Policy & Services reviews nonprofit partnership applications; schedules June 4 deliberation

The Policy & Services Committee on May 28 received the Phase 1 applications for the city's nonprofit partnership work plan, heard short presentations from a dozen applicants and directed staff to provide a condensed evaluation ahead of a June 4 committee deliberation.

Staff member Lupita Alamos summarized the application review rubric staff would use to evaluate requests under four criterion: community reach, equity impact, alignment with council priorities, and program sustainability. Alamos said staff avoided ranking organizations solely by the number of Palo Alto residents served because service types and scales vary widely; instead staff proposed assessing whether Palo Alto residents are served, reviewing program description, goals and outcomes, and assessing funding request relative to program budget.

Alamos told the committee staff also planned to include applicants' prior city funding in the summary and a short classification of service categories to aid side-by-side comparison. She said staff would aim to provide the evaluation variables committee members requested and to be transparent about missing information.

The meeting included brief pitches from organizations that had applied for Phase 1 funding. Examples of applicants and remarks during public presentations:

- Third Thursday / Palo Alto Chamber Foundation (Charlie Weidans): described monthly Third Thursday events on California Avenue that…