REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Cultural Inclusion Study and Plan
Report
BACKGROUND
In adopting the 2017 “Statement on Our City Values and Public Service,” the City Council affirmed its commitment to creating a culture of belonging where all members of our diverse community feel included, heard and respected, as strengths of Sunnyvale’s history (Attachment 1). In doing so, the City recognized the significant role diversity plays in leading an innovation economy like Sunnyvale’s.
In 2019, Council approved Study Issue LCS 19-03 - Explore Strategies to Promote Cultural Inclusion in City Programs and Services. This Study explores policies and programs to advance the City’s goals for ensuring a service delivery system that is inclusive and reflective of the City’s diverse communities, which included: 1) an assessment of the City’s current policies, programs and resources as they relate to equity and inclusion; 2) a review of best practices and development of recommendations relative to cultural inclusion policies and programs; and 3) analysis of the costs and resources required to establish an Office of Cultural Inclusion or other, less costly, options for strengthening Sunnyvale’s diversity and inclusion efforts.
During City Council’s Strategic Planning Workshop on January 28, staff presented a preliminary report on Study Issue LCS 19-03. Staff provided a summary organizational assessment, highlights of best practices and cost estimates for establishing an Office of Cultural Inclusion as well as two other less costly organizational approaches. At the Workshop, Council also established Equity, Access, and Inclusion as one of six Council Policy Priorities. Individual Council members also requested additional information be included in the final Study Issue report to include an option for a pilot program, opportunities for community celebrations and continuation of Sunnyvale Unity conversations, and benchmarking neighboring cities’ inclusion efforts related to staffing, budget, outreach and training efforts.
EXISTING POLICY
Chapter 2 (2-33) of the City’s General Plan Values and Vision
Resolution 997-20: Denouncing Xenophobia and Anti-Asian Sentiment
Resolution No. 1046-21: Denouncing Anti-Asian Hate
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4) and 15378(b)(5) in that is a fiscal and governmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment and does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potential significant impact on the environment.
DISCUSSION
Organizational Assessment
Staff conducted an organizational assessment, meeting with representatives from each City department. Through these conversations, staff identified current policies, practices, and documents as well as numerous on-going programs, services and efforts designed to reach and serve diverse residents. These include, but are not limited to:
• Information/brochures for the public in multiple languages
• Multi-lingual staff available for translation services
• Cultural inclusion policies and plans
• Website translations into multiple languages
• Outreach to diverse community groups for recruitment on Boards and Commissions
• Anti-bullying policy for Library and Recreation programs
• Administrative Policy Ch. 3 Art. 32: Policy Against Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation
• City-wide multi-cultural special events and programs
• Community outreach programs including unity events in response to community requests
Additionally, the City currently performs the following functions during regular business:
• Provides news releases and information to ethnic media outlets and community organizations with diverse membership through a subscription list that any organization can sign up for to receive current city information.
• Develop relationships with leaders of diverse ethnic and cultural organizations representing Sunnyvale residents.
• Encourages internal diversity and inclusion through recruitment efforts targeting diverse communities and offering cultural diversity training for city staff.
• Encourages neighbors and residents to get to know one another through neighborhood association outreach and community cultural events/celebrations. City activities that promote neighborhood and resident interactions include National Night Out, community events and neighborhood grants program and quarterly Neighborhood Association meetings.
• Translation and interpretation services to increase access for linguistically isolated community members. City is currently updating its Administrative Policy, Chapter 1, Article 18 for Community Outreach which includes multi-lingual City documents and publications.
While we identified many policies, documents, and services, they are generally unique to departments and specific services, and may lack consistency across the broader organization. The lack of a clear inclusion strategy or policy to align these various programs and services was mentioned in multiple conversations with department representatives.
Best Practices
At the local level, Sunnyvale is one of the few majority/minority congressional districts in the US and recognizes the importance and value of being an inclusive community for all residents. Our research identified several organizations leading program design and research efforts around access and inclusion. These organizations have toolkits, trainings, convenings and experienced staff to support local jurisdictions in their various phases of implementing cultural inclusion policies and programs.
Attachment 2 summarizes the best practices of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) - Equity and Inclusion Priority, the Welcoming America model, and the Human Rights Campaign - Municipal Equity Index (MEI). Sunnyvale is currently a member of GARE and Welcoming America.
Benchmarking
In addition to researching best practices, staff conducted a benchmarking survey of eight neighboring cities (Attachment 3) to learn about local efforts. Campbell and Cupertino have no efforts underway currently. Six of the cities surveyed have broader efforts that include equity and access as well as cultural inclusion in their scope. Each city’s systems, budget, staff allocations, boards/commissions and work plans vary widely and there appears to be no regional standard, trend, or approach to addressing equity and inclusion. These six cities are currently in either early discussions or a more formative stage of their respective equity and inclusion processes.
