COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Chuen Wu, Assistant City Manager
DATE: October 21, 2025
SUBJECT: GROW Initiative Cohort III ACCESS/ACCESO Program and Council to Present Certificates of Recognition
The City Council will receive a presentation regarding GROW Initiative Cohort III’s ACCESS/ACCESO program trial and present Certificate of Recognitions to the GROW Initiative Cohort III graduates
BACKGROUND:
The City partnered with the University of California, Santa Barbara Professional and Continuing Education, to offer a professional certificate program on Management Training for Public Administrators. During the timeframe the program was offered from 2023 to 2024, four cohorts graduated, each creating capstone projects.
Known as GROW, the State-funded 15-week programs were designed to equip City employees with the knowledge and skills to build and lead high -performing teams, strategically make decisions, and manage a capstone project to have a positive impact on the City organization and with community benefit.
DISCUSSION:
GROW Cohort III created a capstone project named ACCESS/ACCESO ( Assist, Connect, Communicate, Engage, Support, Serve/Auyudar, Conectar, Comunicar, Entablar, Servir, Ofrecer). This proposed progr am is designed to further enhance the City’s ongoing bilingual community outreach efforts.
ACCESS/ACCESO w ould support the current Language Access Plan and the City Council goals of City workforce development and to improve quality of life. The proposed program would proactively deliver/demonstrate information about City programs and services, by bilingual staff and volunteer ambassadors, to residents at various in-person locations throughout the City - including in each City Council District – such as laundromats, grocery stores, and parks.
It is envisioned to take place year -round, run by designated and trained department liaisons, a volunteer coordinator, and volunteer ambassadors. The Cohort also developed a tracking and reporting app for use durin g in-person interactions. The objective is for 2 ACCESS/ACCESSO staff to enter who and where they are and record the type of information that is being requested. This information is summarized in a database.
To test the program’s viability, Cohort members staffed a table at two different Farmers Markets and tracked interactions (at least one bilingual staff member was present). Over the two days (two hours per day), there were 92 interactions, with 29 of them ending in questions (48 interactions the first day, 42 the second day). Staff fielded questions ranging from water, downtown plans, Recreation registration, recycling, street repairs, and code enforcement. Staff received positive feedback from residents, who stated they appreciated seeing City staff at an event. Testing phase proved successful with 31.5 percent of the interactions ending in questions.