The Centre for Organization Effectiveness | 3914 Murphy Canyon Road #A164 San Diego, CA 92123 | 619-354-5702 | tcfoe.com CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE DEPARTMENT
ASSESSMENT - FALL 2025
CSRO001 Proposal
November 14, 2025
Inspiring Excellence in Leaders and Organizations
The Centre’s purpose is to advance the public good by inspiring excellence in leaders at all levels in community-serving organizations – public sector, nonprofit, education, and healthcare – and by helping them positively affect people’s lives.
Since 1993, The Centre has partnered with hundreds of such organizations to drive important outcomes.
We look forward to working with you on this important work.
SCOPE
The City of Santa Rosa has requested The Centre for Organization Effectiveness to provide consulting services in the form of a departmental assessment for the City Attorney’s Office. The assessment will focus on evaluating departmental structure and staffing levels to identify opportunities for operational efficiencies in process improvements. Analysis will include comparisons to other comparable City Attorney Offices, staffing models, and work processes.
This project will be conducted in two phases, and will include the following services:
Phase One: Analysis & Recommendations
• Intake and Planning Meetings
o Ongoing meetings with leadership to define project objectives, inform approach, and generate findings and recommendations
• Review Organizational Data
o Review organizational data (e.g., organizational charts, staffing plans, budget, city charter, code of ordinances, other key departmental documents) along with research of public data for comparative analysis with other city attorney offices
• Data Collections
o Collect data from key internal stakeholders (e.g., interviews, focus groups) to gather qualitative data on processes, workflows, and operational challenges
• Benchmarking Analysis
o Research to draw comparisons from comparable cities for staffing levels, organizational structures, and budget allocations
• Analysis & Report Development
o Synthesize data and interview findings to develop recommendations for staffing, structure, and operational improvements, including identification of relevant KPIs to monitor performance • Travel – One Trip
Phase Two: Implementation
• Ongoing Meetings with Leadership
Attachment 1
The Centre for Organization Effectiveness | 3914 Murphy Canyon Road #A164 San Diego, CA 92123 | 619-354-5702 | tcfoe.com o Ongoing meetings with leadership to strategize on integration of assessment findings and recommendations (e.g., regular joint meetings with leadership team to support accountability and implementation of recommendation)
• Department Workshops
o Design and facilitation of two, in-person department workshops ▪ AM: Align leadership on standards, deliverables, and performance metrics ▪ PM: Focused strategy sessions with project leads to operationalize performance improvement recommendations
• Travel – Two Trips
Optional Services:
• Ongoing Implementation/Strategy Support – up to 10 hours o Additional coaching and thought partnership to support implementation of recommendations • Additional Stakeholder Data Collection & Analysis
o Additional data collection from external stakeholders (e.g., interviews, surveys) to support a comprehensive understanding of departmental operations and opportunities to improve/align service delivery
The Centre for Organization Effectiveness | 3914 Murphy Canyon Road #A164 San Diego, CA 92123 | 619-354-5702 | tcfoe.com
CONSULTANTS
Danell Scarborough, Ed.D.
Danell Scarborough’s expertise is growing leaders and guiding change. Her work focuses on leadership and organization development for civic and nonprofit organizations.
Recent consulting engagements include, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, City of San Diego Balboa Park Committee, City of Carlsbad City Council, City of Murrieta City Council, Building Industry Association, National Association of Women Judges, The Lawyers Club, San Diego Parks Foundation, City of San Diego International Affairs Board, Arts and Culture Commission and Gang Prevention Commission, and San Diego County Law Library.
Recent civic engagements include facilitating stakeholder and community input process on the future of Balboa Park, establishing a citizens advisory committee to provide input to a water agency board, facilitating a blue ribbon commission investigating and recommending improvements to the county’s foster care system, facilitating community forums for a city police chief selection process, facilitating a City Council appointed citizens group charged with developing a new council policy, convening forums for a regional workplace civility and equity initiative.
Danell is also an Adjunct Professor in the Nonprofit Leadership and Management Master’s Program in the Department of Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego.
Over her 30-year career, Danell served as the Executive Director of two Mayor and City Council appointed commissions dedicated to fostering inclusion and transparency across all communities in San Diego. Danell was an internal change agent for the City of San Diego where she designed and facilitated large change projects including complex culture change, strategic planning, business process reengineering, community engagement, and criminal justice reform projects. She conducted the City’s leadership development program, was change management lead for the enterprise- wide ERP implementation, director of administration for the elected City Attorney, manager of the City’s organization development and training unit, and project leader for The Diversity Commitment. She was also associate director for The Centre for Organization Effectiveness during its creation.
Danell serves on nonprofit boards that promote leadership, equity, and inclusion: Treasurer of the California Association of Human Relations Organizations, President at Alliance San Diego. She volunteers extensively for Girl Scouts. She is a trained and experienced mediator and a board-certified coach. She is a graduate of Leadership California’s Issues and Trends program and LEAD San Diego’s Impact Program. In 2012, LEAD San Diego awarded her the Herbert G. Klein Visionary Leadership Award. She earned her doctorate from the University of San Diego in leadership studies. Her dissertation focused on leadership in local government organizations.
The Centre for Organization Effectiveness | 3914 Murphy Canyon Road #A164 San Diego, CA 92123 | 619-354-5702 | tcfoe.com
COST ESTIMATE
The cost estimate for this project is $36,615 + optional services.
Optional Services:
• Ongoing Implementation/Strategy Support (up to 10 hours) – up to $3,550 • Additional Stakeholder Data Collection & Analysis - $7,455 Support requested by the Client that extends beyond the scope of this proposal will be billed at an hourly rate of $355.
Additional materials and expenses, if any, will be billed at an additional cost.
BILLING
All projects are billed on a net-30 basis. This project will be billed on the schedule below. Any charges in addition to those outlined in this scope that result from Client requests will be billed on the first subsequent installment. The Centre reserves the right to amend this billing schedule if the project is placed on hold (e.g., the client opts to pause work), or if the client and The Centre mutually agree to rescope the project.
BILLING SCHEDULE
Installment Date Amount
1 of 3 Upon completion of Phase One $22,315
2 of 3 Upon completion of Phase Two $14,300
3 of 3 Upon completion of work Up to $11,005
The Centre will submit invoices to the person or people listed below. Please notify your Centre Project Manager if any of the information is inaccurate.
Billing Contact(s): Autumn Luna
Email Addresses(s): [email protected]
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
• If additional support is requested beyond this scope, a new proposal will be required. • If additional materials are requested, those will be billed at cost. • In the event that the client cancels the project after this proposal has been approved, or if a participant cancels their spot in or drops out of a training program, whether or not the program has begun, the client agrees to pay for labor, materials, and other costs incurred by the Centre for the preparation and/or delivery of the services outlined in this proposal. Participants may transfer their spots to other qualified colleagues only with the Centre's prior approval.
• The client will provide the location, all A/V equipment, flipchart stand/paper (as needed), and food. • If the scope extends past June 2026, the client will be invoiced for services rendered through June 2026 and the remaining services upon the next project installment or upon completion of the project. • This proposal and pricing are valid through June 30, 2026.
The Centre for Organization Effectiveness | 3914 Murphy Canyon Road #A164 San Diego, CA 92123 | 619-354-5702 | tcfoe.com