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Board directs staff to issue RFP for community engagement to shape strategic plan
Summary
After an ad hoc committee update, supervisors approved asking staff to issue an RFP limited to community engagement for a countywide strategic plan and to return with the proposed RFP for board review.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors directed staff on March 25 to draft and return an RFP to solicit a consultant to lead community engagement for a countywide strategic plan. Amber Bertain, deputy county executive officer, told the board the committee reviewed other counties’ strategic plans and recommended a third‑party facilitator for community engagement and objective synthesis.
“We agreed that hiring a consultant to assist with, at a minimum, the process to gather information would be very helpful,” Bertain said, describing the ad hoc committee’s work. The committee presented examples of plans from San Bernardino, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Imperial and Alpine counties as models for measurable goals, timelines and community surveys.
Supervisors Long and Plummer, who served on the ad hoc committee, said a consultant would bring objectivity, additional capacity and expertise in broad public outreach. Long emphasized the need for a usable plan limited in scope — roughly three to five primary goals with measurable sub‑goals — so the plan becomes a working document rather than a multi‑hundred‑page shelf report.
Committee materials included a high‑level cost estimate for a full strategic‑planning effort of about $150,000. Board members narrowed the immediate request to the community‑engagement phase to reduce cost and accelerate outreach. Supervisor Plummer moved that staff return with a proposed RFP for community engagement and that the board bring the contract back for approval; the motion was seconded and passed 5‑0.
Under the approved direction, staff will draft an RFP focused on outreach and visioning (surveys, public workshops, stakeholder interviews) and present it to the board for approval before issuing it. Supervisors said they will expect the selected consultant to present objective, quantified community priorities and recommendations that can be translated into measurable county goals and tied to departmental work and the budget process.
Board members emphasized the importance of inclusive outreach beyond frequent meeting attendees and said they expect staff and the ad hoc committee to shape the RFP so it captures broad community input. Bertain told the board that the ad hoc committee and staff will work with the supervising board members on vendor evaluation and that the board will approve any contract award.
