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Responses to Questions Regarding a Request for Proposals for Consulting
Services for
a Community Education, Anti-Panhandling and Alternative Giving
Campaign
October
19, 2007
Does the City have a desired budget? If
not, can you provide any range?
The budget for the consultancy addressed in
the RFP has not been established and is
intended to be proposed by the RFP
respondent.
The RFP clearly states that this is not a
low-bid contract. Can you provide guidance
on how competitors will be judged in the
budget portions of their proposals?
Evaluation of the proposals shall be a
competitive selection, based on the basis of
the overall best value to the City and not
on price alone. The award will be made to
the best bidder; the Selection Committee may
consider information submitted in the
proposal; information obtained from the
listed references; experience,
qualifications, and prior work of the firm;
responsiveness to the scope of work and
minimum requirements; proposed timeline;
interviews with the firm and proposed
subcontractors; demonstrated experience in
the implementation of similar activities;
competitive price; the quality of the
services offered; the capacity of the firm
to perform the contract or provide the
service promptly, the sufficiency of the
firm’s financial resources; the character,
integrity, reputation, judgment, training,
experience and efficiency of the firm; and
other factors, including those that
contribute to best fulfilling the goals and
objectives of the RFP.
Is there an organization established yet to
redirect the public’s giving? Are there
existing communications campaigns, and if
so, have they been successful?
The Dolphin Change Program was created in
1993 by the Bayside District Corporation
Board and was funded in partnership with the
Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. The
program was created in response to
aggressive panhandling that was becoming
prevalent on the Third Street Promenade and
throughout the downtown. The tag line for
the Dolphin Change Program was “Make Your
Change Help Not Hurt” and the proceeds from
the program have been given as grants to
non-profit organizations dedicated to
benefiting the lives of people in need in
the Santa Monica area. To date, grants
exceeding $120,000 have been given to local
homeless service agencies. There are
currently two sculptural, dolphin-change
receptacles on the promenade, one at the
pier and one on Main Street. For more
information, see
http://santa-monica.org/cityclerk/council/information_items/2007/Dolphin_change_program.pdf
There is not currently a specific
communication campaign regarding this
program.
Are there specific organizations the City
has in mind when discussing “alternative
giving opportunities” or is the respondent
free to make recommendations?
Respondents may make recommendations
regarding mechanisms to redirect the
public’s giving, including a new “giving
organization”, and/or virtual or physical
vehicles to collect donations.
While we have creative expertise and experience on this
issue, it may be more efficient for us to
partner with other firms who are located in
your market. Would you be able to help
introduce us to firms you have worked with
before that might want to partner?
Respondents are encouraged to propose
strategies for the services they are best
qualified to provide. The City of Santa
Monica reserves the right to request that
respondents consider creating a working
partnership in order to best fulfill the
goals and objectives of the RFP. A list of
firms notified of the RFP can be downloaded
here.
What has been done thus far to curb
panhandling in Santa Monica?
Please refer to the Santa Monica Municipal
Code at
http://www.qcode.us/codes/santamonica/
Applicable sections may be found by using
the search term “solicitation”.
Would the City consider campaign messages
that focus on enforcement in regard to the
frequent violation of rules and laws
regulating behavior in public places?
This campaign is targeted towards
international tourists, visitors, Santa
Monica residents, the business community and
others to educate them about the negative
effects of giving money to panhandlers and
encourage alternative giving. Enforcement of
local rules and laws regulating behavior in
public places is the jurisdiction of the
Santa Monica Police Department. The Santa
Monica Police Department is not one of the
target audiences.
As stated, the RFP represents goals 4 and 6
of the Urban Institute’s findings. Does the
City hope to incorporate the other five
goals into the campaign?
No. The other five issues identified by the
Urban Institute will be addressed
separately.
Regarding the component for City employees,
it appears that there's already some program
and/or materials which have "been developed
and tested." What is the actual status of
the employee program at this time?
City staff have developed preliminary
content (messages, text, suggested visuals)
for a short (approximately 10 minute)
general presentation about the City’s
approach to addressing homelessness.
Content for specialized trainings for
specific departments has not been developed.
Consultant services are desired to develop
additional content and produce multi-media
training and resource materials such as
videos, postcards and other tools.
Can you please clarify the length of the
proposed contract? Page 9 indicates we
should assume that the contract commences
January 1, 2008 and that "full
implementation is desired by August 1,
2008." Does that mean the contract is
completed by August 1st or that
January-August is to be used for stakeholder
input and campaign development, with the
full campaign implementation (advertising,
outreach, etc.) beginning by August 1?
The respondent should propose a project plan and timeline to meet
the goals of the RFP.
Contract dates will be negotiated during the
contracting process based on the proposed
project plan and timeline.
Is it possible to get a copy of the city’s
strategic plan that is based on the Urban
Institute recommendations and also of the
data collected from the last resident
perception telephone studies?
