City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: City Clerk
Meeting Date: May 12, 2025
Report #:2503-4417
TITLE
Approval of Two Professional Services Contracts, No. C25192359A with the Embarcadero Media Foundation and C25192359B with San Francisco Daily dba The Daily Post, in an Amount Not to Exceed $425,000 in Total for Legal Advertising Services for a Period of 5 Years; CEQA Status - Not a Project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Contract No. C25192359A with the Embarcadero Media Foundation (Attachment A) and C25192359B with San Francisco Daily dba The Daily Post (Attachment B) to provide legal advertising services for a term of 5 years and a total amount not-to-exceed $425,000.
BACKGROUND
The City currently contracts with the Embarcadero Media Foundation and San Francisco Daily dba The Daily Post (”the Daily Post”) for a variety of advertising services, including:
•Legally required notices
•Advertising for Boards, Commissions, and Committees recruitments •Notice of City-sponsored community events such as the City Council Reorganization and State of the City
State law and the Palo Alto Municipal Code require the City Clerk to publish certain notices in newspapers of general circulation. These include notices of legislative body meeting agendas, local elections, annual budget and municipal fee schedule adoption, public hearings, recently adopted ordinances. Staff advertises online and/or in the paper edition of both publications. Per Santa Clara County Superior Court 1, the Daily Post and Palo Alto Weekly are newspapers of general circulation serving Palo Alto.
1 Listing of Newspapers of General Circulation https://santaclara.courts.ca.gov/system/files/forms/pb-4000.pdf
The Embarcadero Media Foundation publishes a hard copy of the Palo Alto Weekly newspaper once a week and posts online to Palo Alto Online. The Daily Post publishes a hard copy newspaper five days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, weekend) and posts online.
ANALYSIS
Solicitation Process
The City posted a request for proposals (RFP) on OpenGov, the City’s eProcurement platform, and 3,276 vendors were notified. The solicitation was posted for 35 days, and two proposals were received. The solicitation was closed on January 21, 2025.
Table 1: Summary of Request for Proposal
Proposal Description Legal Advertising RFP192359
Proposed Length of Project 5 years
Number of Vendors Notified 3,276
Number of Proposal Packages Downloaded 17
Total Days to Respond to Proposal 35 days
Pre-Proposal Meeting No
Pre-Proposal Meeting Date N/A
Number of Proposals Received 2
Proposal Price Range $149,625 - $247,380
Public Link to Solicitation https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/palo- alto-ca/projects/135188
Following a competitive evaluation of the proposals, staff selected both the Embarcadero Media Foundation and the Daily Post. They were selected because of the quality of their services and performance record of previous work with the City. Contracting with both vendors enables staff to reach a larger audience than contracting with a single vendor. Staff uses discretion on which notices are published in one or both locations. The total not-to-exceed amount of $425,000 will be split between the two vendors. Staff will ensure that the combined compensation will not exceed $85,000 per year.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for the contract is included in the Office of the City Clerk’s Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Budget.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The RFP was posted on the OpenGov eProcurement platform.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by CEQA because approval of legal advertising contracts services is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Embarcadero Media Foundation, Contract C25192359A Attachment B: San Francisco Daily dba The Daily Post, Contract C25192359B APPROVED BY:
Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk