To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator
Staff Name and Phone Number: Sheryl Bratton 707-565-2431
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sonoma County Communications Assessment
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Receive the Sonoma County Communications Assessment Report.
B) Direct staff to develop preliminary implementation plans for two separate options:
i. the centralized model based on the FCP recommended Bronze Structure; and
ii. the decentralized model with additional staff resources.
Staff to return to your Board in early 2020 with recommended options.
C) Authorize the County Administrator to add a senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts including the development and implementation of a Strategic Communications Plan.
D) Pre-authorize the use of up to $140,000 in FY 2019-20 Contingencies to fund the senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts.
end
Executive Summary:
Full Court Press Communications (FCP) was awarded an agreement to review the organizational structure of departmental communications and offer recommendations for improvement on how the County communicates with various stakeholders.
FCP conducted an assessment of the County’s communication’s process and practices by interviewing 50 internal and external stakeholders including members of the Board of Supervisors, other County elected officials, Department Heads, County communications staff, local community leaders, in addition to staff in peer government jurisdictions. FCP has completed the assessment and has concluded there are opportunities to improve the County’s overall communication’s strategy and operations. The attached Communications Assessment Report is attached for your Board’s review and a summary of the findings and recommendations is included below.
After the careful review of the assessment and the collective input from department heads and communication staff, the CAO is recommending that your Board approve the following recommendations:
Receive the Sonoma County Communications Assessment Report.
Direct staff to develop preliminary implementation plans for two separate options:
(a) the centralized model based on the FCP recommended Bronze Structure; and
(b) the decentralized model with additional staff resources.
Staff will return to your Board the first quarter of 2020 with recommended options.
Authorize the County Administrator to add a senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts including the development and implementation of a Strategic Communications Plan.
Pre-authorize the use of up to $140,000 in FY 2019-20 Contingencies to fund the senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts. This new manager will oversee the development and implementation of a Strategic Communications Plan.
Discussion:
The County of Sonoma provides a wide variety of services, including law enforcement, social work, health and human, building inspection, road maintenance, parks, voting, and general administration. Effective communications are essential to keeping the community informed of the efforts made by their government. Currently, Community and Government Affairs (CGAM) in the County Administrator’s Office leads the County’s communications efforts. This unit has overall responsibility for the County’s legislative strategy and the County’s communications strategy. It is currently staffed with two Community and Engagement Coordinators and one Legislative Affairs Coordinator.
CGAM resources, responsibilities, and expectations have evolved over the last ten years. Over the last several years, several communications focused positions have been added within a number of departments. In 2016 and 2017, CGAM worked diligently to respond to the Board’s direction to develop and implement a Communications Plan centered on enhancing strategies for Communications Infrastructure, Media Engagement, and Community Engagement. Communications professionals throughout the County were engaged in monthly communications meetings in addition to several opportunities for communications and media training. While many strategic investments were made in 2017, priorities shifted drastically in response to the 2017 North Bay Wildfires. The County was severely impacted with response and recovery efforts and the communications priority focus shifted primarily to recovery.
In 2018, significant turnover occurred within CGAM. The CGAM manager position became vacant and remained unfilled due to budget concerns. A Principal Analyst was added in June 2018 and functioned as the lead Public Information Officer (PIO) and County Communications Manager; however, the position became vacant in April 2019. Given the growth of the overall volume and demand on County communications and the need to oversee and collaborate with departmental communications staff, and the amount of turnover in this unit, it became clear an assessment was needed. The County Administrator decided to issue a Request for Proposals to invite qualified communications firms to offer proposals to assess the County’s existing communications strategies and organizational structure. Five proposals were received and a contract was awarded to Full Court Press Communications (FCP) in July 2019.
As part of the scope of review, the County Administrator asked FCP to review the organizational structure of departmental communications including making recommendations on whether the County should consider moving from a decentralized structure to a centralized model. However, at the direction of the County Administrator, FCP did not consider including the Water Agency, the Open Space District or the Sheriff in a centralized staffing model for the following reasons:
• Sonoma County Water Agency - the Water Agency is a separate legal entity with completely separate funding resources.
• Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District - the Open Space District is a separate legal entity with completely separate funding resources.
• Sheriff - As an elected official, the Sheriff has the ability to decide how to use funds budgeted by the Board of Supervisors.
While the Community Development Commission (CDC) is a separate legal entity, CDC’s budget consists largely of discretionary funding sources and its status as a separate agency is due to the fact that it formerly functioned as the County’s redevelopment agency before redevelopment was eliminated in 2011. The CDC does not by law need to be a separate legal entity from the County.
FCP began the communications assessment by interviewing 50 internal and external stakeholders including members of the Board of Supervisors, other County elected officials, Department Heads, County communications staff, local community leaders, in addition to staff in peer government jurisdictions. FCP has completed the assessment and the attached Communications Assessment Report. Findings and recommendations are summarized below. Based on discussions with individual Board Members, FCP identified the top Board communication priorities:
• A fundamental shift from reactive communications to proactive communications so that the County is sharing relevant information with residents;
• A two-way street of communication with Sonoma County residents so that residents have many ways to receive information from the County and have the opportunity to provide input into decisions made by their local government;
• A greater investment in communications tools and technology that acknowledge the fact that residents can now receive information in myriad ways.
The report provides a number of recommendations to improve the County’s communication efforts in the following four areas: Strategy and Planning; Messaging and Materials; Staffing and Structure; and Communications Channels.
Strategy and Planning
FCP recommends that the County’s communications efforts be tied to strategic goals and priorities that are developed through a strategic planning process and that the County develop a communications plan to shift efforts from reactive to proactive messaging. The County Administrator’s Office is currently leading an effort to develop a five-year County strategic plan.
Messaging and Materials
In an effort to ensure consistency throughout communications activities, FCP recommends that the County create a resource library to include talking points on the County’s key issues and initiatives. FCP has already engaged staff in preparing this material.
Staffing and Structure
FCP recommends that the County move to a more centralized system of communications and that the County make key investments in this new team by adding a senior level manager to lead the team and County communications efforts.
FCP offered three levels of centralized staffing models: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. A decentralized option with additional staff, and other operational changes was also included in the report but it was acknowledged that this alternative may not result in fully achieving the Board’s interests. In summary, the staffing models include the following positions:
Bronze Model:
• Senior Manager
• Support Manager
• [14] Communications Specialist positions (13 of which currently exist within the County organization to cover issue areas “beats”)
• Social Media/Graphic Design Support Position
Silver Model:
• Same as Bronze, plus:
• One Additional Communications Specialist Position
• One Additional Social Media/Graphic Design Support Position
Gold Model:
• Same as Silver, plus:
• Deputy Communications Manager
• One Additional Social Media/Graphic Design Support Position
Decentralized:
• Senior Manager
• [2] additional Communications Specialist positions
• One additional Social Media/Graphic Design Support Position
As part of the recommendation to centralize communication functions, FCP recommends the county assign staff on the communications team specific issues or “beats” so that they develop an expertise and focus. All centralized staff would primarily work out of the main Communications Office, but would occasionally have an on-site department day as needed. The report identifies eight potential “beats”:
• Emergency and Disaster Preparedness and Response
• Health, Human Services and Homelessness
• County General Communications
• Law Enforcement, Community Safety, and Justice
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Environment and Climate Change
• Land Use, Housing Development, Rebuilding
• Multicultural Communities Communications
In addition to the centralized structure recommendations, FCP made a number of recommendations on the scope of the work that the communications team should undertake which include the following:
• Supervisorial district office staff should lead on District specific communications and the development of talking points (with input and support from the Communications team and the new Resource Library).
