Special Notice / Hearing: None
__ Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Manager
Justin W. Mates, Deputy County Manager
Subject: Resolution Approving Amendment to Agreement with Storefront Political Media for COVID-19 and Other Media Support
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing a waiver of the Request for Proposal Process and approving a third amendment to the agreement with Storefront Political Media to revise the scope of services, to increase the maximum amount payable under the Agreement by $147,750, to an amount not to exceed $640,450, and to extend the term of the agreement through June 30, 2022.
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BACKGROUND:
The Office of Community Affairs has been partnering with Storefront Political Media (Storefront) for the development and communication of COVID-19-related messaging for residents of San Mateo County. Storefront assists the County to develop and share easy-to-implement public health tips in multiple languages and Storefront has helped to encourage behavior change with respect to COVID-19 by sharing videos from local influencers asking the community to adhere to orders from State and local health authorities.
Storefront has also assisted in developing messaging to direct individuals and small businesses facing economic hardship to smcgov.org for additional resources, testing information, and information about assistance programs. This Amendment extends Storefront Political Media’s COVID-19-related work into next year and provides for media support for other community outreach initiatives targeting similar audiences.
Given the existing proclamation of local emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and pursuant to his authority as the County Emergency Services Director under Resolution Number 077305 of this Board, the County Manager executed an agreement dated August 4, 2020 with Storefront on behalf of the County. Under the agreement, which has been amended twice to revise the scope of work, to extend the term of the Agreement and to increase the amount payable thereunder, Storefront has worked with the Office of Community Affairs to develop and implement a County-wide COVID-19 communications strategy, for the term of August 4, 2020 through December 31, 2021, for an amount not to exceed $492,700.
This Amendment extends the term of the Agreement for six months, through June 30, 2022 and increases the maximum amount payable under the Agreement to $640,450. Because the maximum amount authorized to be expended by the Director of Emergency Services on any agreement related to COVID-19 response is $500,000, this amendment requires approval of the Board of Supervisors. Further, because a portion of the scope of work covered by the proposed amendment to the agreement covers initiatives that are not specifically COVID-19 related but which overlap and are synergistic with the work that Storefront has been performing for the County, staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors determine that the best interest of the County would be served without the necessity of competitive bidding for that scope of work and waive the request for proposal process in this case.
DISCUSSION:
County health data shows that vulnerable populations in San Mateo County continue to be disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Underlying conditions, such as crowded households, risk of exposure to COVID-19 from working in essential jobs that cannot be done remotely, and lack of access to affordable health care services are long-term challenges contributing to the spread of the virus. While the County’s “Comeback” campaign is designed to reach all San Mateo County residents, the supplemental outreach effort contemplated by this Agreement will take a grassroots, micro-targeted, action-oriented approach to reach people at higher risk for COVID-19, due to these underlying conditions.
As the County contends with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that the County continue to develop and implement effective communication strategies to ensure that the community receives culturally competent and timely information about how to remain safe and healthy. This strategic plan focuses both on making sure that those who are not yet vaccinated continue to see positive vaccine messaging in their communities, as well as continuing to roll out proactive messaging around holiday safety, vaccine boosters, and supporting local small businesses as they recover from the pandemic. This proposal aims to facilitate both rapid-response communication as COVID-19 guidelines shift, as well as long-term messaging around initiatives such as the Middlefield Road improvement project and other community outreach programs.
Storefront Political Media will provide communication materials and strategic campaign guidance to the County Office of Community Affairs, including audience determination and mailing list segmentation. Storefront will create graphics and short video ads to support ongoing Office of Community Affairs projects such as COVID-19 communications, rental relief outreach, the Middlefield Road improvement project, local small business support, and special projects, as needed, all of which focus on grass-roots, micro-targeted, action-oriented approaches.
Storefront will place media buys, prioritizing in-language social media placements, partnerships with local and national in-language media outlets, and Connected TV ads. This would also include as-needed boosted posts to amplify content created by the Office of Community Affairs. All in-market media buys will be closely monitored and optimized; analytic insights will be shared with the Office of Community Affairs. Collaterals will be translated in Spanish and additional languages, as identified by the County. Ads will be microtargeted to the most affected and vulnerable communities in the County.
The amendment to the agreement with Storefront and the associated resolution have been reviewed and approved by County Counsel as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of this agreement, as amended, is August 4, 2020 through June 30, 2022 and the maximum amount authorized to be expended is $640,450. Funds for this Agreement, as amended, has been included in the FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget and the FY 2022-23 Recommended Budget.