R RAFTELIS
August 6, 2025
Tanya Romo, Deputy City Manager
City of San Bernardino
290 North D Street
San Bernardino, CA 92401
Subject: Proposal for Strategic Planning, Goal Setting, and Team Building Facilitation Services Dear Ms. Romo:
We are excited to submit our qualifications to assist the City of San Bernardino (City) with strategic planning, goal setting, and team building services. Our focus has always been on helping local government and utility clients solve their organizational, financial, and technology challenges and we look forward to the opportunity to assist the City with important planning efforts that identify and address your unique challenges and opportunities.
We understand that you are seeking assistance to plan for and facilitate an engaging and collaborative process that aligns City leadership - elected and appointed - around shared goals and effective working relationships. Dedicating time to a process that fosters positive working relationships and develops consensus around the City's direction and how you will get there is important for a healthy and successful organization. We believe Raftelis offers some distinct advantages to support this important work:
• Our proven methods of engagement and facilitation will lead to a sustainable plan that provides you with a shared vision, mission, measurable goals, and an action plan to achieve results. • We are passionate about public sector strategic planning, which drives us to use innovation and creativity throughout the project; as former local government leaders, we understand your context and constraints. • Our facilitators are skilled and in tune with stakeholder groups; we respect and encourage all perspectives. • Our deliverables are useful and engaging, and unique and creative graphics are used to keep documents concise with a focus on internal and external communication.
We have had significant success working with elected officials, department leadership teams, and staff to identify priorities for an organization that reflect community interests and achieve consensus. We are confident our approach will provide the City insight into its next fiscal year budget process and beyond. We look forward to the opportunity to serve the City of San Bernardino. Please contact me with any questions. I will serve as Project Manager and am authorized to represent the firm.
About Raftelis
Since our founding in 1993, local government and utility leaders have partnered with Raftelis to transform R their organizations by enhancing performance, planning for the future, identifying top talent, improving their financial condition, and telling their story. We've helped more than 700 organizations in the last year 611 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 900 PMB1009
Los Angeles, CA 90017
www.raftelis.com
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alone. We provide trusted advice, and our experts include former municipal and utility leaders with decades of hands-on experience running successful organizations. People who lead local governments and utilities are innovators-constantly seeking ways to provide better service to the communities that rely on them. Our team serves as a partner with you to meet your objectives.
Understanding the San Bernardino Context
The City of San Bernardino is the county seat for San Bernardino County and is a major urban center in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, with a population of over 220,000 according to the 2020 census. It is the 18t most populous city in California and anchors the nation's 12'h largest metropolitan area. San Bernardino is a key hub for the Inland Empire, recognized for its strategic location as a major transportation link, as well as its proximity to the San Bernardino Mountains and National Forest.
The City's is governed by a Mayor and seven-member City Council, with day-to-day operations overseen by a City Manager. The Mayor is elected at-large, while the seven members of Council are elected by ward: all serving four- year terms. City departments include Animal Services, City Attorney's Office, City Clerk, Community Development and Housing, Economic Development, Finance and Management Services, Fire, Human Resources and Risk Management, Information Technology, Parks and Recreation, Police, Public Library, Public Works, and Water.
The City's previous five-year strategic plan, adopted in 2020, focused on four key areas: Financial Stability, Focused, Aligned Leadership and Unified Community, Improve Quality of Life, and Economic Growth and Development. The plan addressed challenges and opportunities by setting goals, such as securing a long-term revenue source, implementing fiscal accountability, developing a community engagement plan, reducing homelessness, and updating the General Plan and Development Code.
San Bernardino is now prepared to update its strategic plan by engaging the City County and key staff to identify or reaffirm shared goals. Dedicating time to a process that fosters positive working relationships and consensus on the City's direction is essential for organizational success.
Approach
Strategic planning and effective teamwork are key ingredients to a thriving organization. The scope of work outlined below is designed to ensure an engaging and productive process that results in clear goals to guide the work of the City over the next five years, top priorities for the next year, and strengthened teamwork among the governing board and key city staff.
The following describes the key activities for this engagement.
