County approves community survey and formalizes 'Contra Costa Community Impact Fund' to guide $1M‑per‑district allocations

The Board of Supervisors on Aug. 12 approved a countywide community survey and a program title to guide the distribution of $1,000,000 per supervisorial district from previously reserved FEMA/ARPA funds. Staff and chiefs of staff advised the board and asked supervisors to select whether they wanted a single common survey across the county, a hybrid survey with shared core questions plus district‑specific questions, or district‑only surveys.

Chiefs of staff and Tim Ewell of the County Administrator’s office presented a draft 10‑question survey (plus six demographic questions) designed to capture urgent community needs and priorities. Staff recommended collecting ZIP code and supervisorial district as required fields so that results can be disaggregated geographically. The draft is anonymous; staff said they would not collect personally identifiable information or IP addresses in the basic survey but could accept paper or mailed responses if needed for community accessibility.

“Your board asked us to return with a draft survey and a proposed program title,” Tim Ewell said. “We recommend the board select a title and provide direction about whether to use a single, hybrid, or district‑specific survey.”

Supervisors and staff agreed on the title "Contra Costa Community Impact Fund" for the $1M‑per‑district program. The board also directed staff to finalize the survey (with Spanish translation and other accessibility supports) and to publicize the survey via QR codes, libraries and community events. Staff suggested a timeline to complete the survey before the board’s Oct. 21 meeting so supervisors could use survey and town‑hall input to decide allocations for each district on that date.

Several supervisors emphasized local discretion: each supervisorial office will develop its town‑hall process and may run additional district‑level engagement or accept applications for funding, rather than requiring a uniform application process across the county. Supervisors discussed models for managing small (micro) grants and recommended keeping administrative burdens low for applicants where possible. Staff offered options such as partnering with community foundations to administer small grants.

Public commenters and community groups urged rapid deployment of funds for food security, senior services, workforce development and rent/housing needs. Several commenters asked the board to ensure outreach in multiple languages and through trusted community partners. Supervisors asked staff to add explicit options on the survey for food insecurity, senior services and workforce/job training.

The board voted to accept staff recommendations to finalize the survey, to use the program title Contra Costa Community Impact Fund, and to return on Oct. 21 with community input to consider district allocations. Staff will issue a final survey (English and Spanish) and provide QR codes and a media toolkit to the supervisors’ offices for outreach. The board directed that the Equity Committee receive the survey results and that staff provide the survey data disaggregated by zip code and district.

(Ending) Supervisors said they will continue district outreach and gather responses at town halls and community events between now and the Oct. 21 meeting, when the board plans to consider allocations for the $1M per district.