Request for Proposals - Public Works Department Organizational and Staffing Assessment

Request for Proposal (RFP) for
Public Works Department
Organizational and Staffing Assessment
Date: September 28, 2026 Department: Administrative Services
Proposal Due Date: October 23, 2026, Time: 2:00 P.M.
Proposals must be submitted along with any relevant attachments in PDF format by email to:
Office of the City Clerk
Crystal Mui, City Clerk
Email: cmui@cityofsancarlos.org
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Proposal Information - Format
Proposals will be received by the City of San Carlos, hereinafter called the "City", by email until
2:00 P.M., PDT October 23, 2026.
Questions regarding the Request for Proposal should be submitted in writing by email no later
than October 14, 2026 to:
Rebecca Mendenhall
Administrative Services Director
Email: rmendenhall@cityofsancarlos.org

I. INTRODUCTION
The City of San Carlos ("City") is soliciting proposals from qualified consulting firms to conduct a
comprehensive assessment of the organizational structure and staffing of our Public Works
Department. The firm selected will work closely with designated staff to evaluate current
organizational alignment, interdepartmental coordination, staffing allocations, management
structures and benchmark San Carlos' practices against comparable California municipalities.
Materials submitted by respondents are subject to public inspection under the California Public
Records Act (Government Code Sec. 6250 et seq.), unless exempt.
Overview of the City
The City of San Carlos is a fullservice, general law city, governed by a councilmanager form of
government. The City employs approximately 104 fulltime employees. Incorporated in June 1925,
San Carlos has a population of about 30,000. Encompassing approximately 5 square miles, San
Carlos is situated 25 miles south of San Francisco, on the San Francisco Peninsula, in San Mateo
County.
The City utilizes a twoyear programbased operating budget. The total budget for the Fiscal Year
202627 is $150 million, with a General Fund Budget representing approximately $70 million. The
General Fund's appropriations support the main operations of the City including Public Works
Engineering and Operation and Maintenance Services, Community Development, Planning and
Building Services, Parks and Recreation Services, , and other General Government Services. The
Fiscal Years 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget contains $274 million in
spending over the five-year period. The CIP Budget will fund improvements to the sewage system,
the storm drainage system, streets rehabilitation, traffic and transit projects, parks and recreation
and other various improvements and enhancements to the City's infrastructure.
II. SCOPE OF WORK
The City of San Carlos seeks a consultant team with demonstrated expertise in organizational
analysis within municipal management.
The purpose of this assessment is to provide the City with an independent, objective, and data-
driven analysis of whether the current divisional structures within the department and divisions
under review are optimally organized to accomplish their respective missions and whether staffing is
appropriately allocated to meet service demands. The assessment will evaluate organizational
structure, staffing levels, contracted services and supplemental staff augmentation, spans of control,
supervisory relationships, workflows, and service delivery practices to determine whether current
resources and organizational arrangements are aligned with the City's operational needs and
strategic objectives. The City seeks recommendations that will improve efficiency, reduce
duplication, improve delivery of services that are currently multi-departmental, clarify
accountability, and position the departments for long-term organizational health.

The assessment shall encompass the Public Works Department as a whole, including all functional
areas identified in this RFP. The consultant shall evaluate both individual functions and the
organizational relationships between functions, including opportunities to consolidate, realign,
centralize, decentralize, or otherwise modify the organization to improve service delivery and
accountability.
The consultant will provide recommendations and options for organizational structure and
interdepartmental coordination; analysis of staffing levels and allocation; analysis of supplemental
staffing and contracted services; best practices and benchmarking against comparable municipal
agencies; and actionable strategies to improve service delivery, coordination, accountability and
workflow. The consultant will also develop recommendations regarding staffing, contractual
services, organizational design, the appropriate departmental placement of the functions and the
management structure necessary to support the Department's current and anticipated operational
needs.
The Public Works Department is responsible for planning, design, construction, and maintenance of
the City's public infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks, storm drains, parks and open spaces,
and public facilities. The department also manages solid waste, recycling, and wastewater programs.
Key functional areas include:
* Capital improvement project planning, design, and construction management
* Permit management for grading and encroachments
* Transportation planning and traffic management
* Private development and mapping
* Street, sidewalk, and infrastructure maintenance
* Parks infrastructure management and maintenance
* Facilities management for City-owned buildings
* Solid waste, recycling, and wastewater programs
* Storm and flood control management
Divisions include:
* Engineering
* Fleet Maintenance
* Traffic Operations/Maintenance
* Street Maintenance
* Parks and Open Space Maintenance
* Facilities Operations/Maintenance
* Wastewater/Sewer Operations/Maintenance
* Stormwater Operations/Maintenance
The assessment shall consider the appropriate organizational relationship among these functions
and shall evaluate whether each function is appropriately structured, staffed, supervised, and
positioned within the Public Works Department or elsewhere within the City organization.