ACTIVITY 1: BEGIN ENGAGEMENT
We will begin by meeting virtually with you and your project team to discuss our process and schedule. During this meeting we will hear your objectives for the engagement, background regarding strategic planning in the City, your understanding of expectations from the City Council, and other insights that will inform our work. We will also discuss the responsibilities of our team and those of City staff during this project.
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Following this meeting, we will meet with you and your department head team. The purpose of this meeting will be to review the project process and to elicit insights into what your executives hope will be accomplished through the strategic planning process.
Meetings (virtual) Deliverables
• Kick off meeting • Agenda with project schedule
• Executive Team meeting
ACTIVITY 2: GATHER INFORMATION
We will gather information in several ways, including:
• Background Materials. Review various documents including recent progress reports) on the current Strategic Plan, the adopted budget and capital improvement plan, and other reports that will provide perspective about current priorities.
Interviews. Conduct interviews with the Mayor and members of the City Council to learn about their expectations for the strategic plan, insights into the City's strengths, limitations, opportunities, challenges, top priorities, vision for the future, and hopes for the workshop. We will also ask what is working well and what can be improved in how the governing body works together and with the appointed staff.
Questionnaire. Design and administer a questionnaire to be completed by department heads. The questionnaire will include questions such as:
• Strengths, weaknesses (limitations), opportunities, and threats. • Major projects underway and/or planned.
• Critical unmet needs.
• Comments on the City's mission, vision, and values.
• Comments about what was helpful about the current Strategic Plan and what they would like to see differently in the new one.
Following this information gathering, we will summarize what we learned in an environmental scan to be presented at the workshop (described in activity 3).
Meetings (virtual) Deliverables
Individual interviews with Council Memo to Council with interview questions City's project manager Questionnaire to department heads Outline of methods for community input by staff
ACTIVITY 3: PREPARE FOR AND FACILITATE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP We will design a day and a half workshop to be held in person. Participants will be the City Council and executive team (open to the public). The first half day will focus on the dynamics of the Council and executive staff and provide an opportunity to engage in effective governance and teambuilding. The next day, the focus will shift to strategic planning to establish a shared vision and set of goals for the City.
We will prepare a slide deck and agenda, along with other handouts that will be helpful for the discussions. The information previously gathered will be incorporated into the materials prepared for the workshop.
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The discussions during this workshop are anticipated to include:
Effective governance and team building
Mission and vision
Broad goals/ areas of focus for the next five years
Strategic priorities for the next year
As requested, sample agendas from similar engagements are included as an attachment.
We will review the draft materials with you and finalize them based on feedback received. We will coordinate workshop logistics with your staff, including room set up, supplies, and other needed items.
The workshop will be designed in such a way to facilitate open dialogue among members of the City Council and your executive team. During the session, the primary role of the facilitator is to ensure that the environment is respectful and conducive to open and constructive dialogue, so the established objectives are ultimately met.
The results of this workshop will then be used in developing the Strategic Plan.
Meetings (virtual and in person) Deliverables
Review materials for workshop (virtual) Agenda, slide deck, handouts for workshop Facilitate workshop (in person)
ACTIVITY 4: PREPARE SUMMARY REPORT AND STRATEGIC PLAN
• In this activity, Raftelis will prepare a summary report of the workshop's outcomes and review them with the City Manager. Next, we will engage our creative services team to create a visually compelling strategic plan document that the City can use to communicate the plan with the public and host on the City's website.
Meetings (virtual) Deliverables
Review draft strategic plan • Outline of strategic plan • Draft strategic plan
Final strategic plan
Project Team
We have developed a team for the City of San Bernardino strategic planning process with tremendous experience and expertise, and a deep knowledge of California cities. The team will be led by Nancy Hetrick, with project members Janae Janik and Julie Gieseke. Their resumes are included below.
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References
City of Ei Cerrito cA
Reference: Karen Pinkos, City Manager
P: 510.215.4302 / E: [email protected]
Duration: December 2023 - January 2025
Our project manager has built a long-standing working relationship with the City of El Cerrito (City) that began vith the facilitation of the City's first strategic plan process in 2015. Nancy has supported annual planning an ecently completed a refresh to the strategic plan that was adopted in December 2023. She worked with staff and th City Council to engage the community, key stakeholders, and City employees to ensure varied perspectives were represented.
