespedes
Chief
Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by: Mailee Wang
Acting Deputy Chief, Budget, Fiscal, Human
Resources, Administration, and Contracts
Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by: Jenny Linchey
Acting Deputy Chief, Policy & Planning, Fund
Development, Innovation, and Evaluation
Department of Violence Prevention
Guillermo Cespedes (Feb 27, 2023 09:57 PST)