CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST
DEPARTMENT(S)
City Manager’s Office
CEQA
Not a Project, File No.
PP17-003,
Agreements/Contracts
(New or Amended)
resulting in no
physical changes to
the environment.
COORDINATION
City Attorney’s Office;
City Manager’s Budget
Office; and Energy
Department
Director Approval
Sarah Zárate
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S)
Citywide
CMO Approval
5/14/25
SUBJECT: Amendment to the Agreement with True North Research, Inc. for Annual Community Survey Services
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager or her designee to negotiate and execute the Second Amendment to the Master Consulting Agreement with True North Research, Inc. to increase the compensation by $300,000 for a new maximum compensation not to exceed $950,000, and with no other changes to the agreement, subject to the appropriation of funds.
BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION
In June 2021, the City conducted a competitive request for proposal to procure services seeking professional survey research consultants to help design, administer, and report on survey projects.
The purpose of these services is to better understand the community’s satisfaction, behaviors, and attitudes towards a broad range of City services and to gauge the level of community support and interest in potential ballot measures.
On September 8, 2021, the City entered into a master consulting agreement with True North Research, Inc. in the amount of $320,000. The agreement authorized the City Manager’s Office to request surveys on an as-needed basis. On May 21, 2024, the City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first amendment to the master consulting agreement with True North Research, Inc. to increase the budget authority for services by $330,000 for a new maximum compensation not to exceed $650,000, and with no other changes to the agreement, subject to the appropriation of funds. Past service orders under this master consulting agreement included 1) implementation of the quarterly Focus Area Community Survey to understand resident perception towards the City Council Focus Areas; 2) implementation of the annual Community Opinion Survey, the results of which are included in the City Auditor’s Annual Report on City Services and the City Manager’s Operating Budget document; and 3) implementation of potential ballot measure polling to evaluate community opinion on stormwater funding topics.
This authorization enables the work approved by the City Council for community surveys to move forward. This work includes the Annual Community Opinion Survey and the quarterly Focus Area Community Surveys. These surveys report outcomes and performance in the City Auditor’s Annual Report on City Services, the City Manager’s Operating Budget documents, and the City Council Focus Area Semi-Annual Status Report (some data may be reported on a quarterly basis, following direction in the Mayor’s March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2025-2026, which was approved by City Council). The Energy Department plans to conduct a survey to understand residents’ energy needs to inform future customer programs. City Council authorization to negotiate and execute this Second Amendment to the Master Consulting Agreement with True North Research, Inc. would allow staff to move forward and issue additional service orders to continue surveying services.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 6/3/25
FILE: 25-568
ITEM: 2.8
Staff requests City Council authorize the City Manager or her designee to negotiate and execute a second amendment to the agreement to increase the compensation in the amount of $300,000 for a maximum compensation not to exceed $950,000, under the same material terms and conditions as the original agreement and subject to the appropriation of funds. Individual service orders will be executed before each survey is conducted.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
No commission recommendation or input is associated with this action.
COST AND FUNDING SOURCE
The recommended amendment to this agreement is funded by the Customer Satisfaction Survey appropriation in the General Fund and Energy Department’s Non-Personal/Equipment appropriation in the San José Clean Energy Operating Fund.
FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT: Erik Jensen, Assistant to the City Manager, City Manager’s Office of Administration, Policy, and Intergovernmental Relations at [email protected]