City of Roseville cA
Reference: Dominick Casey, City Manager
P: 916.774.5288 / E: [email protected]
Duration: January 2024 - Present
Raftelis worked closely with the City Manager and Deputy City Manager in the City of Roseville (City) to prepare for a facilitated and engaging two-day strategic planning workshop. To prepare, the Raftelis team conducted interviews with the Mayor and Council members and key executive staff, reviewed background materials, and worked with staff to provide context for the workshop. The two-day workshop was organized to ensure maximum involvement by participants and clarity of purpose to get the desired results. The result was an updated strategic plan that will guide the City for the next four years. In February 2025, our team facilitated the City Council's annual two-day workshop to review progress and identify top priorities for the next year. We are already scheduled to facilitate the Council's workshop in 2026.
City of Beaverton oR
Reference: Jenny Haruyama, City Manager
P: 408.761.2740 / E: [email protected]
Duration: January 2022 - Present
Raftelis has led a series of annual retreats for the executive team since 2021 for the City of Beaverton (City), when the City Manager arrived in Beaverton. The retreats have created space and opportunity for team building, defining the role and shared expectations of leadership in a new form of government (the voters passed a charter in 2020 that changed the governance structure from a strong mayor to a Council-Manager form of government), annual planning, and building a culture that empowers and collaborates. The annual executive team retreats were expanded in 2024 to include additional retreats with both extended leadership (approximately 40 mid-managers from across the City) and the whole management team (100+ employees) to further strengthen connection and alignment within the organization. In addition, our project manager facilitated the City Council's annual goal-setting workshop that included governance work, refinement of the City's broad goals, and the identification of priorities.
City of Avondale Az
Reference: Tracy Stevens, Assistant City Manager
P: 623.333.1000 / E: [email protected]
Duration: January 2020 - March 2022
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The City of Avondale (City) is a keystone community in the Phoenix metropolitan area that has established itself as a manufacturing and healthcare hub, as well as a world-class sports and entertainment destination. Raftelis was engaged in 2020 to facilitate an update of the City's 2016 strategic plan and assist with the implementation of a monitoring and reporting tool to demonstrate progress against the new plan. The 2021 Avondale Strategic Plan was designed with guidance from the Avondale City Council and crafted with input from engaged residents, local businesses, and key personnel across the City's organization. The plan represents a cohesive and intelligent approach to continuing on the path to success for Avondale to create a family-friendly and economically robust City that is Aspiring, Achieving, and Accelerating, by an organization whose core purpose is all about "Making Lives Better." The firm is currently in the process of completing a 2025 update to the City's strategic plan.
Fee
The total fixed fee to complete the scope of work outlined in this proposal is $32,900, which includes all professional fees and expenses.
We look forward to the opportunity to serve the City of San Bernardino. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at: Email: [email protected] / Phone: 408.674.3369.
Sincerely,
Name Hetice
Nancy Hetrick
Vice President
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Nancy Hetrick
PROJECT MANAGER AND LEAD FACILITATOR
Vice President
PROFILE Specialties
• Strategic planning and facilitation
Nancy has nearly 30 years of experience as a local government management • Organizational culture and team consultant and practitioner. Her lifelong commitment to the value and building importance of public service underscores her work with local government • Organizational design • Governance strategy and support
clients. She invests time to understand both the human dynamic and the • Perorce emangame develoment systems and culture within an organization to ensure project outcomes that will best service the unique needs of the organization.
Professional History
• Raftelis: Vice President (2023-present)
Nancy has extensive experience as a facilitator and trainer. She has worked • Baker Tilly LLC: Managing Director with both elected and appointed officials from jurisdictions throughout the (through acquisition) 2022-2023 • Management Partners: Vice President,
western United States to conduct goal setting, develop strategic plans, and Partner, Senior Manager, Senior prioritize service delivery. She has led engaging strategic planning processes Management Advisor (2006-2022) that sharpen focus while strengthening teamwork. The strategic plans that are • County of San Mateo, County Manager's Office: Principal
developed offer a meaningful and implementable road map for the Management Analyst, Management organizations she serves. In addition, Nancy has worked with leadership Analyst III (2001-2006) teams in all local government service areas to improve team effectiveness. • Management Partners: Management Advisor (1996-2001)
• Norman Roberts and Associates
In addition to her work in organizational development and strategic planning, (Executive Recruiters): Research Nancy has led hundreds of local government consulting engagements Associate (1995-1996) spanning all areas of general management consulting support, including Education
executive recruitment, organization assessment, workforce and succession • Coursework complete toward Master planning, performance management system design, and financial of Public Administration, California State University, San Francisco (1996
sustainability planning.