The following objectives are applicable to both assessment efforts.
1. Assess Current Organizational Structure: Evaluate the existing department, including
organizational structure, reporting relationships, spans of control, functional groupings,
management responsibilities, supervisory relationships, delegation of authority, and the
alignment of structure with the respective department's mission, strategic priorities,
operational workload and anticipated future needs.
2. Analyze Staffing Levels and Allocation: Examine current staffing levels, position
classifications, vacancies, and the distribution of staff across divisions and functions. Assess
staffing needs using workload indicators, service demands, regulatory requirements,
operational responsibilities, and industry benchmarks. The consultant should identify
appropriate workload measures for each major functional area and use those measures
together with comparable agency information, to identify staffing gaps, redundancies,
capacity constraints, and opportunities for reallocation or organizational improvement.
3. Analyze Use of Contracted Services: Examine current contracts and supplemental staffing
arrangements used for ongoing service delivery, including Parks and Open Space
maintenance, janitorial services, staff augmentation for traffic and development review, and
construction management and inspection for capital improvement projects. For significant
contracted services, evaluate the current scope, cost, service levels, City oversight
requirements, workload, and comparable municipal approaches. Identify potential
advantages, disadvantages, costs, and implementation considerations associated with
continuing contracted services, bringing services in house, or utilizing a hybrid service
delivery model.
4. Assess Functional Placement and Interdepartmental Relationships: Evaluate whether
functions are appropriately located within Public Works or elsewhere within the City
organization. Assess opportunities for consolidation, centralization, decentralization, shared
services, or reassignment of functions. Evaluate the effectiveness of interdepartmental
relationships, handoffs, accountability, communication, and coordination for services that
involve multiple City departments.
5. Interdepartmental Division Assessment: Assess the functional grouping for effective
coordination of the department, specific to the above-mentioned divisions. Analyze whether
existing organizational structures promote or impede effective collaboration, service
integration, and clear accountability. Identify structural redundancies, functional gaps, and
misalignments between divisional organization and operational needs.
6. Benchmark Against Comparable Agencies: Research and analyze the organizational
structures and staffing models of comparable California municipal governments to provide
context for the City's current approach and proposed changes. The parameters of
comparable agencies should be identified and evaluated based on relevant service delivery
characteristics including:
o Geographic area served, measured in square miles;

o Population served;
o Number, size and complexity of facilities owned, operated and maintained, including
utilities, streets, buildings, developed parks, open space and trails;
o Scope and complexity of municipal utilities managed; and
o Capital Improvement Program
The consultant shall identify the rationale for selecting each benchmark agency and shall
identify material differences between the benchmark agencies and San Carlos that may affect
comparisons of organizational structure, staffing, or service delivery. Benchmarking should
include, as appropriate, organizational structure, staffing levels, service delivery models, use
of contracted services, and management structures.
7. Identify Opportunities for Improvement and Organization Options: Develop evidence-based
findings and prioritized recommendations with alternative options for restructuring divisions,
realigning functions, adjusting staffing allocations, modifying service delivery models, and
addressing any identified gaps in capacity or organizational effectiveness. Where appropriate,
the consultant shall provide alternative organizational models and identify the advantages,
disadvantages, staffing implications, financial implications, and implementation
considerations associated with each option.
8. Develop an Implementation Roadmap: Provide a phased and actionable implementation
plan for recommended changes, including recommended sequencing, estimated timelines,
resource requirements, staffing considerations, financial implications, potential impacts on
employees and service delivery, and actions necessary to implement organizational changes.
Recommendations should distinguish between short-term, medium-term, and longer-term
actions.
Key Questions to Be Answered
At a minimum, the assessment should help the City answer the following questions:
1. Is the Public Works Department appropriately organized to meet current and anticipated
service demands?
2. Are functions appropriately grouped within the department?
3. Are reporting relationships, management responsibilities, and spans of control
appropriate?
4. Are staffing levels appropriate based on workload, service demands, regulatory
requirements, and comparable agencies?
5. Are there functions that should be reassigned, consolidated, centralized, decentralized,
or otherwise reorganized?
6. Are current contracted and supplemental services appropriately structured relative to
alternative service delivery models?
7. Are there gaps, redundancies, or capacity constraints affecting service delivery?
8. What organizational or staffing changes should the City consider over the next three to
five years?
9. What changes, if any, would improve accountability, coordination, and service delivery?

