16-0419_AMES & ASSOCIATES_F7_Supplementary Agenda ReportTO:
FROM :
DATE:
SUBJECT:
City of San Juan Capistrano
Supplementary Agenda Report
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
_ -~~ffrey Ballinger, City Attorney
;:fJYBen Siegel, City Manager
Apri119, 2016
4/19/2016
F7
Approve Professional Services Agreements with Q2 Data &
Research, LLC, and with Ames & Associates to Perform
Demographic and Community Outreach Services Related to the
Transition to District Elections
RECOMMENDATION :
1. Approve Agreement with Q2 Data & Research, LLC, to perform demographic
services in an amount not-to-exceed $50,000; and,
2. Approve Agreement with Ames & Associates to perform community outreach
services in an amount not-to-exceed $20,000; and,
3. Increase the appropriation from the General Fund Reserve to a total of $70,000
for these services; and,
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute said Agreements.
SITUATION:
After posting of the Agenda, the City received a Public Outreach Proposal from
Laer Pearce & Associates. The cost estimate in the proposal is in the amount
not-to-exceed of $35,000. If the City Council's preference is to select Laer Pearce &
Associates for the community outreach services, the appropriation from the General
Fund Reserve will need to be increased by an additional $15,000, for a total amount of
$85,000. The $85,000 appropriation would cover the demographic services and the
community outreach services.
Attachment -Laer Pearce & Associates Public Outreach Proposal
April 15, 2016
LAER PEARCE
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Public Outreach Proposal:
Transition to District Elections, City of San Juan Capistrano
Thank you for including Laer Pearce & Associates in your search for a qualified public
outreach firm for the City of San Juan Capistrano's transition to district elections for the
November 2016 election. I have been tracking other Orange County cities' transitions, and
am excited by this opportunity to potentially carry out another critically important public
outreach program for the City.
This document includes information on capabilities and staffing, the proposed scope of
work, and a general and preliminary estimate. It assumes the following proposed timeline:
May3:
May7:
May 17:
May 18-31:
June 1:
June 7:
Community Meeting #1, weekday evening
Community Meeting #2, weekend day-time
City Council Meeting #1, for creation of draft plan(s)
Draft plan(s) public review period
Community Meeting #3, weekday evening
City Council Meeting #2, final plan adoption
I look forward to sharing a more in-depth analysis of the communications challenges of this
project, and how best to respond to those challenges, at a subsequent meeting.
Capabilities and Staffing
In other Orange County cities, the transition to district elections has raised public concerns
that have created challenges for those cities' elected officials and staffs. The demographic
analysis that will be used to propose district lines is a complex and potentially controversial
process with which the general public has little or no familiarity, so experienced
communications counsel is needed to ensure communications are clear, comprehendible
and sensitive to the concerns of the public.
As a seasoned and senior communications strategist, I have developed communications
strategies and outreach programs that have earned Laer Pearce & Associates the best
public affairs success level in the state-55 wins and four losses. The reason for this
success is my ability to make complex information and controversial processes, such as
district elections and their demographic underpinnings, understandable to the general
public, in order to build trust in public processes.
23 Blackhawk, Coto de Caza, CA 92679 I Phone : 949.599.1212 I www .laer.corr
ATTACHMENT 1
City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 2
While Laer Pearce & Associates doesn't have specific experience with the relatively new
process of transitioning cities to special districts, my gift for quickly gaining understanding of
complex matters, and effectively translating this complexity into understandable, actionable
langue ensures the City will have effective communications support for the transition to
district voting.
Following is a summary of relevant experience. Please refer to the accompanying biography
for additional detail.
• Local expertise: As a 35-year South County resident and owner of a South County-based
public relations/public affairs agency, I have worked on sensitive issues for multiple
South County entities:
o For the Mission Viejo Municipal Advisory Committee, the Mission Viejo Company and
the County of Orange, the incorporation of the City of Mission Viejo;
o For the Mission Viejo Company, a successful effort to avoid the annexation of Aliso
Viejo by Laguna Hills;
o For Santa Margarita Water District, the defeat of a hostile take-over attempt by an
investor-owned utility by implementing outreach campaigns directed to the Local
Agency Formation Commission and the Public Utilities Commission;
o For Moulton Niguel Water District, the successful conversion to a water budget-based
rate system;
o For Rancho Mission Viejo and other large landowners throughout Southern California:
Building support for the creation of the Natural Communities Conservation Planning
process in response to numerous endangered species listings, which has resulted in
the conservation of hundreds of square miles of sensitive natural habitat.
