As-Needed Public Outreach and Engagement Consultant Services for the City Planning Department

The City Planning Department is responsible for long-range planning throughout the City, which includes updating and amending community plans, the City's General Plan, and new development in alignment with the City's Strategic Plan Priority Areas. All land use planning work requires public outreach and engagement to inform policy development, infrastructure prioritization and land development code changes. Specifically, this includes designing and implementing engagement materials and techniques to facilitate public understanding and participation on planning initiatives. This helps ensure that planning initiatives and policy changes are defensible and have undergone public vetting.Consultant services will support the Department's work program initiatives being conducted by each division, many of which have requirements to conduct public outreach and engagement set forth by the State of California (e.g., requirements to identify environmental justice communities through public engagement set forth by SB 1000; demonstrated community outreach and engagement efforts required for State certification of the City's General Plan Housing Element). State law requires that local planning agencies provide opportunities for community involvement. As part of the planning process for updates and amendments to General Plans and Community Plans, public outreach and engagement are required to develop and reassess potential changes to the vision, goals, and policies of land use plans and to develop land use plan alternatives. The requested services are also necessary for the Department to implement Council Policies 000-32 and 800-14 relative to infrastructure planning, which calls for reaching out and engaging a broad spectrum of the community to ensure that input received truly meets the needs of residents and that infrastructure investments are prioritized equitably and delivered efficiently.