Five of the eight cities surveyed are currently considering one or more of the following organizational commitments around equity and inclusion: forming an advisory committee, creating a core staff team (utilizing existing staff), securing contracted consultants, hiring interns and/or term-limited staff, allocating short-term or long-term budget resources, and, in San Jose’s case, creating an Office of Racial Equity:
• The City of Santa Clara has no dedicated staff or budget resources allocated. They recently formed a Community Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
• The cities of Mountain View and Palo Alto have no dedicated long-term staffing model, although they both have short-term dedicated budget resources allocated toward community outreach, data analysis, organizational training, policy development and core teams in support of their race and equity efforts.
• Redwood City has a dedicated budget for one term-limited (two-year) Equity and Inclusion Officer, as well as a Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Planning Intern to support its diversity, equity, and inclusion programming.
• The City of San Jose has recently created an Office of Racial Equity, with an annual budget of one million dollars, which covers three full-time staff and program operating costs allocated to the racial equity division of the office. In addition to the racial equity division, the Office of Racial Equity also has an immigration affairs division, with an annual budget of $800,000, which covers three full-time staff and program operating costs.
PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT OPTIONS
Based on national best practices and the work occurring locally, staff has developed four options to promote cultural inclusion within the City of Sunnyvale. These options vary, primarily, by the level of resources required for implementation. With an understanding of the current budget pressures imposed by the pandemic, the options could be a way to “ramp up” efforts over time as more resources become available.
Each of the options includes development of an inclusion policy framework as a key component necessary for structuring all future efforts. Once the policy framework is established, specific performance measures, objectives and resource allocations would be further developed.
Option 1: Establish Internal Team
• Low resource allocation ($30,000/annually)
• Establish an internal team to lead the City’s efforts. This approach utilizes existing staffing resources and requires variable shifts in workload and priority for those individuals that make up the team. The team would be responsible for developing Sunnyvale’s cultural inclusion policy using resources from GARE, Welcoming America, Human Rights Campaign and ICMA. ($15,000).
• This team would also create organizational policies, attend trainings and conferences, and in-turn, sponsor consultant-led organization-wide training and follow-up at the department level designed to improve inclusivity in service delivery ($15,000).
Option 2: Establish Internal Team with cultural event and organizational training
• Moderate resource allocation ($135,000/annually, includes Option 1 action and costs)
• Create a signature cultural event separate from the annual State of the City and focused entirely on bringing the community together to celebrate the rich diversity of cultures making up the fabric of Sunnyvale. This event would be the main opportunity for outreach on service inclusivity. ($55,000)
• Provide mandatory annual inclusion training for all Sunnyvale staff through on-site consultant services. ($50,000)
Option 3A: Cultural Inclusion Pilot Project (3-Year)
• Significant resource allocation ($425,000/year)
o Inclusion Manager ($235,000) + annual program costs ($190,000)
• The Inclusion Manager (3-year term limited) would:
o Establish and lead an internal team
o Work with team and consultant(s) to develop organization-wide policies based on national recommendations for best practices that include a framework for implementation
o Provide mandatory annual inclusion training for all Sunnyvale staff through on-site consultant services
o Lead an annual multi-cultural event
o Conduct regular on-going community engagement to assess needs, priority areas for planning and results
Option 3B: Office of Cultural Inclusion
• Significant resource allocation ($750,000/annually)
o Inclusion Manager ($235,000), Analyst ($195,000), Office support ($127,000) + administrative and program costs ($193,000 for consultants, training, multi-cultural event, etc.)
• This fully functional Office of Cultural Inclusion would:
o Establish and lead an internal team
o Work with the team and consultant(s) to develop organization-wide policies based on national recommendations for best practices that include a framework for implementation
o Conduct regular on-going community engagement
o Lead an annual multi-cultural event
o Seek grants, donations, and partners
o Conduct regular on-going community engagement to assess needs, priority areas for planning and results
Although the workplan for Option 3B is similar to Option 3A (pilot), the major differences are the addition of three full-time staff members which allows greater impact in the community through a more concentrated, directly deployed effort. Additionally, this level is estimated to have a lower impact on existing work across the organization, as other City staff would not be called upon as much to support the effort. This level of effort also considers the development of an ongoing fully staffed “office” added to the General Fund budget well into the future.
FISCAL IMPACT
The options for strategies Sunnyvale could pursue to promote cultural inclusion in City programs and services range from:
• Lowest resource commitment of $30,000 for a baseline effort, ($750,000 total over 20 years if efforts were sustained at this level)
• Moderate resource commitment of $135,000 to add an annual event and organizational training to the baseline effort ($3.4 million total over 20 years if efforts were sustained at this level)
• A “pilot” option, presented as Option 3A, which would cost $425,000 annually for three years (for a total effort of $1,275,000), and
• A more significant long-term annual commitment of $750,000 with a fully staffed Office of Inclusion (totaling $18.8 million over 20 years).
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, Sunnyvale Public Library and Department of Public Safety. In addition, the agenda and report are available at the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
Staff
Prepared by: Angela Chan, Youth and Family Resources Manager
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Superintendent of Recreation Services
Reviewed by: Cherise Brandell, Director, Library and Recreation Services
Reviewed by: Jaqui Guzmán, Deputy City Manager
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Statement on Our City Values and Public Service
2. Summary of National Best Practices
3. Benchmarking Results - Neighboring Cities