• Demographics:
o For Kennecott Land, the largest landowner in Salt Lake County, Utah, using
comprehensive demographic analysis to help draft focus group and public opinion
polling questions, and using the resulting data to develop outreach and
communications strategies, messages and a Kennecott Land Vision Statement.
o For John Wayne Airport, contracting with a research firm to develop a comprehensive
analysis of the airport's user demographics and economic impact, and using the
report to create an outreach campaign and collateral materials.
• Organization Change:
o For the County of Orange, managing internal and external communications for the
County's post-bankruptcy restructuring;
o For the South Orange County Wastewater Authority, conducting an in-depth
ascertainment of the opinions and perceptions of its member agencies and external
stakeholders to help guide the board in considering governance changes;
o For South County water providers, supporting the creation of an alternative
consolidation proposal that ended state legislation that would have forced the
consolidation of all South County water providers into two Special Districts;
LAE R PEARCE « v,sucl.-\TE'-
City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 3
o For CaiOptima, conducting an in-depth ascertainment of the opinions and
perceptions of its publics -hospitals, clinics, doctors, members, volunteers, board
members-to guide the development of a more responsive business plan;
o For the City of Burbank, managing messaging relative to a dispute among members
of the JPA managing Burbank Airport, resulting in the desired continuation of the
existing management structure;
o For TRW (now Experian), assessing the strength of all communications departments
and professionals in the company, to guide restructuring considerations.
The work being conducted for current clients illustrates the senior-level work clients expect
of Laer Pearce & Associates:
• City of San Juan Capistrano: Communications and outreach in support of a study of
alternatives to the continuing operation and management of water and wastewater
utilities by the city;
• Building Industry Association of Southern California: Messaging and outreach
strategy on drought and air quality issues impacting the homebuilding industry;
• Cadiz, Inc.: Outreach, media strategy, government relations and social media for this
innovative water project, which would bring 50,000 acre-feet of water a year to
Southern California;
• Lake Mission Viejo Association: Outreach, messaging and media/government
relations supporting the upcoming switch to recycled water for lake refill;
• Mater Dolorosa Catholic Retreat Center: Strategic communications, media and
government relations to build support for the proposed sale of a portion of the
Retreat Center's land for residential development.
Assisting me on this project will be Lauren Pearce Ghazikhanian, who's worked previously as
an associate for Laer Pearce & Associates, where she managed and coordinated events,
coordinated and staffed public presentations, developed social media platforms for clients,
and reviewed and proofread copy and collateral. Since relocating to Arizona six years ago,
she has worked as a social media specialist; manager, creating social media platforms and
program performance analytics for numerous clients including national hotel chains, a
gubernatorial campaign, Arizona's tobacco cessation program and many others. Now an
independent contractor, she assists Laer Pearce & Associates on various client projects.
Roles of the Project Team Members
• Laer Pearce: Communications strategist; coordination with demographic firm and
analysis of demographic information; message development; creative strategy and
content development; media relations; meeting presentation strategies, materials
review and development; meeting attendance; client coordination.
• Lauren Ghazikhanian: Planning and coordinating community meetings, staffing
community meetings, managing meeting advertising and promotion, designing and
implementing social media support (if desired by City), reviewing/proofreading all
materials.
LAE R PEAR CE
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City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 4
Statement of Availability
While the proposed project has an accelerated and demanding timeline, Laer Pearce &
Associates will be able fully support the needs of San Juan Capistrano on this project. We
have no conflicts of interest that would preclude us from working on this project.
Proposed Scope of Work
If selected as the City's communications counsel for the transition to district elections, Laer
Pearce & Associates would undertake the following scope:
• Coordinate closely with the selected demographics firm: Obtain the information and
understanding necessary to communicate their study objectives, results and
recommendations; provide communications-related input into their process; help
develop appropriate and effective community meeting formats; review draft
presentations and materials and recommend changes as necessary to ensure clarity
and effectiveness.
• Create and update clear and effective messages. Develop messages on all aspects
of the transition process, study and recommendations and update them throughout
the duration of the program; ensure that presentation and outreach materials
accurately reflect the messages.
• Manage community meetings and City Council hearings promotion. In addition to
developing newspaper public record advertisements and news releases to local
media , we could, at the direction of Council or Staff:
o Develop, maintain and promote a "District Elections Transition" page on the
City website that would explain why the transition is being considered and the
process that's being undertaken, provide FAQs and a downloadable archive of
public documents, and include a robust questions/comments section to
ensure greater transparency;
o Expand the City's use of its existing Facebook and Twitter platforms to
disseminate information about the transition to district elections;
o Use Facebook advertising to target San Juan Capistrano residents with
advertisements and supported content to further awareness and
understanding of the transition process.
