Receive update on Climate Action and Adaptation Planning Process and consider approval of associated items, contracts, and funding allocations. (General fund impact $495,420) (4/5 vote required) (Wraithwall)

On September 29, 2020, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors passed Resolution No. 20-114, titled “A Resolution Declaring a Climate Crisis Requiring Urgent and Inclusive Mobilization in Yolo County.” This resolution set forth the ambitious goal of achieving a countywide carbon-negative (climate-positive) footprint by 2030 and urged the investment of countywide resources to initiate a just transition to an inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and resilient local economy while also supporting and advocating for regional, national, and international efforts necessary to reverse the climate, social justice, and economic crises. The resolution directed the County to create a working advisory body, the Yolo County Climate Action Commission (“Commission”), to develop and propose a new Climate Action [and Adaptation] Plan (“CAAP”) designed to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions in Yolo County and achieve the County's ambitious climate goals. County and the Commission have been working to lay the groundwork to achieve a carbon-negative footprint by 2030, including taking the following actions: 

On August 4, 2022, the County released a competitive Request for Proposals (“RFP”) (Att. B. - Exhibit A - RFP) for consultants/consulting firms to provide Climate Action & Adaptation Planning Services within unincorporated Yolo County. The RFP outlined a number of values the County wishes to emphasize, including but not limited to:

The RFP was posted until September 8, 2022, and the County received 4 proposals. After careful review and evaluation, Dudek, a California Corporation, received the highest score in the evaluation process (Att. C. Exhibit B - Dudek Proposal; Att D. Exhibit C - Cost Proposal). Dudek's planners have authored award-winning and transformative plans that have been recognized for their innovation in both environmental planning as well as opportunity and empowerment. With an emphasis on resilience, equity, community-driven processes, and action-oriented solutions, Dudek will work with the County to craft a plan to meet the goal of achieving a net negative footprint by 2030. 

CAAP CONTRACT FINANCIAL DETAILS AND FUNDING REQUESTS

The cost of Basic Services provided by Dudek shall not exceed $495,420; however, the contract (Att A. Contract) identifies a number of optional Additional Services--such as preparing vehicle miles traveled ("VMT") estimates for unincorporated Yolo County under 1990 and 2005 conditions, preparing VMT metrics for consistency with SB 743, and preparing a detailed carbon inventory to estimate total carbon storage associated with existing land uses within the County--that may be provided at the request of the County. The total amount of compensation for any Additional Services shall not exceed $100,000 dollars, for a total contract amount not to exceed of $595,420. If no Additional Services are requested by the Director, the total amount shall not exceed $495,420. Any compensation for additional services must be explicitly pre-approved in writing by the Director.

County staff recommend that $495,420 in Climate Action Contingency be allocated to cover the Basic Services of the Contract, and that $100,000 in climate action ARP funding be allocated to cover any optional Additional Services requested by the County.


ADDITIONAL CAAP SCOPE OF WORK FOR THE YOLO COUNTY RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT

In order to achieve the County's goal of achieving net-negative carbon emissions by 2030, carbon sequestration will need to play a central role in the CAAP development and implementation processes. According to the Carbon Cycle Institute, agricultural and natural lands are the most valuable tool to massively scale-up rates of carbon sequestration across the globe while also building climate resilience and ecological health. The Institute asserts carbon sequestration must become the next value-added agricultural product. The County has been a leader in agricultural land conservation for over 150 years and is poised to become a leader in helping growers address climate change impacts as well. With 85 percent of County lands designated for agricultural use, agricultural lands are arguably the County’s most valuable resource for increasing carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change. In order to ensure growers' goals, needs, and expertise are centered in the CAAP development process, County Staff identified the Yolo County Resource Conservation District ("RCD") as a trusted partner who could help lead and facilitate conversations with the agricultural community. 