10. What should be the recommended sequence for implementing organizational changes?
III. REQUIRED CONTENT OF PROPOSAL
General Requirements
All costs incurred in the preparation and presentation of this proposal shall be wholly absorbed by the
consultant.
The Proposer shall include, at minimum, in its proposal the information outlined below in a manner
which demonstrates the Proposer's competence and qualifications for the satisfactory performance
of the services identified in this RFP.
1. Statement of Qualifications
The Proposer shall prepare a statement of qualifications which identifies:
A. The size, stability, and capacity of Proposer's organization to provide the services described in
the Scope of Services.
B. An identification of the Proposer's qualifications demonstrating compliance with the Minimum
Qualifications set forth in this RFP. The Proposer shall provide information that clearly
demonstrates the experience of its firm and principals performing services similar in scope,
complexity, and nature to those described herein, including the number of years the Proposer
has provided such services.
C. Demonstrated experience conducting organizational, staffing, operational, or service delivery
assessments for municipal Public Works, Public Services, or comparable infrastructure
departments. The Proposer shall identify the number of comparable municipal assessments
completed within the past five years and briefly describe the scope and outcomes of those
assessments.
D. A list of the Proposer's principals, employees, agents, and sub-service providers which the
Proposer intends to assign to this project. This list shall include a summary of the qualifications
(including education, training, certifications / licenses, and experience) of each individual; the
approximate number of hours each will devote to the contract; and the type of work to be
performed by each individual.
E. The following information on all state or federal litigation in which Proposer or any proposed
subcontractor was a named party, or worked under contract with a party named in a lawsuit:
1. Case name and number
2. Case location (including county and state for state litigation, or district for federal
litigation)
3. Year case was filed

4. Whether case is pending or resolved, and outcome (if any)
5. Description of the case (i.e., type of case, whether case is typical, what claims were
alleged against Bidder or subcontractor)
2. Statement of Exceptions, if any, to Standard Professional Services Agreement
The selected firm will be required to execute the Service Provide Agreement included in template
form as Attachment 2. All proposers are directed particularly to review all Indemnification, Hold
Harmless and Insurance requirements set forth in this Agreement. If Proposer wishes to take
exception to any of the terms and conditions contained in the Agreement for Service, these should
be identified specifically; otherwise include a statement of no exception in the submitted proposal.
Failure to identify contractual issues of dispute can later be the basis for the City disqualifying a
proposer. Any exceptions to terms, conditions, or other requirements must be clearly stated.
3. Scope of Services
Provide a detailed Scope of Services that describes the Proposer's recommended approach for
completing the Organizational Assessment for the Public Works Department as described in this
RFP.
The proposed Scope of Services shall demonstrate the Proposer's understanding of the City's
objectives and include a detailed description of the tasks, subtasks, methodologies, stakeholder
engagement strategies, analyses, and deliverables necessary to complete the assessment. For each
task, describe the purpose of the task, the work activities to be performed, the anticipated
outcomes, and the resulting deliverables, if any.
The City intentionally provided a scope of work outline, not a detailed, specific scope of work and
expects Proposers to develop a comprehensive Scope of Services based upon their professional
expertise and understanding of the project objectives. The quality, completeness, and
appropriateness of the proposed Scope of Services and methodology will be considered in the
evaluation of proposals.
Proposers should clearly identify any additional tasks, analyses, data collection, stakeholder
engagement, or other activities they recommend to achieve the City's objectives and answer the
Key Questions to Be Answered identified in this RFP.
The proposed methodology shall include appropriate engagement with City leadership, Public
Works management and supervisory staff, Public Works employees, and representatives of other
City departments that regularly coordinate with Public Works. Proposers shall describe their
proposed approach to interviews, focus groups, workshops, surveys, or other stakeholder
engagement. The consultant shall maintain confidentiality regarding individual employee
comments and shall not attribute comments to individual employees in the final report unless
expressly authorized by the City.

