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LAFCO announces intended award of on‑demand workers survey to UC Santa Cruz team; one proposal received
Summary
LAFCO’s executive officer said only one proposal was received for a planned on‑demand workers survey and announced intent to award the contract to a UC Santa Cruz research team partnering with Jobs with Justice and community organizations; contract negotiations were underway and expected for approval on May 17. A commissioner declared a conflict and was excused for the item.
At the April 2019 meeting, Executive Officer Brian Goble updated commissioners on the request for proposals for a survey of on‑demand workers in San Francisco. Goble said the RFP, issued in January and extended to March, produced a single but strong proposal. He described the intended award to a team of academic researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led by Professor Chris Benner (principal investigator), with key roles for Steve McKay (associate professor of sociology, UC Santa Cruz), Jobs with Justice San Francisco (Kung Feng and Erin Johansen), and Hazewitt and Matt Schumwanger of the Driver’s Seat cooperative to support data collection via an app.
Goble said the partners will recruit gig workers for multilingual focus groups, have workers help design the survey questions and methodology, use multiple methods and data sources, and explore issues including tipping practices on platforms. He said the partners are experienced with confidentiality plans and intend to store survey data in encrypted form. Goble said he is "entering into contract negotiations" and hopes to bring a contract to the commission for approval at its May 17 meeting.
Before the presentation, a commissioner disclosed a conflict of interest because of prior employment with Jobs with Justice and requested to be excused for the item. A motion to excuse the commissioner was made by Commissioner Singh and seconded by Commissioner Feuer; the chair stated, in the transcript, "Commissioner Maher is excused for this item." The transcript records the conflict disclosure and the motion but does not reconcile differing name variants in the exchange.
Commissioner Singh asked whether the survey would capture tipping practices on gig platforms such as DoorDash and Instacart; Goble confirmed that tipping policies will be part of the research scope and noted coordination with Supervisor Peskin’s office and the city Bureau of Labor Standards enforcement. No formal contract award was voted on at the April meeting; Goble described the intended award and said the formal contract would be returned for approval.
