To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Nour Maxwell, 707-565-1743
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Community Survey Consultant Selection
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Approve Community Survey Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation to select EMC Research to conduct a community satisfaction survey.
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Executive Summary:
The County’s Strategic Plan Organizational Excellence Pillar Goal 2 <https://socostrategicplan.org/organizational-excellence/> includes an objective 1: conduct a community satisfaction survey to identify baseline expectations. This effort also intends to collect the data needed to inform the County’s community engagement work. In accordance with this objective, staff conducted a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process to identify qualified consultants and narrowed the list to two consultants.
On October 18, 2022, the Board Chair established a Community Survey Ad Hoc Committee composed of Supervisors Coursey and Rabbitt. The Ad-hoc was charged with interviewing RFQ finalists and provide input on yet to be developed survey questions. As a result of these interviews, the Community Survey Ad Hoc Committee recommends selecting EMC Research to prepare and conduct a statistically significant community survey that will gather resident feedback and measure satisfaction with County services, quality of life, and other information to help the County better understand the community’s priorities, concerns and needs.
If your Board approves the recommendation, staff will undertake the contracting process with EMC Research in the amount of $40,140 for an all-inclusive community satisfaction survey.
Discussion:
Background. On February 1, 2022, the Board of Supervisors received a Strategic Plan update, accepted Objective Implementation Plans, and approved Strategic Plan Funding recommendations. Goal 2, objective 1 of the Organizational Excellence pillar (OE2.1) is to conduct a community satisfaction survey to identify baseline expectations. The implementation plan for OE2.1 included a funding request for $150,000 to meet this objective. Part of this funding was requested to contract with a top research firm specializing in conducting statistically significant community surveys.
The community survey RFQ was issued on September 9, 2022. The RFQ highlighted key qualifications to help determine a list of firms to choose from in order to meet the County’s Organizational Excellence objective. These qualifications pertain to experience and expertise in survey design, communication planning, survey execution, survey methodology, data analysis and reporting, presentation skills as well as ensuring data access through clear and understandable survey data and final report. On September 30, 2022, the County received eight statements of qualifications. These statements were evaluated to build a list of qualified firms to be used over the next three years. The evaluation team composed of staff representing the County Administrator’s Office and the Office of Equity identified six qualified firms.
On October 18, 2022, the Chair of the Board of Supervisors established the Community Survey Ad Hoc Committee composed of Supervisor Chris Coursey and Supervisor David Rabbitt. On November 10, 2022, the Community Survey Ad Hoc members interviewed the two top qualified consultants. As a result, the Committee recommends EMC Research to prepare and conduct the survey, to collect and analyze the data, and to present findings and a report to the Board of Supervisors.
EMC Research <https://www.emcresearch.com/clients/>. The firm is headquartered in Oakland, CA and is one of California's premier opinion research firms. Services include market research and data analytics, particularly in working with public agencies to understand community sentiment. The firm is reputable for providing highly accurate data and staying on the cutting edge of industry innovations. They have a proven track record in researching projects using a variety of research methodologies and have extensive experience researching the opinions and attitudes of residents, including traditionally hard-to-reach and marginalized communities. EMC Research has conducted opinion research in Sonoma County and throughout the Bay Area for over 30 years, including working with Sonoma Water for over 15 years and working with the County on a successful revenue measure for behavioral health and homelessness in 2020. This breadth of experience provides EMC Research with first-hand understanding of how residents think about various issues and how to design and implement survey approaches in Sonoma County.
Scope of work overview. The community survey will be conducted in English and Spanish, and the scope of work will include the following phases and main project requirements:
o Phase 1: survey questionnaire design and production of a survey implementation plan, including communication to recruit survey participants.
o Phase 2: survey administration with a sample of 1,000 respondents and a margin of error of ±3.1%. Survey execution will include clear quotas to ensure all community groups are equitably represented in the survey results.
o Phase 3: collection and analysis of survey results (including tabulation and production of a survey report).
o Phase 4: presentation of survey results to the Board of Supervisors and providing the County with all the raw data collected from survey in an easy-to-access format.
Racial Equity Analysis. Staff will be applying a racial equity lens to every phase of this project. This analysis will be conducted in conjunction with the consultant, County departments and the Office of Equity. The racial equity analysis will help inform survey modes, sampling, and additional languages to support representative participation and survey results.
Survey data will be analyzed to understand the specific concerns, needs and priorities of the County’s diverse community groups, including underserved and under-represented communities.
Next Steps. Upon approval of this recommendation, staff will finalize a contract with EMC Research based on the scope of work and general requirements described above. Staff expects to execute the contract this month and will return to the Board in early 2023 to seek input on the draft questionnaire.
Staff anticipates that the community survey will be initiated in February, and survey results will be presented to the Board of Supervisors in April.
Strategic Plan:
On February 1st, 2022, the Board of Supervisors accepted the implementation plan for OE2.1 and approved the Strategic Plan Funding recommendation to support conducting a community satisfaction survey to identify baseline expectations.
Pillar: Organizational Excellence
Goal: Goal 2: Increase information sharing and transparency and improve County and community engagement
Objective: Objective 1: Conduct a community satisfaction survey to identify baseline expectations.
Prior Board Actions:
10/18/2022: The Board Chair established the Community Survey Ad Hoc Committee
02/01/2022: The Board of Supervisors approved Strategic Plan Funding recommendation for Goal 2, objective 1 of the Organizational Excellence pillar (OE2.1).
01/26/2021: The Board of Supervisors approved County of Sonoma Five-Year Strategic Plan
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$40,140 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$40,140 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
$40,140 |
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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 |
$40,140 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Staff will enter into a contract with EMC Research for an all-inclusive Community survey project in the amount of $40,140. The Board approved $150,000 in Strategic Plan funding on February 1, 2022, to fund activities related to OE2.1. The remaining budget, $109,860 will be set aside to support the next community surveys which are anticipated to take place in 2025 and 2027.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
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Attachments:
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Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
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