• Ensure productive community meetings: Review draft presentations for message
clarity and accuracy; work with the firm to develop handouts and support materials;
assist with site preparation; provide check-in support; coordinate refreshments, if
desired by the City; assist with time management, as necessary; monitor the
presentation and suggest ways to improve subsequent meetings; coordinate
translation services, if necessary.
• Work to promote media coverage that's accurate: Develop news releases and
background materials; maintain relationships with reporters; coordinate interviews;
work to correct reporting that is not objective or accurate.
LAER PEAR CE
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City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 5
• Promote two-way communications: Ensure that the transition study and outreach
processes are designed to encourage two-way communications so the public can
engage in the process, and decision-makers can benefit from public input.
Estimate
A detailed line-item estimate cannot be prepared under the time line for this proposal, as
many questions about the program's scope and content remain unanswered. However,
assuming the one-month timeline is maintained, agency fees should not exceed $35,000.
Expenses, such as workshop materials and refreshments, advertising and vendors (printing,
photography, translation services, etc.) will be estimated immediately after program details
are worked out.
We work on a time and materials basis, based on the following billing rates:
• Laer Pearce: $300/hour
• Lauren Ghazikhanian: $160/hour
Thank you very much for requesting this proposal. If you have questions or need additional
information, please contact Laer Pearce at 949/599-1212 or laer@laer.com.
Resumes follow .
LAE R PEAR CE
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City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 6
LAER PEARCE, APR
President
Education: Indiana University, Bloomington, 197 4
B.A. with honors, Journalism
After working as a journalist for two years, Laer Pearce became a public relations
professional in 1976, and founded Laer Pearce & Associates in 1982. The agency has
received over 100 awards for public relations and public affairs excellence, and established
the best public affairs won/lost record in the state: 75 wins and 4 losses.
He is a past president of the Orange County chapter of the Public Relations Society of
America and the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award for "Outstanding contributions
to the public relations profession and the community." He is past president of the Orange
County Forum, one of California's premier public issues groups, and a former board member
of Cal Desai. He is a lifetime board member of the Building Industry Association of Orange
County, and an active member of the Southern California Water Committee and the Orange
County Public Affairs Association.
In 2014, Laer completed the two-year transformation of Laer Pearce & Associates to a sole
consultancy, to free himself from agency management responsibilities in order to dedicate
all his time to client service.
Some career highlights that may be of interest include:
• Designing Mission Viejo's pro-cityhood campaign and its incorporation ceremony
• Creating a successful "Shop Mission Viejo" campaign for the City of Mission Viejo
• Developing opposition among homeowners to Laguna Hills' effort to annex Aliso Viejo
• Overcoming the attempted hostile takeover of Santa Margarita Water District
• Developing messages for the Orange City Council on water rights litigation and the
Anaheim City Council on a contract dispute with firefighters
• Preparing the communications platform and messages for the announcement of Orange
County's post-bankruptcy restructuring, including media training the Board of
Supervisors and all Department Heads and PIOs
In 2012, Laer published Crazifornia: How California is Destroying Itself
and Why It Matters to America, a public affairs book detailing California's
tragic -but often humorous -century-long slide to, as Laer put it, "the
bottom of most ran kings we want to be at the top of, and the top of most
ran kings we want to be at the bottom of." Crazifornia reached #1 on
Amazon's Current Events Best Seller list, and was called "The most
insightful book on California's perilous condition -ever" by talk radio
host and author Hugh Hewitt. Laer continues to share his "Tales from the
Tarnished State" with audiences throughout California.
LAER PEARCE
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LAER PEARCE
City of San Juan Capistrano
Response to Request for Qualifications
Page 7
LAUREN PEARCE GHAZIKHANIAN
Support Manager
Education: Chapman University, Orange, 2009
B.A. Cum Laude, Public Relations and Advertising
Work History
Independent Contractor, Social Media and Public Relations
• Transitioned from full-time work upon birth of first child
• Supports Laer Pearce & Associates on numerous campaigns
• Independent contractor to Ideas Collide Marketing Communications
• Social media campaign manager for leading Phoenix-area Realtor
Ideas Collide Marketing Communications, Social Media Manager
• Managed team of content creators for an international travel brand
• Developed social media strategy for clients and new business
• Reviewed and delivered analytics of social media programs
• Managed projects and social media advertising campaigns
RIESTER-Social Media Specialist
• Developed and implemented social media strategy for clients, worked with other
disciplines to develop cohesive marketing strategies
• Assisted on new business acquisition through development of plans and
presentation
• Created content for a variety of clients and social media platforms
• Reviewed and reported on analytics of social media programs
Laer Pearce & Associates-Associate
• Event management and coordination
• Copywriting, editing and proofreading
• Social media program development, implementation and coordination
• Database and response program administration
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