ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
400 Grand Avenue, South San Francisco, CA94080
Phone: (650) 877-8535 Email: [email protected]
Response to Proposer Questions
Request for Proposals for Facilitation Services for Community Discussions of Decommissioned City Facilities
Prepared by: Economic & Community Development Department Last revised: June 12, 2024
The City invited respondents to submit questions about the Request for Proposals by Friday, June 7, 2024.
The following are staff responses to proposers’ questions.
Questions and City Responses
Staffing & Budget
Question: Given the scope of work described and desire for wide-ranging, inclusive engagement, will the City accept proposals with budgets that are outside of the advertised range? Response: The City has estimated a budget of $20,000 – $40,000 for this project. However, if your team recommends allocating additional budget for certain tasks in this RFP, please include this in your response for unbiased consideration. If proposing additional budget for tasks, please provide details in your budget proposal (rather than lump sum amounts) – the more details provided in the budget proposal, the more fully the City can evaluate the response.
Question: This is a great scope of work, with multiple tours, open houses, and workshops. We would need time to prepare materials and facilitate the meetings. Is there flexibility in the budget? If we partner with another nonprofit, is it possible to provide up to $40,000 for each organization? Response: Please see the response above.
Question: Which staff members from the City would lead this project? Which departments do they work within? Will City staff be responsible for the following tasks: publicizing engagement opportunities (community meetings), planning and leading the tour, and securing and coordinating logistics for the workshop venues and equipment? The RFP mentions that consultant staff will be responsible for securing refreshments/light catering for the meetings. Is the budget for the cost of this included in the advertised budget range or will the City provide additional budget to cover that expense?
Response: Staff from the Economic & Community Development Department will manage this initiative. Staff from the City Manager’s Office, Parks & Recreation Department, and Capital Projects Department will also be involved throughout the process.
Regarding publicizing engagement opportunities (community meetings), as described in Task 3, the consultant team is responsible for preparing a package of announcement materials publicizing the open houses in electronic formats to include media release, e-blast notice, City newsletter, talking points, and social media postings for the City’s and partner organizations’ platforms. The City will be responsible for posting the materials and disseminating these materials to partner organizations.
Regarding planning and leading the tours of the Municipal Services Building and the West Orange Library, as described in Task 4.2, City staff will organize and lead the tours.
Regarding securing and coordinating logistics for the workshop venues and equipment, as described in Task
4.1, City staff will be responsible for reserving the meeting location and will set-up and break-down the room.
The consultant team will be responsible for providing room set-up information, including audio and visual requirements.
If any community meetings are held virtually (Task 4.3), the consultant team will be responsible for setting up the Zoom link. For the project management meetings with City staff (Task 1), these can be held virtually via Microsoft Teams, and City staff can be responsible for sending out the calendar invites / setting up the Teams links.
Regarding the budget for light catering and childcare, this budget is included in the advertised budget range of $20,000 - $40,000. However, if your team recommends allocating additional budget for certain tasks in this RFP, please include this in your response for unbiased consideration.
Timeline
Question: Is the timeline flexible? If selected for this work, we would need some time to create and promote the outreach materials and prepare for the workshops to be inclusive and welcome diverse groups of community members.
Response: The City is flexible on timing for the Open Houses; however, these should be held no later than mid-September. Recognizing that this is a tight timeline, City staff will work in partnership with the selected team to advertise and conduct outreach for the meetings.
Online Engagement
Question: Can the City describe the online engagement materials component in more detail? With the limited budget advertised, a survey and online engagement platform does not seem feasible. Would the City describe the vision for this to help proposers understand the level of effort the City envisions? Response: For the online engagement materials, City staff is anticipating that the City would create and maintain a webpage on the City’s website that is dedicated to this effort, with support from the consultant team in developing the text for the webpage.
Staff anticipates that the consultant team will create a survey with questions similar to those asked at the Open House; the City will upload the survey into its online survey platform to collect responses. The City invites respondents to share any other ideas that your team has found to be successful in soliciting online input from community members on similar projects with limited budgets.
Meetings
Question: Will regular check in meetings be held virtually? Response: As stated in Task 1. Project Kick-off & Management, the check-in meetings will be held virtually.
Question: Are the additional meetings envisioned as facilitated meetings with community members or check-in meetings with the project team?
Response: The City asks that respondents budget for four additional meetings, in case these are needed.
The meetings could be held virtually or in person and would be about 1 – 1.5 hours. These would be meetings with policymakers or stakeholders (not the project team).
Question: Can you please specify what would constitute an additional meeting? Are these internal planning or community meetings?
Response: Please see the response above.
Interviews
Question: Will interviews be held in person or will there be a virtual option? Response: While theCity anticipates holding the interviews in person, we understand that having your entire team present at the interview may not be feasible. We do ask that the primary project manager for the prime and any subconsultants attend the interview in person – principals overseeing the project and associates supporting the project may attend virtually.