Approve American Rescue Plan (ARP) Community Benefit Grant proposal for Sustainability Division or $50,000 to fund a contract with a grant writing firm that specializes in climate funding, approve agreement with Mariachi Los Claveles for $2,000 to purchase instruments for the group to utilize in their learning and performance; delegate authority to staff to enter into the necessary agreements, and delegate authority to the Manager of Procurement to sign the agreements. (No general fund impact) (Brazil/Espitia)

Background
On July 25, 2023, the Board of Supervisors received an update on the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and a set of recommendations from staff for the use of remaining funding. At that time, staff recommended setting aside $500,000 for the Community Benefit Equal Allocation Plan. The Plan equally allocated a portion of that funding to each of the five supervisorial districts, allowing each Supervisor to provide grants to local Community-Based Organizations (CBO) operating within their districts. The Board approved the plan at that meeting, further augmenting the funding to $750,000. On June 4, 2024, the Board approved an additional $25,000 per supervisorial district and increased the total amount to $875,000. 

A brief description of the funding proposal follows: 

Sustainability Division
This agreement would provide $50,000 from District 4 for the Sustainability Division in the Department of Community Services to enter into a contract with a grant writing firm that specializes in the climate funding space. Based on our experience, with $50,000, the Sustainability Division would have enough funding to develop a grant strategy to fund our Phase I CAAP Priority actions and apply for at least 4 grants in 2025. To date, the Sustainability Division has had great success working with grant-writing firms that specialize in climate action funding. These partnerships have enabled firms to get to know our climate action priorities and craft high-quality, successful climate applications. In 2023, the Sustainability Division spent approximately $20,000 on climate grant writing specialists. We had a 100% success rate on those grants, and brought in just shy of $1 million in funding. This is indicative of the excellent return on our investment that we hope to achieve with a focused climate grant writing contract.  

Mariachi Los Claveles
This agreement would provide $2,000 from District 5 to Mariachi Los Claveles. They are a non-profit youth group that promotes and preserves the cultural heritage of Mariachi music through educational initiatives and community engagement. They currently have 19 students ranging from 12-18 years of age that are very passionate in creating this group for the community and future students. Mariachi Los Calveles us dedicated to creating opportunities for young musicians to participate in mariachi music through workshops, performances, and collaborative events. They will also provide educational programs and resources that teach the history, theory, and performance of mariachi music. The ARP funds will be used to purchase instruments for the group to utilize in their learning and performances.

Recommended Action
Staff is requesting authority to complete and sign the agreements with the named organizations in the amounts described above. The agreement will utilize the language shown in Att. A. Agreement Template.

Grant recipients are selected by the Supervisor's Districts and reviewed by the County Administrator's Office. County Counsel and the Department of Financial Services reviewed and approved the benefit agreement language in Att. A. Agreement Template.

The respective Supervisors' District staff review potential beneficiaries of the available ARP funding, and the Supervisor selects beneficiaries and funding amounts. District Staff then begin preparation of the agreements. The County Administrator's Office reviews the spending proposals and verifies that the proposed beneficiary meets any necessary requirements under federal and state laws. The proposal is then brought to the Board for delegation of authority to complete and sign the agreement in advance of any funding disbursement.