The City of Santa
Monica has not created a strategic plan
based on the Urban Institute’s
recommendations. An update on community
input regarding strategies to implement the
recommendations can be found at
http://www.smgov.net/hsd/pdfs/HomelessEvalRecommendations.pdf.
The Santa Monica Resident Survey can be
found at
http://www.smgov.net/residents/surveys/pdf/SMResSurvey-07.pdf.
Will there be an option for the City to renew the
contract beyond August 1, 2008? If the
contract is not renewed, will a new RFP be
issued to continue this campaign?
Contract dates will be negotiated during the
contracting process based on the proposed
project plan and timeline. Options for
continuing the project beyond the contract
dates will be considered at a future date.
Does the City expect the contractor to be responsible
for collecting any funds generated by the
alternative giving program or will City
staff handle this task?
Respondents may make recommendations
regarding mechanisms for collecting funds
generated by the alternative giving program.
Will the contractor be responsible for deciding the
criteria for the distribution of funds to
community organizations? Do you expect the
contractor to serve as the fiscal agent for
the distribution of these funds?
Developing a plan for the collection and
distribution of resources obtained through
alternative giving opportunities is a
component of the scope of work. Respondents
should make recommendations regarding
mechanisms for the distribution of funds,
including recommendations regarding a fiscal
agent.
Is there any existing data on the specific amount of
panhandling that occurs on the Promenade and
other public areas? Are there sufficient
City resources and research available to
determine baselines such as current levels
of giving to panhandlers, numbers of
panhandlers and annual donation amounts?
There is a limited amount of data regarding
local panhandling. Conducting research is a
component of the scope of work. Respondents
should make recommendations for research
strategies to determine baselines such as
current levels of giving to panhandlers,
numbers of panhandlers and annual donation
amounts.
How will the proposal be evaluated and scored? Do
certain sections carry more weight?
Proposals will be reviewed by members of a
Selection Committee, as well as staff from
the City of Santa Monica’s Community and
Cultural Services Department (Human Services
Division), City Manager’s Office and other
key departments and divisions. Evaluation of
the proposals shall be a competitive
selection, based on the basis of the overall
best value to the City and not on price
alone. The award will be made to the best
bidder; the Selection Committee may consider
information submitted in the proposal;
information obtained from the listed
references; experience, qualifications, and
prior work of the firm; responsiveness to
the scope of work and minimum requirements;
proposed timeline; interviews with the firm
and proposed subcontractors; demonstrated
experience in the implementation of similar
activities; competitive price; the quality
of the services offered; the capacity of the
firm to perform the contract or provide the
service promptly, the sufficiency of the
firm’s financial resources; the character,
integrity, reputation, judgment, training,
experience and efficiency of the firm; and
other factors, including those that
contribute to best fulfilling the goals and
objectives of the RFP. Sections are not
weighted.
Does the City have a preference on how the contractor
weights each activity proposed? For example,
would the City like to see more time and
funds directed toward advertising, and less
toward community outreach? Can you provide a
rough proportion?
Respondents should propose a project plan
and related activities to meet the goals of
the RFP.
The City has a fairly comprehensive Sign Code which
appears to limit advertising in many public
places. Will exemptions to this Code be
considered for the purpose of this campaign?
Respondents should propose recommendations
regarding public advertising.
Does the City have a relationship with Bayside Corp
through which the contractor could negotiate
to place signs and/or advertising, conduct
guerilla marketing, and/or conduct research
in restricted areas such as the Third Street
Promenade?
Bayside Corporation is one of the project’s
key stakeholders. The Third Street Promenade
is one area of Santa Monica where
panhandling occurs. The respondent should
propose a project plan that includes
conducting activities on the Third Street
Promenade.
In the project plan portion of the RFP response format
section, what does “approval points” mean?
“Approval points” means obtaining approval
from the City of Santa Monica.
Will city staff, once trained, be available to help
conduct community outreach with the
contractor’s direction and assistance, or
will this responsibility fall solely with
the contractor?
Respondents should make recommendations
regarding a plan for community outreach,
including community outreach personnel.
The RFP states that the City may award the proposal to
separate firms on any items – does the City
have a preference about sole source or
multiple vendors? If the City selects
multiple vendors, how will services and
responsibilities be apportioned and how will
the budget be allocated?
Respondents are encouraged to propose
strategies for the services they are best
qualified to provide. The City of Santa
Monica reserves the right to request that
respondents consider creating a working
partnership in order to best fulfill the
goals and objectives of the RFP. If the
City selects multiple vendors, services,
responsibilities and the budget will be
negotiated during the contracting process.
At the end of the contract term, are there
any renewal options? If yes, please
describe. If no, will the contract be sent
out for a new open bid process?
Options for continuing the project beyond
the contract dates will be considered at a
future date. |