1997)
• Bachelor of Arts, Political Science with
Nancy is active in professional associations that support the advancement of concentration in Public Administration, local government professionals. She served as the President of the Municipal California State University, Chico (1994) Management Association of Northern California (MMANC), founded the Certifications Women's Leadership Summit, and sits on the board of Cal-ICMA where she • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator chairs the Cal-ICMA Talent Initiative. She continues to support the success of • DiSC CPI 260 California Psychological
MMANC and its sister association, the Municipal Management Association Inventory
of Southern California (MMASC) and delivers webinars and conference sessions for a variety of professional associations, including ICMA, the Professional Memberships California Special Districts Association, the California Public Employers • ICMA, member; past trainer for the Labor Relations Association (CALPELRA), MMANC, and MMASC. Center for Performance Measurement • Cal-ICMA, board member, Talent
Initiative Chair
Nancy studied political science with a concentration in public administration Women Leading Government, member Municipal Management Association of
as an undergraduate and continued her studies in a Master of Public Northern California, Past President,
Administration program. She has participated in an executive leadership founder, Women's Leadership Summit program and received certifications in leadership and style assessment tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DiSC, and the CPI 260 Psychological Inventory.
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Janae Janik
PROJECT SUPPORT/FACILITATOR
Consultant
Specialties
• Strategic planning
PROFILE
• Program and strategy
Janae began her consulting career following 12 years of service with the implementation • Facilitation
County of San Diego Superior Court. Her expertise lies in the areas of • Performance management process improvement, strategic planning, facilitation, program • Organizational assessment implementation, and stakeholder engagement. She is an innovative problem • Process improvement solver who maximizes the usage of technological solutions. • Data analysis Professional History
As a Budget and Finance Analyst with the County of San Diego, Janae • Raftelis: Consultant (2022-present) assisted in the development of a $200-million-dollar annual budget, • Wells Fargo: Senior Technology developed forecasting models for future revenue and expenditures, and Business Systems Consultant - Contractor (2022)
conducted financial trend analysis of payroll and benefit costs for over 1,200 • San Diego Superior Court: Budget & employees. Finance Analyst (2021-2022); Court
Operations Supervisor (2018-2021);
Janae is well-versed in the creation of strategic plans and managing high visibility projects with cross-functional impacts. During her tenure as a Court Operations Supervisor, she managed the transition to virtual court Education proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow remote access to • Master of Business Administration - justice for community members. Other notable projects included re-allocating Western Governors University (2015)
available resources to maintain services following staffing reductions, • Bachelor of Science in Television, authoring standard operating procedures to share best practices throughout Film, and New Media - San Diego the organization, and developing a new electronic system for filing State University (2010) documents to reduce case processing times and improve customer Professional Memberships
experience. Janae was instrumental in identifying continuous process • Municipal Management Association of improvement opportunities that drove operational efficiencies and reduced Southern California (MMASC) • International City/County Management
costs.
Association (ICMA)
• Engaging Local Government Leaders
Janae began her career at the Superior Court working in various customer (ELGL) service and administrative roles aimed at improving case processing times and providing quality service to members of the San Diego community.
Janae earned a Master of Business Administration from Western Governors University and a Bachelor of Science in Television, Film, and New Media from San Diego State University.
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Julie Gieseke
VISUAL FACILITATOR
Visual Facilitator
Specialties
• Visual Facilitation
ROLE • Strategic Visioning/Planning
• Executive Coaching
Julie will use visual facilitation to capture participants' dialogue, discussion, • Facilitation
and ideation by drawing large visual maps in real time, which helps connect • Team Development ideas, track content, and synthesize their work.
