DATE: SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
FROM: DAVID JACOBS, DIRECTOR
BY: HEIDI NIGGEMEYER, NPDES PROGRAM MANAGER
TITLE: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SALINAS AND CPRA STRATEGIES, INC. FOR PHASE III OF THE STREET SWEEPING “NO PARKING” SIGNAGE COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM RECOMMENDED MOTION:
A motion approving a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with CPRA Strategies, Inc. for Phase III of the Community Outreach and Engagement Campaign in an amount not to exceed $150,000.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In January 2023, the City Council approved a one-year contract between the City and CPRA Strategies, Inc. to develop a robust community outreach and education program to educate and support the implementation of a “No Parking” street sweeping signage program citywide. The original contract timeline included CPRA’s onboarding, development and planning, implementation and execution of the campaign, and wrap-up activities to include a Final Report to the City. Due to unanticipated delays in the development and approval of the new street sweeping routes to accompany the “No Parking” street sweeping signage, the City requested CPRA to develop an updated outreach and engagement strategy containing three campaign phases. The three phases of the outreach and engagement campaign are summarized in the chart below.
Outreach and Education Campaign Phases
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
2023 - Complete
2024 – In Progress
2025 – Upcoming
Convene, Collaborate, and Capacity Building for Citywide Education and Engagement Educate and Motivate through Citywide Education and Engagement Campaign Deploy and Activate Targeted Outreach and Engagement in Pilot Program Neighborhoods BACKGROUND:
The City of Salinas street sweeping program is an essential ground control strategy to recover pollutants from roads and rights-of-way before they can enter the storm drain system. Salinas has almost 600 road miles that require sweeping. In order to increase the effectiveness of the City’s street sweeping program, the City’s current NPDES permit requires the City implement a “No Parking” street sweeping signage program throughout the City on all high and medium priority streets. A “No Parking” mandate is the most important action taken to dramatically increase the street-dirt removal performance of sweepers. The City recognizes that a significant increase in the amount of debris removed from the streets by sweeping will translate to much greater removal of pollutants that would otherwise be transported by urban runoff to our local creeks and rivers.
Per the City/s NPDES permit, the City has already categorized the City’s streets as high, medium, and low priority according to historical debris accumulation rates, street pavement condition indices (PCIs), frequency of sweeping, type of sweeper used, and sweeper access to the curb. To achieve the greatest pollutant load reduction with the limited resources available, the City intends to restrict parking in the high priority streets first.
In 2022, the City determined that in order to facilitate better implementation of the “No Parking” street sweeping signage program, the City needed to perform community education, outreach, and engagement to ensure the community is informed of the upcoming implementation of this program and the benefits to water quality this program provides. A request for proposals (RFP) for interested firms was advertised on August 12, 2022, on “PlanetBids” website for the community outreach and education program. One submittal was received from CPRA Strategies, Inc (then called California Public relations & Advocacy LLC).
On January 10, 2023, City Council approved a one-year contract with CPRA Strategies, Inc, through Resolution 22554, to implement a community education and outreach program addressing “No Parking” street sweeping signage (Phase 1). On January 9, 2024, City Council approved another one-year contract with CPRA Strategies, Inc through Resolution 22872, to implement Phase 2 of the community outreach and education program.
The goals of the community outreach and engagement program include the following:
Coordination with City staff and community organizations on a public engagement program Creating a bilingual community engagement strategy
Developing bilingual materials to post outreach information on radio, website, and social media regarding the water quality benefits of have the “No Parking” street sweeping signage program Developing bilingual workshops/community meetings held in each of the City Council Districts to inform the community of the proposed program and its benefits to water quality Creating a summary report of the engagement process and stakeholders reached Developing a set of recommendations and action items for inclusion in the “roll out” of the street sweeping signage program Community Outreach and Engagement Results to Date:
Below is a summary of the activities performed by the Consultant (as of July 31, 2024). A summary description of each activity is provided on the following pages.
Direct Community Outreach and Engagement
879 direct touchpoints with community members
237 community members signed up for text message and email alerts from the City Digital Media Strategies
Social Media
302,898 total impressions across the City’s social media channels (impression means that the social media post was shown to a social media user)
3.40% engagement rate (industry benchmark is 1.07% to 2.0%) Collected and catalogued comments to social media posts and prepared messaging in response to common questions Include a call-to-action, directing community members to visit the CleanWaterSalinas.com website and to sign up for alerts via the City’s newsletter CleanWaterSalinas.com Website
1,341 total website users
99% of total website users are new
3,600 total page views (includes multiple page visits by same user) 1,300 pages sessions (when a user lands on the page for the first time) 1,100 page scrolls (meaning a user scrolled past 50% of the page) 3 minutes is the average time website users spend on cleanwatersalinas.com. The industry benchmark is 52 seconds.