The County has an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with RCD (dated February 24, 2009) to assist with the implementation of county conservation projects and plans due to the RCD's unique expertise, capabilities, and equipment. The MOU notes that additional services may be added by RCD and/or the County from time to time through supplements to Exhibits subject to prior approval by the Board of Supervisors. Due to the importance of natural and working lands to the CAAP development process, staff are requesting approval for the addition of an amendment (Att. E. Amendment) for additional scope of work (Att. F. Exhibit A-2), which outlines how RCD will support Yolo County on the development of the CAAP. This work will include, but is not limited to, engagement with farmers, farm workers, private landowners, the Yolo County Farm Bureau, and the agricultural industry and other agricultural groups; facilitation of the Commission's Natural and Working Lands Working Group; working with the CAAP consulting team to support the development of an inventory of natural and working lands emissions by type; contributing to the development of measures to support adaptation and resilience strategies that relate to natural and working lands including regenerative agriculture and open space, transportation and infrastructure; and drafting final CAAP products relating to natural and working lands. 

Staff are seeking approval of an allocation of $45,287 in ARP funds to support RCD's role in the Climate Action and Adaptation Planning process. 


CAAP COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ELEMENT

The recent evolution in effective community engagement processes has underscored that funded engagement—in the form of stipends or other compensation—is a highly-effective tool for supporting dynamic, equitable community engagement and establishing trust and buy-in with the outcomes of public processes. Community-based organizations (“CBOs”) and community leaders in Yolo County—particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (“BIPOC”) —are often asked to spend unpaid time reviewing documents and providing feedback on lengthy public processes, creating a strain for organizations and individuals that are already under-staffed and under-resourced. Participation stipends—and support in the form of free childcare and food, for example—not only enable more active and engaged involvement from community organizations and residents that face capacity challenges, but they reflect a respect for the lived experiences of County residents, and a commitment to ensuring diverse communities have a voice in decision-making processes.
 
Implementation of new funding strategies to support the public engagement work associated with the development of the County’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (“CAAP”) will ensure policies, projects, and programs developed through the CAAP are more equitable, address the true needs of Yolo County residents in all 5 County districts, and identify the actual root cause of social disadvantage and environmental harm. While establishing these programs is not without complications, members of the Commission, the Commission’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Scope of Work Ad Hoc Working Group (“Ad Hoc Working Group”), and members of the public have repeatedly raised the issue of stipends/compensation as a topic of critical importance to the success of the County’s CAAP development process. 
 
Now that the County is poised to begin the CAAP development process, County staff believe it is critical that the County compensate Commission members—and subsequently working group members—to be messengers to their communities, and recruit Yolo County residents to participate in working groups and other engagement activities such as workshops, surveys, and town hall events. Trusted messengers—and the distribution of stipends and/or childcare, food, etc.—will enable the County to reach individuals and groups in the community who might not see climate action as a natural area for their engagement. Compensating Commission members to help lead this recruitment and selection process and subsequently guide working groups and engagement workshops puts the trusted actors who know their communities best in the driver’s seat.

County Staff raised the importance of this topic at the July 11, 2022, meeting of the Board of Supervisors Climate Action Ad-Hoc Subcommittee (“Subcommittee”). At this meeting, the Subcommittee decided to seek input from the Commission regarding stipends for public meeting participation. Given the imminent launch of the CAAP development process and the need for targeted working group discussion on the topics of equity & engagement and natural & working lands, staff sought Subcommittee approval to develop a suite of compensation/stipend options for consideration by the Commission. After extensive discussion and careful review, on August 22, 2022, the Yolo County Climate Action Commission voted to recommend the following four community engagement proposals in concept (summarized in Table 2 below).
 
Options recommended by the Commission were then brought to the September 6, 2022, Subcommittee meeting for further discussion. It is assumed that final approval of any stipend options will be required the Board of Supervisors, as the Yolo County Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy highlights that there is a prohibition on stipends for “County boards, commissions or committees except as specifically authorized in advance by the County Board of Supervisors.”
 
1. Funding for Outreach Partners. If approved, Yolo County (with support from the CAAP consulting team and the Commission) will identify “anchor” CBOs that would apply for mini-grants and/or contract funding to develop and implement an outreach plan in support of the CAAP Equity and Engagement Strategy. The outreach plan may include review of draft materials, meeting facilitation and survey administration, development and printing of materials, and stipends to support outreach activities. The Commission recommended that the Equity and Engagement Working Group work with the CAAP Consulting Team and County Staff to identify up to 5 Outreach Partners that would be compensated up to $5,000 each ($25,000 total) to lead engagement activities in Yolo County in support of the CAAP development process.
 
