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Council authorizes RFP for strategic-priorities process after debate over scope and timing
Summary
After a lengthy debate about whether the RFP was too prescriptive, the council authorized release of a request for proposals to hire a consultant to lead a more robust, multilingual community engagement process and to develop multi-year strategic priorities, with an option to appoint a subcommittee to refine the RFP.
Assistant City Manager Sherry Klima presented staff’s recommendation to issue an RFP for a consultant to lead a strategic-priorities and work-plan process. Klima said staff is seeking council guidance on whether priorities should run four or six years and proposed a robust community-engagement approach that includes multilingual outreach, surveys, focus groups, and council workshops.
Several council members said the RFP as drafted felt prescriptive and asked for more internal discussion about options before releasing it; others argued timing required releasing the RFP now to align consultant work with the budget calendar. One public commenter urged broad outreach to the city’s multicultural population and raised an unrelated pesticide (Roundup) concern that staff said they would follow up on. Following deliberation, the council authorized release of the RFP and discussed appointing a subcommittee to provide guidance on final RFP language and evaluation criteria. The city manager emphasized the council would still award or reject proposals and retain final authority over the process.
Councilmembers expressed support for more community engagement overall, and several favored a four-year priority horizon with two-year work plans tied to the budget cycle.
