Palo Alto committee reviews proposed fixes to nonprofit partnership Phase 1 after nonprofit feedback

City staff presented proposed improvements to the Phase 1 nonprofit partnership work plan at the Jan. 14 Policy & Services Committee meeting, aiming to address confusion and administrative friction that emerged during the program’s first cycle.

Lupita Alamos, assistant to the city manager, said the work began after the 2022 city auditor report recommended clearer nonprofit management practices. Staff outlined four guiding principles — impact and accountability; service alignment; fairness, open access, equity and inclusion; and flexibility for special circumstances — and described challenges from the first Phase 1 cycle, including unclear applicant eligibility, an unexpectedly high application volume, and the difficulty of using broad council priorities as the primary evaluation metric.

Alamos noted staff’s proposed improvements: exclude organizations already funded through existing multiyear service agreements or specific grant programs (such as HSRAP or CDBG) from Phase 1; create…