Include a project schedule identifying major tasks, milestones, deliverables, stakeholder
engagement activities, review periods, and with a completion date no later than March 31, 2027.
4. Cost Proposal
Provide a table with the estimated labor hours by personnel proposed for the project for each task
identified in the Scope of Services. The table shall include subtotals by both column and row along
with a total estimated hours to perform the Scope of Services. All pertinent and relevant
assumptions that may affect the proposed hours shall be clearly listed in this section of the
proposal.
Schedule and Deliverables
The project schedule will be structured around key phases of the Public Works organization
assessment, including project kickoff, data collection, stakeholder engagement, organizational and
workload analysis, benchmarking, development of findings and organizational options,
development of recommendations, and preparation of the final assessment. Key deliverables will
include a project work plan, data and interview findings, an assessment.
Key deliverables shall include, at a minimum:
* Project work plan and schedule
* Current state organizational and staffing assessment
* Workload and service demand analysis
* Stakeholder interview and engagement findings
* Benchmarking analysis and identification of comparable agencies
* Assessment of contracted and supplemental service delivery models
* Organizational and staffing options
* Final findings and prioritized recommendations
* Implementation roadmap identifying recommended sequencing, timelines, resource
requirements, and potential impacts on employees and service delivery
* Final report and presentation to City leadership
The schedule will include regular progress check-ins with the City and opportunities for City staff to
review draft findings and recommendations prior to completion of the final report to ensure
alignment with the organization's priorities and timely completion of each deliverable.
5. References
The Proposer shall also provide a list of at least five recent projects that are representative of the
services requested in this RFP. At least three of the five projects shall involve organizational,
staffing, operational, or service delivery assessments for a municipal Public Works, Public Services,
or similar infrastructure department. For each project, include the client organization's name,
contact person, title, telephone number, and email address; a description of the services
performed; the contract amount; the project completion date (or status if ongoing); and the
Proposer's specific role and responsibilities.

RFP Check List
Please provide a completed RFP Checklist (Attachment 1). Please include the official name, address,
phone number, fax number, email address of the vendor, as well as the name of the principal contact
person and the name of the person authorized to execute the contract.
Please confirm the consultant's ability to meet the minimum requirements. Please explain any
exception to the consultant's ability to meet these minimum requirements.
IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA
After reviewing the submitted proposals, the City may invite some or all proposers to present their
qualifications and proposed approach or may decide to select one proposer without conducting
interviews and enter into contract negotiations directly. Proposer interviews, if necessary, are
expected to be conducted according to the schedule provided in Section VI. Details of the interview
process will be provided along with the invitation to present.
The final selection will be based upon the following criteria:
1. Ability of the Proposer to Carry Out and Manage the Proposed Project (35%)
An assessment of the Proposer's proposed scope of work, project approach, schedule, staffing
plan, and project management strategy. Consideration will be given to the Proposer's
demonstrated understanding of the City's objectives, the clarity and completeness of the
proposed work plan, the ability to identify and address key project issues, and the proposed
methods for communication, coordination, quality control, and timely completion of the work.
2. Qualifications (25%)
The qualifications, including education, training, licenses, experience, and past performance, of
the Proposer and its agents, employees, and sub-service providers. The City may consider the
Proposer's experience with similar projects, demonstrated expertise, references, and timely and
accurate performance on contracts of a similar nature.
3. Quality of Proposed Methodology and Understanding of City's Organizational Questions (10%)
4. Willingness to Comply with the Proposed Agreement Terms (5%)
A sample agreement is attached. Proposals will be rated based on the exceptions taken to the
proposed contract.
5. Cost of Proposal (25%)
Cost, while not determinative, will be considered as part of the selection process. The City may
consider the overall value of the proposal in relation to the proposed scope of services.
Provide a detailed cost proposal identifying the proposed labor classification, hourly billing rate,
estimated labor hours, and estimated cost for each task identified in the proposed Scope of
Services. The cost proposal shall include subtotals by task and personnel classification and a total
proposed cost. The proposal shall separately identify any anticipated direct expenses,
subcontractor costs, and optional services. All pertinent assumptions that may affect the

proposed hours or costs shall be clearly identified.
V. GENERAL CONDITIONS
* All proposals must conform to the requirements of this RFP and must be submitted according to
the outline set forth in Section II and Section III.
* Proposers must also submit the California Levine Act Statement (Attachment 3)
* The City of San Carlos reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any defects in the
proposals received, and to select the consultant considered the most advantageous to the City.
* Proposals received after the deadline and/or received unsigned shall be considered void and will
NOT be considered.
* All proposals, responses, inquiries, correspondence or other documents relating to this RFP will
become the property of the City when received. The City reserves the right to use any or all ideas
presented in any proposal, whether amended or not; selection or rejection of a proposal does not
affect this right.
VI. RFP Timeline
Milestone Date
RFP Issue Date September 28, 2026
Deadline for Questions October 14, 2026
Response to Questions posted October 19, 2026
Proposal Due Date October 23, 2026 by 2pm
Interviews (if deemed required) November 2-6, 2026
Award of Contract November 23, 2026
All dates are subject to change at the discretion of the City.