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PUC outlines community benefits push: workforce, contracts and education
Summary
PUC staff described efforts to move a 2011 community benefits policy into implementation, including workforce development, community-benefits clauses in professional services contracts (piloted in SSIP), education/tours expansion and planning for an agencywide RFP to scale implementation.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff on May 8 described steps to implement the agency’s community benefits policy adopted in January 2011, placing emphasis on workforce development, contract terms and public education.
Juliet Ellis, Assistant General Manager for External Affairs, told commissioners the PUC has focused on translating policy into practical program elements over the past year. The agency has worked with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development to develop a local-hire implementation plan and is preparing a workforce development RFP to build a consultant pool to help each enterprise maximize local-job opportunities.
Ellis said PUC staff piloted community-benefits requirements in professional services RFPs for the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP). Those two professional-services contracts included commitments (job opportunities, internships, on-the-job training, school adoptions, environmental cleanup) that firms made as part of their proposals; the PUC did not pay extra to secure those commitments.
Commissioners welcomed the shift from policy language to implementation but asked for clarity on long-term costs and how to evaluate the nexus between PUC capital projects and community benefits. Commissioner Vitor said he wants a clearer accounting of the long-term costs of the overall program and a pilot approach that yields evidence for future citywide legislation. Ellis said the agency is coordinating with the city attorney and exploring legislation with the mayor’s office and Board of Supervisors.
Ellis also cited education initiatives: expanding public tours of Hetch Hetchy from the usual three to 12 per year and exploring institutionalized access for Camp Mather visitors; licensing a Contractors Assistance Center in Bayview Hunters Point to help small contractors bid on PUC and city contracts; and realigning arts funding to better connect arts projects to PUC priorities.
The presentation closed with PUC plans to develop metrics to track jobs created and economic stimulus attributable to community benefits commitments.
Next steps: staff will continue to pilot community-benefits clauses in contracts, finalize an agencywide workforce RFP, and coordinate budgetary implications and possible citywide legislative approaches.
