On-Call Equitable Community Engagement Services

Planning and Building is seeking qualified community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, firms, academic partners, and individuals to assist with equitably engaging communities in the County of San Mateo.

The goal of this Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFSQ) is to make it easier for San Mateo County jurisdictions to find community partners to help conduct community outreach to historically underrepresented groups, to allow more meaningful participation in government decisions.

Community-based organizations play an important role in the communities they serve. They are often the ones who interact with the community every day, speak their language, and understand their lived realities. While many consulting firms bring expertise in community engagement, they often lack the strong local ties and relationships that come with being embedded in the community and are needed to conduct high quality, culturally sensitive outreach. This is especially important for reaching communities that have historically been left out of government decision-making and are often the hardest to reach, such as renters, low-income families, unhoused individuals and families, people with disabilities, seniors, and communities of color. Almost half of San Mateo County residents speak a language other than English at home. Approximately 40% of the population are renters, and many residents struggle to pay the bills. The decisions planning departments make often disproportionately affect these groups, and as a part of our commitment to furthering fair housing, it is important to make sure the people who are most are affected by government decisions are involved in shaping them.

Planning and Building Department will lead this RFSQ process in collaboration with cities in the San Mateo County and compile a list of qualified community partners, also referred to as a “bench.” The list will highlight which populations each organization has experience with. As a Request for Statement of Qualifications, this is not an invitation to bid, but rather a solicitation of qualifications and experience to perform the required services. While this RFSQ is being issued for the Planning and Building Department, all departments can use the bench. Interested cities will work with their own procurement offices to identify the policies and steps they need to follow to contract with the organizations on their own. When the cities and the County of San Mateo want to conduct outreach, they may reach out to organizations or individuals on the bench to see if they are interested in working on a project as paid consultants. Generally, when the organization or individuals’ services are needed, city/county staff will forward a request for services to relevant potential partners, including a project description and scope of work. Community partners on the bench would then respond with a proposal and cost estimate.

It is also possible that the cities and County of Santa Clara will use the bench.