City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: DECEMBER 19, 2023 FROM: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER WARD: ALL
SUBJECT: ACCEPTANCE OF A $500,000 BUDGET APPROPRIATION FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO FUND HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED BY THE CIVIL RIGHTS INSTITUTE OF INLAND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION ISSUE:
Acceptance a $500,000 budgetary appropriation from the State of California to fund historic preservation projects that will be implemented by the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Accept $500,000 from the State of California 2023-24 State Budget appropriation to support historic preservation projects to be implemented by the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California; Approve the Subrecipient Agreement with the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Inc., in the amount of $500,000 to complete several historic preservation projects; Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute a Subrecipient Agreement with Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Inc., including making minor and non-substantive changes and the contract extensions; and By at least five affirmative votes, and upon award, authorize the Chief Financial Officer or designee, to record an increase in revenues in the amount of $500,000 and appropriate expenditures in the same amount in the Grants & Restricted Programs Fund, Civil Rights Historic Preservation Project revenue and expenditure accounts.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
The State of California (“State”) in its Budget Act of 2023, as amended by Assembly Bill 102, appropriated Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) to the City in the role of administrator and funding agent for several historic preservation projects to be completed by the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California. The State budget appropriation line item reads as follows:
BACKGROUND:
The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California is the voice of civil rights for Inland Southern California. The Institute: Provides public programming and children’s programs focusing on civil rights and the region’s civil rights history; hosts program exhibits and performances that support civil rights activities; is working to create a digital archive of regional civil rights materials; conducts oral history projects and support the production of civil rights audio and video productions through the media center; and recognizes the region’s civil rights leaders and their impacts. The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California is housed in the Mission Heritage Housing Development in Downtown Riverside.
DISCUSSION:
With the passage of the State budget, the State Department of Housing and Community Development contacted the City Manager’s Office with a request to enact the budget appropriation for the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California. Because the City is acting as funding administrator, it is changed with the monitoring of Project outcomes and potential audit and other requests. The City has drafted the attached Subrecpient Agreement with the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California (Exhibit 1) which governs completion of the aforementioned historic preservation projects.
For use of the State earmark, the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California proposes projects as delineated below.
Martin Luther King Jr., Statue Renovations – Riverside Main Street Mall:
Preservation and enhancement of the original statue with updated seating consisting of new preformed concrete benches set in a circular pattern around the statue. Installation of decorative podiums. New Landscaping. Updated electrical and wiring directly around the Statue.
Riverside African American Historical Society - Digital Archive Library:
Content development and a digital archive management system for a publicly available digital archive of the Inland Region’s civil rights history. The project will build a web interface for scholars, community organizations, students and the public. The project will make existing items from the Civil Rights Institute digitally available to the public. Project will be broken down into Content Development: Outreach to receive and capture regional civil rights related materials, a Digital Archive Management System, Cataloging and retrieval software, digital archive storage and server storage; content capturing for online accessibility, retrieval programming, and rights and permissions management. This project also includes staffing specific to Digital Archive and Content Development.
The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California is working with the African American Historical Society on several elements of the above projects. Because of the complexities of the uses of public funds and tertiary liability issues, the City has offered to advise on issues of prevailing wage and clarify liability related to renovations of the Martin Luther King Jr., statue on the Main Street Mall. The Subrecipient Agreement includes additional language related to the above topics.
Unique Aspects of the Agreement:
Prevailing Wage - Improvements to the Martin Luther King, Jr., statue on the Main Street Mall, adjacent to City Hall, have been ongoing and are expected to be completed in January of 2024. The renovation project is expected to bring a much improved plaza design to the statue and increase the tree canopy on the Main Street Mall. It is likely that the site improvements may be subject to State prevailing wage requirements. Staff is working with the project partners to ascertain the status of this issue, and has offered to work with the Grantees to ensure compliance with State law. If prevailing wages are required, a mandated 20% project contingency (standard in City Agreements) funded by the State earmark, would potentially pay for back wages. If the prevailing wage issue exceeded the 20% mandated project contingency, the City would make up any difference. The City will not pay any fines that may be imposed, which would be paid by the Grantees.
Funding Advance – The City often deals with public partners who do not have sufficient funds on-hand to start projects. The Agreement allows the Civil Rights Institute to activate an advance on funds, up to $200,000, to begin project activities, with the requirement that all advanced funds be justified within 90 days of payout with complete expenditure information. Advance funds will not pay any costs for the MLK Statue renovations until issues related to prevailing wage are resolved.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
Funding for the Civil Rights Institute project aligns with the Community Well-Being Strategic Priority and contributes to the achievement of the following Goal:
Goal 2.3. Strengthen neighborhood identities and improve community health and the physical environment through amenities and programs that foster an increased sense of community and enhanced feelings of pride and belonging citywide.
The Civil Rights Institute Project also aligns with each of the Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The City of Riverside has identified the need for equity as a priority need in the community. The Civil Rights Institute projects gathers information from specific focus groups and interviews with various civic leaders, organizations, service providers, as well as residents of the city.
Equity –The Civil Rights Institute Project ensures that all eligible persons receive equitable access to service and are served with dignity, respect, and compassion regardless of the circumstances, ability, or identity.
Fiscal Responsibility – There is no fiscal impact to the City General Fund associated with this item. This item allows the City to utilize a State budget appropriation to fund innovative projects that benefit City residents.
Innovation – This item will allow the City to capitalize on new and changing funding sources in partnership with federal and state programs to meet ongoing and changing needs of members of the community.
Sustainability & Resiliency –The Civil Rights Institute Project promotes a sustainable community and economic development and projects to encourage community engagement and resiliency.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of this action is $500,000, with no City match required. Upon Council approval and award, an increase in revenue and an appropriation in the amount of the grant award will be recorded in the funds and accounts as listed in the table below.
Fund
Program
Account
Amount
Revenue
Grants & Restricted Programs
Civil Rights Historic Preservation Projects
9350300-334100
$500,000
Expenditures
Grants & Restricted Programs
Civil Rights Historic Preservation Projects
9350300-440210
$500,000
Prepared by: Jeff McLaughlin, Grants Administrator
Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director / Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Subrecipient Agreement
Civil Rights Institute ● Page 4