Professional History
• Raftelis: Visual Facilitator (2020-
PROFILE present); Visual Facilitator, The Novak
Julie Gieseke is a visual facilitator, working in the realm of group facilitation, Consulting Group (2011-2020) • Map the Mind: Principal (2008-present)
strategic planning and strategic communications for over fifteen years. She Visual Facilitation, Coaching, creates visuals that bring ideas and people together through image and story. Consulting, Teaching Julie collaborates on projects utilizing the tools of group process and design, Education • Master of Arts in Organizational
such as visual facilitation, creative engagement, and storytelling, to bring Development and Management -
strategy and tactics into clear focus. She also incorporates change Fielding Graduate University (2008) methodologies such as Appreciative Inquiry, Positive Psychology, • Professional Coaching Certification - StrengthsFinder, and Neurolinguistics. Coaches Training Institute (2008) • Bachelor of Arts in Film and Video
Production/Theater Arts - University of
Julie's unique skill set combines facilitation, active listening, and visual California, Santa Cruz (1988) facilitation to bring sense-making, consensus, energy, and vibrancy to each engagement. As a consultant with The Novak Consulting Group and now Certifications • Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistics
Kattelis, Julie has worked on a variety of strategic planning and facilitation • Certified Professional Co-Active Coach projects.
Professional Memberships
Julie developed her group process design through a broad range of • International Forum of Visual Practitioners
experience. She received her master's degree in organizational development and management from Fielding Graduate University, is certified as a professional coach through The Coaches Training Institute and is a certified Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistics. Julie also received professional training through The Grove Consultants International and has been mentored by leaders in the fields of visual facilitation, facilitation, organizational development, coaching, storytelling, and performance. The result is a wide range of exposure to various approaches that culminates in a unique style that is customizable for each engagement.
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ATTACHMENT A - SAMPLE AGENDAS
Two sample agendas are provide for reference. Minor edits have been made for brevity.
Sample 1 - City of Beaverton, OR
Facilitator's Agenda
January 3-4, 2025
Beaverton City Hall Council Chambers
Day 1 - 4:30-8pm (with dinner)
Day 2 - 8:30-4pm (with breakfast available at 8:30am and lunch brought in at noon) Workshop Objectives
• Establish Council Priorities
• Strengthen teamwork with Council and Staff
AGENDA - Day 1
Council with City Manager and City Attorney only
1. Welcome and Public Comment
Call to order
• Public Comment
Setting the Stage
Opening comments (Mayor/CM)
Expectations for our time together
Agenda review
Workshop Norms and Bike Rack
• Warm-up activity - One Word
o Think of one word that best describes an attribute of an effective council-staff team. This could be a characteristic, value, or quality that you believe is crucial for successful collaboration.
3. Bridging the Gap and Council Roles
Purpose: Have a shared conversation about the tension between political acceptability and operational sustainability and how to balance the two successfully. Review the six roles that contribute to high performing governance.
Dinner break
Over dinner reflect on the underlying complexities of public sector decision-making as presented in the Four Values video (Dr. John Nalbandian) provided as homework.
4. The Ideal Member of the Governing Body
Purpose: Discuss how different groups (the public, the staff, and Council colleagues) might describe an "ideal" member of the City Council. Identify their unique needs and expectations.
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5. Wrap up day 1 and Preview day 2
Purpose: provide closure for day 1 and obtain feedback in anticipation of day 2. • Recap evening, share reflections/takeaways
• Preview day 2
AGENDA - Day 2
1. Welcome and Call to Order
• Roll call and public comment
2. Reflections on Day 1
• Agenda review
• Quick ice breaker to get us started: Hometown Headline
3. Context Setting + Team Building
• Organization update by the City Manager
• Accomplishments
• Speed networking activity (DH/ Council sharing)
• Break into 7 groups
• Have Mayor/Council rotate through tables to allow time for DHs to briefly share challenges/ critical drivers, initiatives (10 minutes per group before rotation, with time for large group debrief after)
Lunch
4. City Slickers "One Thing" Activity
• Council only. Watch clip from City Slicker that introduces the importance of identifying your "one thing" - that thing that is most important to you. In this case, their "one thing" for their work at Beaverton in the coming year.
