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Sunnyvale staff outline community needs assessment plan, including phone survey of 400 residents and May forum
Summary
City staff briefed the Human Relations Commission on a community needs assessment with consultant MIG, a planned phone survey of 400 residents for statistical representation, targeted focus groups for immigrant and accessibility communities, and an open community forum May 20; draft findings are expected to go to council in June with a final report in August.
City staff provided a multi-part update on the community needs assessment (item 26-0388), including the consultant team, planned outreach methods, and an expected timeline for draft and final reports.
Staff said consultants MIG (primary consultant) and an additional contractor (Evidos) will conduct a phone survey of 400 Sunnyvale residents designed to produce a statistically valid sample across council districts. "The reason why there's only 400 is because we want it to be statistically valid," a Deputy City Manager clarified during the meeting. Staff said the phone survey will be conducted over late March and April and that the target of 400 completes will be combined with qualitative information from informational interviews, community conversations, focus groups and public forums.
Outreach will intentionally target immigrant communities: Latinx, South and Southeast Asian groups, and East Asian communities; staff noted that more than half of Sunnyvale residents are foreign-born and emphasized trust-based outreach through community-based organizations and liaisons. Staff also described focused engagement with people with disabilities, youth (via a youth advisory board), and unhoused residents, explaining that the housing office is already surveying unhoused neighbors and staff will aggregate those data to avoid overburdening participants.
A public community forum is scheduled for May 20 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall (child care and snacks planned); staff said they hope to hold a second forum before the end of the school year (early June) in a north-side location selected for transit access. Staff said a draft presentation to City Council is planned for June and a final presentation with recommendations in August.
Commissioners asked that faith-based communities (including the Jewish community) be specifically invited; staff said faith groups will be tracked and invited, and that the forum will include topics addressing religion and spiritual life where relevant. Staff and city leadership also noted Brown Act constraints that limit commissioners’ participation in small focus groups as a body; staff said they are working on formal approaches to involve commissioners without violating open-meeting rules.
No formal action was taken; staff asked commissioners to assist with outreach to ensure participation across neighborhoods and groups.