Examples
Several jurisdictions, including the City of Sacramento and the County of Los Angeles have contracted with CBOs to lead portions of community engagement in support of public processes such as Climate Action Plan development and/or COVID education. The City of Sacramento has recently launched a Participatory Budgeting Program, which administers Outreach Partner stipends with amounts varying from $250-$5,000 based on the services agreed upon. Services include:

The County of Los Angeles developed a process wherein a designated Anchor CBO in each of the 5 Supervisorial Districts served as an Outreach Partner for Climate Action Plan development.  These organizations played a central role in uplifting equity discussions, both by participating in the design and facilitation of workshops as well as by ensuring that discussions were inclusive of the perspectives of low-income communities of color. Anchor CBOs received a total of $20,000 each from the County of LA for these services, granted in installments as each phase of work was completed. Outreach Partner organizations were approved by their Supervisor’s Office, and all agreed to provide the following specific services:

2. Support for Public Meeting Participation. If approved, Yolo County will allocate $5,000 for incentives such as childcare, food, gift cards, etc., to support for participation in select CAAP workshops, town halls, surveys, etc. Staff will work with the Commission’s Equity and Engagement Working group and the CAAP Consulting Team to develop a policy to ensure the $5,000 budget is controlled (ie. raffling off gift cards as opposed to having an unlimited number to distribute). 

Examples:

3. Stipends for Commission Members. If approved, Yolo County will provide compensation to Commission members for their participation in regularly scheduled meetings at a rate of the amount of $100 per Commission meeting attended. This rate takes into consideration the length of Commission meetings as well as the time required to serve as a messenger to their community for CAAP-related outreach, material preparation, and meeting follow-up. The Commission also recommended an additional $50 per meeting attended to the Chair/Co-Chair (for a total of $150 per Commission meeting attended) to compensate for the additional work required to support the development of Commission materials, prepare community presentations, and engage in regional collaborative work. Any County Staff member, elected official, or individual/organization currently under contract with County to provide related services will not be eligible for compensation. Eligible Commission members will have the opportunity to opt out if they do not require a stipend to participate.
 
Examples:

4. Stipends for Working Group Members. If approved, Yolo County will compensate members of the two Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Working Groups—including the Equity and Engagement and Natural and Working Lands Working Groups—at a rate of $50 per meeting attended. While the Commission recommends that Commission Member representatives be eligible for working group stipends, they recommend that Commission Members be eligible for no more than one $50 working group stipend per month in addition to their Commission stipend (even if they are serving on multiple working groups). Any County Staff member, elected official, or individual/organization currently under contract with County to provide related services will not be eligible for compensation. Eligible Working Group members will have the opportunity to opt out if they do not require a stipend to participate.
 
Examples:

Staff is seeking approval of an allocation of $51,000 in ARP funds to support these community engagement strategies for 2023. However, the Department of Community Services, Sustainability Division has applied for a $20,000 grant (the maximum allowable grant amount) from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network to provide funding for Options 3 and 4 above (Stipends for Commission Members and Stipends for Working Group Members to serve as Community Messengers for the CAAP process). It is expected that the grant awards will be announced on November 18, 2022. 

If the County’s grant application is successful, the ARP request for this item will be reduced to $31,000.

Representatives from the following County Departments, advisory groups, and external partners participated in the review of the Request for Proposals for climate action and adaptation planning services:

The Yolo County Climate Action Commission includes appointed representatives from all 5 County Districts, as well as ex-officio members from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and University of California, Davis. In addition, County Staff and the Commission are collaborating with the Yolo Resource Conservation District on climate action community engagement related to natural & working lands. County staff have received input  from the Climate Action Subcommittee of the Board of Supervisors on these items.

A Request for Proposals for consultants/consulting firms to provide Climate Action & Adaptation Planning Services within unincorporated Yolo County was issued on August 4, 2022 and posted until September 8, 2022. Four proposals were received and evaluated. After evaluation of the four proposals, it was determined that Dudek should be awarded the contract. Additional information regarding the competitive bid process is included below, including the evaluation criteria and scoring breakdown of the four proposals received. No protests concerning the contract award were received.