Ask Councilors to share their "one thing" and why. Summarize and discuss what stands out.
5. Affirm Council Goals and Establish Priorities
• Review and discuss council goals
• Share council interview themes
• Review current priorities - are these still the right mix? Has anything changed? • Get agreement on the top priority /ies.
• Discuss each of the top priorities: What will success / progress look like a year from now? What can we hope to accomplish?
Discussion:
• Ownership... Ask: how will you contribute to the success of these priorities? • What do Councilors need from staff? What does staff need from Council?
6. Wrap Up and Next Steps
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Sample 2 - City of Roseville, CA
Facilitator's Agenda
February 24-25, 2025
Martha Riley Community Library
Day One Agenda
Monday, February 24th - 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm
1:30 pm | Setting the Stage (15 min)
• Welcome and public comment
• Opening comments from Mayor and City Manager
• Agenda review
• Norms and bike rack
• Introductions and expectations for the workshop
Live capture on flipchart/paper (Julie)
1:45 pm | Icebreaker (30 min)
• This I Believe: Each Councilmember will get ~5 minutes to share "what they believe" about the future of the Roseville Community.
• Sharing: What I want this council to be known for
2:15 pm | Staff presentations (45 min)
• City Manager's introductory comments on staff presentations (along with any additional updates that might be helpful - i.e., Gallop survey recently completed) (10 min) • Financial update
• Commercial rezone policy (approx. 30 min)
3:00 pm | Break (15 min)
3:15 pm | Staff presentations, continued (60 min)
• Annexation (approx. 1 hour)
4:15 pm | Recap and Preview of Day 2 (45 min)
• Public comment
• The facilitator will review key takeaways from Day One and offer time for Councilmembers to reflect on hopes for Day Two
Day Two Agenda
Tuesday, February 25th - 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
9:00 am | Setting the Stage (10 min)
• Welcome and public comment
• Agenda review
• Recap of Day One
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9:10am | Update from Police Chief (30 min)
• Police Chief Bergstrom will give a presentation followed by Q&A 9:40am | Speed Networking - Department Sharing (1 hour 15 min) • Break into 5 groups
• Public Safety (PD & FD)
• Admin Departments (Finance, HR, IT, Clerk)
• CMO, CAO, EcDev, PAC
• Public Works, Development Services, PRL.
• Environmental Utilities, Roseville Electric
• Mayor/Council rotate through tables to allow time for DHs to briefly share their challenges/key initiatives, followed by questions/ discussion by councilmembers (8-10 minutes per group, with time for large group debrief after
10:55 am | Break (10 min)
11:05 am | Accomplishments (10 min)
Review accomplishments from pre-retreat interviews
• What else would you add?
• Captured on slides
11:14 am | Lunch (45min)
12:00 pm | Priorities and Strategies (1 hour - 10 min per goal) • Public comment
• Refresher - Slide on current priorities
• Ensure a healthy community
• Remain fiscally responsible in a changing world
• Enhance economic vitality
• Invest in well-planned infrastructure and growth
• Support community engagement and advocacy
• Deliver exceptional City services
• Hear updates on each priority - progress; current efforts • Staff updates/accomplishments
• Council Comments
• Current strategic priorities and strategies will be printed on posters throughout the room • Summarize priorities themes identified during interviews • Dot-voting to identify highest priorities for Council (at the strategy level) • Facilitator will summarize dot voting results during lunch 1:00 pm | Priority Setting and Staying on Track (45 min) • Report on dot-voiting outcomes
• Do these reflect what is most important?
• Do they align with what you shared during "This I Believe" about the future of Roseville? • For each, ask: What does success mean to you 12 months from now (for top priorities) • Staying on track; best practice criteria for updating priorities RAFTELIS 14
1:45 pm | Next Steps (5 min)
• Facilitator will recap next steps, including summary report and staff follow-up 1:55 pm | Closing/ Adjourn - Six Word Slam (10 min)
• Each participant will be asked to share a "Six Word Slam" - a brief phrase - that crystallizes the workshop's experience for them.
• Participants enter via Slido (anonymous)
• Add any closing comments from Mayor, Council members and City Manager