Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
RECOMMENDATION
AGENDA REPORT
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Waiving The City Of Oakland’s Advertising And Solicitation Of Proposals/Qualifications Requirements;
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Three-Year Professional Services Agreement, From July 1, 2023 To June 30, 2026, With Youth Employment Partnership To Implement The Team Oakland Program In A Contract Amount Not to Exceed One Million One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($1,125,000), With An Option To Extend The Contract For Two Additional Years For An A
dditional Amount Not To Exceed Three Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars (
$375,000) Per Year; And
3. Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Team Oakland program provides job, life skills, and environmental training for Oakland youth between the ages of 15 and 24. Participants gain practical experience through community cleanups, park maintenance, and habitat restoration projects. The City of Oakland (City) has supported this program since 1993, with Youth Employment Partnership (YEP) being a steady and longtime partner in this effort.
Based on YEP’s demonstrated satisfactory performance and the importance of continuing this program, Oakland Public Works (OPW) recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing a three -year agreement not to exceed $1,125,000 from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026 with YEP to provide program continuity and summer jobs and training opportunities for Oakland youth. The resolution also includes an option to extend the contract for two additional years through June 30, 2028, for an additional amount not to exceed $375,000 per year.
TO: Steven Falk, FROM: G. Harold Duffey
Interim City Administrator Director, Oakland Public
Works
SUBJECT: Team Oakland Youth Employment
Agreement
DATE: April 24, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
May 11, 2023
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Team Oakland Youth Employment Agreement
Date: April 24, 2023 Page 2
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
Since 1993, Team Oakland has provided skill development, job readiness training, and summer employment for youth through an environmental learning program focused on cleaning and greening Oakland. Team Oakland participants work to abate litter, illegal dumping, weeds, and graffiti from the public rights-of-way. Participants provide support for special events and volunteer groups to improve the quality of parks, creeks, natural areas, and open spaces. In addition, the participants co nduct outreach to educate merchants about affordable services to properly dispose of waste, illegal dumping reporting, and how to obtain City support for volunteer cleanups.
YEP has been a longtime partner of the Team Oakland program. The latest Team Oakland agreement was authorized by R esolution No. 87653 C.M.S. (https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7290684&GUID=DDC64A56-0C2B-409D- 8D80-2D912C365C45) in 2019. That agreement was extended for an additional three years in 2020 by Resolution No. 88082 C.M.S.
(https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8235946&GUID=082E914F-8E57-424C- BE2F-20928C77D687).
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Team Oakland aims to spark the development and provide support to Oakland teens through high school and college. Program participants attain core competency in practical subjects and achieve the following objectives:
1. Increased local environmental awareness
2. Increased understanding of environmental stewardship
3. Training in effecting changes via local government
4. Develop behavior change outreach campaigns
5. Conduct public outreach for City initiatives
6. Build financial literacy
7. Build job readiness and employment skills
8. Increase job opportunities for youth of color and low-income neighborhoods
9. Contribute to City initiatives and work projects
10. Complete one or more tangible, long-lasting community projects This program is intended to be transformative for the participants. While their work should measurably contribute to a cleaner and greener Oakland, more importantly, program participation is expected to better prepare these youth for future employment and civic participation.
Youth in the program work and learn in teams, typically comprised of ten team members aged 15-18 and one team leader aged 18-24. Team members earn minimum wage and team leaders earn above minimum wage. Participants will work a schedule of 20 hours per week in five half- day shifts, with a cap of 100 hours during their employment.
An example of the weekly program schedule is given in Table 1 below.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Team Oakland Youth Employment Agreement
Date: April 24, 2023 Page 3
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
Table 1: Sample Weekly Schedule
Weekday Activity Description
Monday Exploring College,
Career and
Community Options
(ECCCO)/Outreach
and Cleanup
Learning day with Oakland Unified School District
(OUSD) ECCO host. For those not participating with
ECCO, they will conduct additional outreach and
cleanup.
Tuesday Special Project Team projects with OPW Parks and Tree Services, Oakland Fire Department (OFD), and community
partners such as Friends of Sausal Creek, Planting
Justice, and Adopt-a-Spot volunteers. Examples include
fire fuel reduction, park maintenance, tree care, creek restoration, and urban agriculture, etc. Team leaders will be responsible for ensuring that each day starts with an opening and closing circle for orientation and debrief, documented with a few highlight photos, a short video
explaining the day, and measurement of work performed.
Wednesday Outreach,
Documentation,
Reporting, and
Litter Removal
Teams will target neighborhoods with illegal dumping
hotspots for outreach regarding the Bulky Pickup service and the Adopt-a-Spot program. As teams move through
the community, they will clean up litter, report dumping and other public works-related issues, and complete
documentation described for the special project days.
Thursday Educational
Workshop
Classroom or field-based training in life, professional, and environmental subjects.
Friday Educational Field
Trip
Field trips to contextualize the experience.
Field time will be geared towards special projects and outreach. Litter removal is intended to provide cleanup assistance to the City while informing participants first-hand about the problem and what it takes to clean the city. Litter removal will be done in conjunction with neighborhood canvassing and outreach, accomplishing both goals in tandem, and strengthening the impact and optics of each. Team members will promote, among other things, the City’s Bulky Pickup service near illegal dumping hotspots and the Adopt-a-Spot program to residents and businesses in underserved communities.