Earned Media Strategies
25 direct pitches to local media
KSBW feature highlighting the June 2023 campaign kickoff event KION feature highlighting the June 2023 campaign kickoff event 2 Univision features of Clean Water Salinas at Ciclovia Digital and Print Collateral
30 and 60 second public service announcement on street sweeping 50+ social media posts designed and published (graphics, photos, videos) 7 blog posts (5 pending) on the topic of street sweeping and environmentally friendly practices (blog series called Waterway Wednesday posted on CleanWaterSalinas.com) Digital and physical sign-up forms to collect contact information for City alerts Informational flyers and door hangers
Digital photos and videos at outreach events and B-roll footage for social media Outreach and education campaign strategy
Key program messaging document
Monthly reports
Annual recap report (for Phase I, Phase II due in December 2024) Summary Description of Outreach and Engagement Activities:
DIRECT PUBLIC OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT
Outreach and Engagement Campaign Kickoff Event at Closter Park (D-2) CPRA kicked off the campaign to the public with a community event at Closter Park. The team handed out Paletas (popsicles) while educating the public on the importance of street sweeping to the community's waterways.
Outreach Outcomes:
More than 100 community members visited the Clean Water Salinas booth to learn more about the street sweeping program.
Twelve new contacts, including neighborhood leaders and community influencers, were established for future City outreach.
Local news stations KSBW and KION previewed and promoted the event.
Bilingual social media campaign promoting the event.
Bilingual informative flyers were distributed at the event.
Bilingual staff from the consultant team was on hand to speak to community members.
Community Park Clean Up at La Paz Park and Alisal Neighborhood City staff and CPRA conducted a community clean up at La Paz Park and the Alisal community. We invited high school students to participate. Clean Water Salinas set up a booth at La Paz Park and educated high school students and their families on the importance of street sweeping. The event was held in partnership with AMOR Salinas.
Outreach Outcomes:
More than 40 high school-aged volunteers attended the clean event.
The team had over 100 touchpoints with community members who attended the clean-up and AMOR Salinas book release right after the clean-up event.
Monterey County Weekly newspaper covered the event.
City Staff and Consultant Pamphlets were handed out to attendees with information on the City's Street Sweeping Program in Spanish and English.
CICLOVIA Community Event
Clean Water Salinas teamed up with AMOR Salinas and had two booths at Ciclovia where the public could learn about the street sweeping program, City volunteer opportunities, and the launch of AMOR Salinas children's book.
Outreach Outcomes:
Approximately 500 people visited the Clean Water Salinas booth and street sweeper coloring activity table.
The team collected contact information from 115 people.
The team walked the entire Ciclovia circuit, speaking to each vendor about the street sweeping program and exchanging contact information with the relevant point of contact.
A preview story promoting our participation at Ciclovia ran on Univision on Friday, October 13, 2023.
Clean Water Salinas was mentioned in Univision's coverage of the event.
Overall, the tone from the community of the importance of street sweeping for the environment was positive. Overall, the tone from the community regarding the upcoming "No Parking" enforcement was neutral to positive. 150th Anniversary Celebration Event Tabling
The City held two events, one at the Salinas Welcome Center at 1 Station Place and the other at the CSUMB Salinas City Center. City staff and the CPRA team staffed a table at the City Center. Throughout the event, CPRA navigated between both locations and the farmer’s market, which took place around the same time, to educate the community about the City’s street sweeping program and to gather their contact information.
Outreach Outcomes:
City staff and CPRA provided information on the street sweeping and CWS Program to approximately 100 constituents, elected officials, and visitors.
A total of 25 sign-ups were collected, including emails and phone numbers.
City staff briefed Monterey County Board Supervisor Luis Alejo on the City’s CWS and street sweeping program. Supervisor Alejo responded positively to the program, upcoming changes to the routes, and the addition of “No Parking” signs.
The trivia activity was a fun and different way to test people's knowledge of best practices that contribute to cleaner waterways.
Door-to-Door Knocking in City Council District 2 and Closter Park Outreach City staff and CPRA participated door-to-door outreach in City Council District 2. We also connected with community members at Closter Park. Messaging was focused on the many projects the city is working on to further beautify Salinas and a push to get members of the community and stakeholders to sign up for update via a newsletter outreach list.
Outreach Outcomes:
79 doors knocked
45 newsletter sign-ups
70 conversations with community members
Community-Based Organizations and Key Stakeholders Outreach Consultant directly engaged and presented to the following community based organizations and elected official offices.