• Additional resources should be added to support communications with multicultural communities. As the County increases capacity and enhances communications as a result of the proposed changes (whether it is through videos, more social media posts or other tactics), the need to replicate those efforts for the Spanish speaking community will also increase. FCP recommends that the County move away from doing Spanish language communications on the side, and fully embrace and incorporate that focus as part of the overall initiative. A good way to start is hiring qualified individuals who are also bilingual, to the extent possible.
Communications Channels
FCP reviewed the County’s many communications channels and focused time primarily on the County’s website, Facebook accounts, and Nextdoor. FCP’s opinion is that these channels are underutilized and have the most opportunity for growth. The following recommendations were included in the report:
• As part of the County’s plan to invest in a new website content management system, FCP recommends engaging a qualified consultant to assist the County to develop an appropriate County brand and website content pre and post conversion to the new system.
• Once a senior manager is hired, prioritize the County’s Facebook strategy to expand audiences on existing County pages.
• Expand Nextdoor efforts to geotarget neighborhood updates to ensure residents receive relevant hyperlocal information, particularly concerning emergency alerts. The centralized staffing model allows the County to identify one person to oversee the County’s Nextdoor page. Having a dedicated resource would also allow the County to send out geotargeted urgent alerts via Nextdoor during an emergency.
The draft assessment and recommendations were shared with Department Heads on November 18, 2019. In addition, the County Administrator arranged for FCP to present the recommendations to those department heads that have communication positions that are proposed to be centralized and a separate meeting was held on November 21, 2019 with FCP and the departmental communication staff members who could be directly impacted.
Overall, department staff were in favor of FCP’s recommendations to develop proactive County communications through strategic planning, develop consistent messaging and material, add senior level communications staff in the CAO’s office, and improve consistency in communications job classifications. The majority of departmental staff concerns were in response to the recommendation to centralize due to operational impacts to the department and the potential loss of subject matter expertise, the loss of relational proximity that supports proactive messaging, and the potential loss of departmental media relationships.
After the careful review of the assessment and the collective input from department heads and communication staff, the CAO is recommending that your Board approve the following recommendations:
Receive the Sonoma County Communications Assessment Report.
Direct staff to develop preliminary implementation plans for two separate options:
(a) the centralized model based on the FCP recommended Bronze Structure; and
(b) the decentralized model with additional staff resources.
Staff will return to your Board in early 2020 with recommended options.
Authorize the County Administrator to add a senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts including the development and implementation of a Strategic Communications Plan.
Pre-authorize the use of up to $140,000 in FY 2019-20 Contingencies to fund the senior level manager to lead County Communications efforts.
If the above is approved, Human Resources will conduct the classification work required to develop an appropriate job class for the senior level manager position. This process will entail approval of the class by the Civil Service Commission. Human Resources will then bring forward to the Board for approval at some point in January the recommendation to add the class to the County’s class system, adopt the salary for the class, and will formally add the allocation to the County Administrator’s Office to include the actual cost during FY 19/20 and funding source.
Prior Board Actions:
None.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$292,000 |
$292,000 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$140,000 |
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$140,000 |
$292,000 |
$292,000 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
$292,000 |
$292,000 |
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
$140,000 |
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$140,000 |
$292,000 |
$292,000 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The job class and salary for the senior level manager needs to be developed. We estimate the salary and benefit cost for this position could be similar to the job class of Deputy County Administrator, which has an annual salary and benefit cost of $292,000.
The Board's Use of General Fund Contingencies Policy states that any decision to use contingency funds should occur during annual budget hearings or during mid-year budget adjustments, unless in the case of urgent need. Staff recommend adding the senior level position soon to support the implementation of your Board's recommendations including a Strategic Communications Plan. Staff also recommend that the prorated cost of this position, $140,000 for FY 2019-2020, come from FY 2019-2020 contingencies.
Ongoing costs associated with the position will be included in the FY 2020-2021 recommended budget.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Staffing impacts will be assessed in the implementation options and will be discussed at a future Board date.
Attachments:
Full Court Press Communications Assessment and Recommendations
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.