Training will develop life, employment, and environmental knowledge and skills. Participants will learn about the scope of the problems with dumping and littering and how this impacts the environment, as well as other OPW operational issues such as management and stewardship of watersheds, parks and trees, fire fuels, etc. Participants will learn outreach and community engagement skills and be changemakers in their community, and in local government.
Awarding this agreement supports the City’s goals of building vibrant, sustainable infrastructure and maintaining a responsive, trustworthy government. Team Oakland benefits cleaner neighborhoods and parks. On an individual level, Team Oakland experiences and training help to shape and develop work practices, community participation, and Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Team Oakland Youth Employment Agreement
Date: April 24, 2023 Page 4
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
environmental stewardship. In addition, employing local low-income youth is an investment in Oakland’s future and can build trust in government.
The current Team Oakland contract will expire on June 30, 2023, and a new contract is required to continue this program. In accordance with Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) Sections
2.04.040.B.4 and 2.04.051.A.1, staff prepared documents for a formal advertising and competitive Request for Qualifications/Proposals (RFQ/RFP) selection process in December 2022. Unfortunately, significant staffing shortages in OPW’s Capital Contract Services Division and the resultant lack of process support have rendered completing the advertising and competitive bidding process prior to expiration of the current agreement unattainable.
YEP is a non-profit organization which specializes in providing paid, comprehensive training and employment opportunities to youth. Trainees receive practical work experience on community revitalization projects, and classroom training in pre-employment issues, environmental topics, and leadership.
YEP has satisfactorily managed the Team Oakland program since 1993, and staff has completed and filed Schedule L, Consultant Performance Evaluation Form (see Attachment A).
Notably, through the years, YEP has shown ingenuity and adaptability in accommodating new program needs, despite challenges posed by budget constraints and a global pandemic.
Nevertheless, measurements used to gauge and ensure satisfactory performance will continue with a new agreement. They include:
1. An annual report by the contractor describing work performed, challenges encountered, adaptations, and recommendations;
2. Participant assessment of the program, including pre- and post-program knowledge, attitude, and behavior surveys;
3. OPW assessment of contract deliverables and program impact; and
4. A third-party evaluation of the various program components including contractor, participants, and OPW contract management.
For the foregoing reasons, staff requests that City Council waive the formal advertising and RFQ/RFP requirements, based on OMC Section 2.04.051.B that authorizes Council to waive these requirements if it finds that it is the City’s best interests to do so, and award a new agreement to YEP.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize an agreement for the Team Oakland program in an amount not to exceed $1,125,000 for the three-year period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026, with an option to extend the agreement for two additional years for an additional amount not to exceed $375,000 per year. This agreement will be funded by the Recycling Program Fund (1710); Environmental Remediation Organization (30683); Services: Miscellaneous Contract Account (54919); and Youth We Mean Clean Program Project (1001685) and DP300 Administrative Project (1000010). There is no impact on the General Purpose Fund.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Team Oakland Youth Employment Agreement
Date: April 24, 2023 Page 5
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Cleaner commercial districts as a result of Team Oakland activities will attract more visitors and retain businesses, thereby boosting local economy and increasing sales tax revenue. This contract will also help employ youth, giving them work experience and opportunities to participate in Oakland’s economy.
Environmental: Team Oakland will contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment through litter removal, beautification, and outreach efforts to reduce pollution and waste.
Race & Equity: Team Oakland provides valuable job training and employment development primarily for Oakland youth of color, mostly from low-income neighborhoods. The program also cleans and greens some of the most blighted areas of Oakland with high percentages of Black and Latinx residents. These services help to reduce racial disparities identified by the “Employment – Disconnected Youth” and “Environmental Health – Abandoned Trash” indicators in the City of Oakland Equity Indicators 2018 Report.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FINDINGS
The project and the action being undertaken to implement it are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under the following CEQA Guidelines Sections: Section 15162 and 15163 (no further environmental review required); Section 15060(c)(2) (no direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment); Section 15061(b)(3) (no significant effect on the environment); Section 15183 (projects consistent with a community plan, general plan, or zoning), Section 15301 (existing facilities), Section 15302 (replacement or reconstruction), Section 15304 (minor alterations to land), and Section 15309 (inspections), each of which provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA clearance and when viewed collectively provide an overall basis for CEQA clearance.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Team Oakland Youth Employment Agreement
Date: April 24, 2023 Page 6
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Waiving The City Of Oakland’s Advertising And Solicitation Of Proposals/Qualifications Requirements;
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Three-Year Professional Services Agreement, From July 1, 2023 To June 30, 2026, With Youth Employment Partnership To Implement The Team Oakland Program In A Contract Amount Not to Exceed One Million One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($1,125,000), With An Option To Extend The Contract For Two Additional Years For An Additional Amount Not To Exceed Three Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($375,000) Per Year; And
3. Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Ana Martinez, Stewardship Program Supervisor, at 238-6259.
Respectfully submitted,
G. HAROLD DUFFEY
Director, Oakland Public Works
Reviewed by:
Kristin Hathaway, Assistant Director
Bureau of Environment
Derek Lee, Manager
Environmental Services Division
Mark Arniola, Environmental Program
Supervisor
Environmental Services Division
Ana Martinez, Stewardship Program Supervisor
Environmental Services Division
Prepared by:
Heidi Giancola, Program Analyst II
Environmental Services Division
Attachment (1):
Attachment A: Schedule L, Consultant Performance Evaluation Form