Those organizations include:
Building Health Communities
Center for Community Action
Centro Binacional
Ecology Action
La Cooperativa de Campesina
MILPA Collective
Mujeres en Acción
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas' staff
State Senator Anna Caballero's staff
State Senator John Laird and staff
Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo
DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Bilingual Social Media
The team implemented a bilingual digital media strategy to support our education and outreach efforts to connect with the community online. Over the year and a half, the team created and posted over 50 social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The street sweeping and clean water specific social media posts generated 302,898 impressions across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. An impression is the number of times a piece of content was displayed to the target audience. The average user engagement rate with this content is 3.40%. The industry benchmark for government social media change engagement is between 1.07% - 2.0%.
Website (CleanWaterSalinas.com)
The team included a call-to-action in the social media posts that directed users to visit the cleanwatersalinas.com website and to view their street sweeping schedule.
Metrics from the cleanwatersalinas.com website indicate an increase in visitors since the start of the campaign. The below metrics are from Google Analytics and represent January 1 – June 30, 2024:
1,341 total website users (cleanwatersalinas.com)
99% of the total website users are new users
3,600 total page views (includes multiple page visits by same user) 1,300 page sessions (when a user lands on the page for the first time) 1,100 page scrolls (when a user scrolls down past 50% of the webpage)
EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY
In addition to the community outreach and organic and digital media strategies, the Consultant employed an earned media strategy to build awareness of the street sweeping program. Below is a summary of the earned media activities conducted (as of July 31, 2024).
Earned Media Pitches and Results
Average of 25 direct pitches per press release
KSBW feature highlighting campaign kickoff event
KION feature highlighting campaign kickoff event
Two Univision features of Clean Water Salinas at the Ciclovia event PHASE III OVERVIEW:
Phase III of the Community Education and Outreach program addressing “No Parking” street sweeping signage will include the following:
Targeted Community Outreach and Engagement. In Phase III, Consultant will coordinate with City staff, community-based organizations and elected officials to conduct targeted community outreach and engagement in the City Council Districts where the “No Parking” program will be implemented first. Consultant will also continue partner with City staff and CBOs to conduct door-to-door visits at homes and businesses located in medium and high-priority neighborhoods. Consultant will partner with City Councilmembers to host town halls in each district as the signage program rolls out. Consultant will develop, in coordination with City staff, a model community engagement strategy to be incorporated in other City engagement efforts.
Paid Radio, Social Media, and Sign Advertising. In Phase III, Consultant will manage a paid advertising strategy to educate and communicate developments of the street-sweeping signage program. Paid strategies include radio and social media advertisements, and Monterey-Salinas Transit bus sign advertisement opportunities.
Translation into Multiple Languages. In Phase III, City staff and Consultant will translate educational material into multiple languages, including but not limited to Spanish, Triqui, Mixtec, Zapotec, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, and more, as identified by the City.
Earned Media Efforts. Consultant will continue to develop media relationships and pitch local and regional media outlets to secure coverage of the City’s street sweeping signage program to build awareness and communicate important information to the public.
Ongoing Education via the City’s Social Media Channels and Website. Consultant will continue to develop inclusive and educational content for the City’s digital media channels.
Reporting and Analytics. Consultant will continue to track and report data associated with the outreach and educational efforts and provide regular reports as requested by City staff.
Final Report with Recommendations. Consultant will provide a final report, with recommendations for the City’s consideration. Topics include a debrief of the “No Parking” street sweeping campaign, and considerations for future engagement.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
Not a Project. The City of Salinas has determined that the proposed action is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378). In addition, CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 includes the general rule that CEQA applies only to activities which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. Because the proposed action and this matter have no potential to cause any effect on the environment, or because it falls within a category of activities excluded as projects pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378, this matter is not a project. Because the matter does not cause a direct or foreseeable indirect physical change on or in the environment, this matter is not a project. Any subsequent discretionary projects resulting from this action will be assessed for CEQA applicability.
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
The proposed project and agreement meet the City Council’s Strategic Plan Initiatives of Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability (improving the appearance of local streets) and Public Safety (engaging neighborhoods and enhancing the abandoned vehicle abatement program).
DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION:
This project relies on coordination between the Public Works Dept (NPDES Division) and the Community Development Dept to coordinate outreach at public meetings and community events and utilize successful outreach techniques and contacts developed by the Community Development outreach team.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
Funding is available and appropriated in the ARPA project – Stormwater Green Infrastructure (Fund 3911.50.8192).
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
Professional Services Agreement – Street Sweeping Outreach_CPRA Strategies Inc_Phase 3 Page | 3
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