To: Board of Supervisors of Sonoma County
Department or Agency Name(s): Economic Development Board, Creative Sonoma
Staff Name and Phone Number: Kristen Madsen, 565-6120
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Fire Memorial Work Plan
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Approve Work Plan for a fire memorial to those whose lives were lost in the 2017 wildfires.
B) Authorize Creative Sonoma staff to establish a Memorial Task Force
end
Executive Summary:
As part of the FY 2022-23 budget adopted by the Board of Supervisors in June 2022, $250,000 was allocated for a fire memorial. The funds and responsibility for overseeing the commemorative art project were assigned to the Economic Development Department Creative Sonoma team, in consultation with General Services now part of the new Public Infrastructure County department.
Staff is presenting for approval the proposed work plan for a fire memorial to those whose lives were lost in the 2017 wildfires, which fits the established $250,000 budget. The proposed workplan reviewed by Supervisors Gore and Coursey includes establishing a Memorial Task Force which will ensure Fire Survivor community representation and to help guide the ultimate memorial outcome. In addition, as discussed with the selected supervisors, this report includes a $436,000 option.
Discussion:
As part of the FY 2022-23 budget, the Board of Supervisors approved the enclosed budget request from Supervisors James Gore and Chris Coursey in the amount of $250,000 to create a fire memorial honoring those whose lives were lost in the 2017 wildfires. The Economic Development Department Creative Sonoma team was tasked with developing a work plan for how the commemorative art project could be created, including site selection, artist selection, community engagement (with surviving family members and other stakeholders), staffing requirements, other related activities, and costs.
Staff has worked with consultants who are experts in public art memorials, including for post-traumatic community events, to design the proposed work plan submitted for review and approval by the Board of Supervisors.
A commemoration of our shared experience of both loss and renewal as a result of living with wildfires has the great potential to make an important statement of our resilience and community spirit. It offers an opportunity for our community to come together in remembrance of who and what was lost, as well as in gratitude for the powerful generosity and embodiment of a common cause that we observed daily in the immediate aftermath of the fires, and subsequent community crises. The work plan for this commemorative art piece is designed to draw from that spirit and resiliency in a physical symbol of remembrance and hope. At the same time, great care must be taken to ensure that this process does not reawaken or exacerbate the trauma that Sonoma County residents continue to cope with as a result of the firestorms.
Separately, the City of Santa Rosa (CSR) is looking at a fire art project that their Fire Department will deliver and manage. CSR has already selected the artist but a site has not yet been finalized.
WORKPLAN
The following outlines the process through which the memorial will be created:
• Creation of a Memorial Task Force
• Artist solicitation
• Artist proposals review supported by the oversight and guidance of a Memorial Task Force
• Community engagement
• Design and site selection
• Installation
The process will be designed with significant flexibility for artist(s) to conceptualize many types of memorial artworks based on feedback they will gather through community engagement activities. Proposed memorial artworks might include physical sculptures, gardens, mosaics, story collections and kiosks, and other process-oriented works.
Board of Supervisors responsibilities and authorities:
• Authorize Creative Sonoma staff to establish a Memorial Task Force. The Task Force will include representatives from survivor families, first responders, those who lost homes and businesses, those who took in displaced residents, and art/public art professionals. The Board will recommend names for the Task Force (estimate 7 participants) and will delegate authority to the group to guide the overall process and select the artist.
• Approve site selection.
Memorial Task Force responsibilities and authorities:
• Finalize the details of the Work Plan including goals of the memorial.
• Oversee the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, including the selection of finalists and the final artist/project.
• Support the community engagement work.
• Review design development of the project, as appropriate.
County Staff responsibilities and authorities:
Using a professional services agreement arrangement, the Economic Development Creative Sonoma team will manage the project up to the point of installation, which is when the Public Infrastructure department will assume management of installation and ongoing maintenance. Creative Sonoma will hire a dedicated project manager. Creative Sonoma’s responsibilities will include:
• Confirming the schedule, funding, and management of the project within those parameters.
• Facilitating the organization and operation of the Memorial Task Force.
• Facilitating the artist solicitation, selection process and artist contracting.
• Working in partnership with General Services on the process of identifying a site and negotiating permissions.
• Guiding the project through the appropriate review and approval milestones with Sonoma County and key stakeholders.
• In collaboration with the Memorial Task Force, the selected Artist(s) and appropriate outside advisors, help design, plan, and implement the stakeholder / community engagement process.
• Documenting the process, publicizing the process.
Public Infrastructure responsibilities on the project include:
• Working in partnership with Creative Sonoma on the process of identifying a site and negotiating permissions.
• Advising and assisting on site preparation, including participating in field review and preliminary analysis, and supporting the contracting process for sitework.
• Supporting and approving contracts and invoices for the project as necessary.
Technical Advisors:
i. Therapists specifically experienced in addressing and treating trauma
ii. Behavioral health community response and engagement professionals
iii. Conflict management professional
iv. Public art conservators
v. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion professional
The project will incorporate significant opportunities for community engagement. Artist finalists will be asked to meet with stakeholders in advance of developing their proposals to ensure that community feedback is gathered at the earliest stages of the process. Additionally, as they develop their concept, the selected artist (or artist team) will be required to work regularly with the Memorial Task Force and interested community members to ensure a collaborative spirit with the community.
An RFQ process will be used to solicit artist proposals and the process open artists outside of Sonoma County but with a local preference stated.
The estimated timeline for the project is 19 months (February 2023 - August 2024).
ALTERNATIVE OPTION
The consultants have provided a $436,000 second option estimate designed to address the emotional trauma that will be associated with this project. The expanded estimate covers costs for technical advisors who are experienced in: (a) ameliorating trauma and conflict; (b) public art conservation; and (c) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Additionally, the expanded project cost accounts for contingency, maintenance reserve, greater community engagement, as well as maintenance costs and site related costs to expand the project scope.
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Fire Memorial Budget Options |
|
Item |
Current Budget |
Alternative Option |
|
Artist Selection Committee Stipends |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Artist Selection Costs (proposal Stipends) |
$7,500 |
$10,500 |
|
Technical Advisor Stipends |
$0 |
$12,500 |
|
Contract Staff |
$76,000 |
$76,000 |
|
Artist Commission |
$145,000 |
$220,000 |
|
Site Work |
$15,000 |
$50,000 |
|
Signage and Lighting |
$4,000 |
$10,000 |
|
Community Engagement |
$2,500 |
$20,000 |
|
Contingency |
$0 |
$15,000 |
|
Maintenance Reserve |
$0 |
$15,000 |
|
Total |
$250,000 |
$436,000 |
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Prior Board Actions:
June 17, 2022 - Adopted FY 22-23 Budget.
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$250,000 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$250,000 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
$250,000 |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$250,000 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Total project costs are estimated to be $250,000 for Option 1, as detailed above. During the 2022-23 Budget Hearings, $250,000 was set aside from the General Fund for a fire memorial to mark the five-year anniversary of the Wildfire Complex and is included in Creative Sonoma’s FY 2022-23 budget. If the alternative option is preferred by the Board additional appropriations from General Fund Contingencies will requested as part of either FY 22/23 Consolidated Budget adjustments or the FY 23/24 budget development, depending on the progress of the project.
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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):
N/A
Attachments:
FY 2022-23 Board Budget Request
Fire Memorial Work Plan
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A