RFP_No._CM-0205_(POST).pdf

CM-0205

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP RETREAT FACILITATION

SERVICES

City of Santa Cruz

809 Center st

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2025

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: March 19, 2025

RESPONSE DEADLINE: March 28, 2025, 4:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santacruzca

City of Santa Cruz

Executive Leadership Retreat Facilitation Services

I. Introduction

II. Project Details

III. Evaluation Phases

IV. Vendor Submissions

#CM-0205

Title: Executive Leadership Retreat Facilitation Services

1. Introduction

1.1. Summary

The City occasionally needs to hire consultants to provide professional services when the workload exceeds the capacity of City staff or when specialized expertise is required for specific projects. In the past, the City has sought and processed Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Requests for Qualifications

(RFQs) on an individual project basis to support various initiatives. By establishing on-call lists for professional services, the City can reduce staff time and speed up project delivery, as it avoids repeated solicitations for qualifications and proposal reviews. This approach leads to cost savings due to economies of scale and significant time savings.

The City Manager’s Office (CMO) is seeking professional services to host an Executive Leadership retreat. The primary objective of this retreat is to build cohesion among various departments, foster trust across the organization's leadership, and create clarity around aligning departmental goals with the City’s strategic plan. The retreat will also focus on tools and strategies for operationalizing these goals with an emphasis on a shared vision that the team can revisit throughout the years. A more detailed description of the services and general needs can be found in the Preliminary Scope of Services.

1.2. Background

The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 and formed its current charter in 1948. It is governed under a Council/Manager form of government. A Mayor and six Council members set policy for the City and a City Manager serves as chief administrator of those policies. The City is located on the coast, 75 miles south of San Francisco on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay. It encompasses 15.8 square miles with cultural and ethnic diversity among its population of 65,000. Santa Cruz is part of the National

Marine Sanctuary and is a popular tourist destination owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historical landmarks.

The City provides a full range of municipal services and facilities including a recreational wharf, public golf course, over thirteen hundred acres of open space, full beach services, refuse management, law enforcement, fire protection, and water and wastewater utilities. The City is also host to the University of

California Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Harbor, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park.

1.3. Contact Information

Emeline Nguyen Principal Management Analyst 809 Center Street, Room 9 Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Email: enguyen@santacruzca.gov Phone: (831) 420-5017

Department:

City Manager

Department Head:

Matt Huffaker City Manager mailto:enguyen@santacruzca.gov tel:(831)420-5017

1.4. Timeline

Release Project Date March 14, 2025

Questions and Clarification Submission

Deadline

March 19, 2025, 4:00pm

Question and Clarification Tentative

Response Date

March 21, 2025

Submittal Deadline March 28, 2025, 4:00pm

2. Project Details

2.1. Important Instructions for Electronic Submittal

The City of Santa Cruz is accepting electronic solicitation submittals. Vendors shall create a FREE account with OpenGov Procurement by signing up at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santacruzca. Once you have completed account registration, browse back to this page, click on "Submit Response", and follow the instructions to submit a response to this solicitation.

2.2. General Information for Proposers

All applicants must provide thorough and comprehensive responses that clearly demonstrate their team’s approach to and consistency with the below-mentioned standards.

The City invites qualified firms to respond to this Request for Proposal (RFP) for the project (“Project”) titled below:

Executive Leadership Retreat Facilitation Services

RFP No. CM-0205

The City anticipates awarding a contract to a vendor for one-time services.

The successful Proposer shall provide all necessary tools, equipment, materials, taxes, apparatus, facilities, labor, transportation, supervision, and management to complete the work described in this RFP unless specifically supplied by the City. Additionally, the successful Proposer will deliver the outlined services along with a brief description of these services, as further detailed in the Preliminary Scope of

Services.

2.3. Preliminary Scope of Services

Goals and Objectives

• Building Cohesion: Enhance teamwork, unity, and collaboration among different departments.

• Building Trust: Establish and strengthen trust across the leadership team.

• Strategic Alignment: Align departmental goals with the City's strategic plan and identify areas of collaboration.

• Operational Focus: Establish an ongoing opportunity to focus on achieving the shared vision.

• Support Network: Create a supportive environment for leaders to manage strategic and competing goals, build a trusted network of peers to help navigate issues that affect several teams (personnel issues, funding challenges, operational improvements, etc.)

Program Deliverables

• Host one offsite workshops aimed at establishing year-round norms and expectations.

• Develop strategies and avenues for ongoing peer-to-peer feedback and support.

• Foster a strong and purposeful culture across the organization proactively and strategically.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santacruzca

Workshop Components

The leadership workshop will include preparatory and debrief meetings to ensure success. The key deliverable is a one-day facilitated offsite for the City’s executive leadership team led by the consultant.

The workshop topics will include:

• Identifying strengths and areas of opportunity.

• Developing a shared language for creating clearer expectations.

• Improving productivity and collaboration.

• Supporting change management to build trust, purpose, and a growth-minded organization.

Consultant Responsibilities

• Conduct preparatory meetings to understand the organization's dynamics and needs.

• Facilitate the one-day offsite leadership workshop.

• Lead debrief meetings to assess the workshop's impact and plan follow-up actions.

• Provide the City with materials and resources needed for the workshop and any follow up efforts recommended.

Expected Outcomes

• Enhanced cohesion and teamwork among departments.

• Increased trust and collaboration across the leadership team.

• Clear alignment of departmental goals with the strategic plan.

• Effective operationalization of goals with a quarterly focus.

• A supportive network for leaders to achieve strategic goals and tackle leadership challenges together.

2.4. Responsibilities of City

The City will be responsible for providing a designated City contact for assisting with communications and meetings, information regarding past work, and any other areas within the Scope of Work that needs additional support during the course of the project required to complete the work.

2.5. Vendor’s Employee Conduct

Vendor will agree to remove any employee whose conduct is improper, inappropriate, or offensive as determined by the City. A removed employee(s) is not to work on City premises without the written consent of the City. The Vendor will remove any employee from working in, or delivering to, City facilities who is convicted of a felony during his/her employment.

3. Evaluation Phases

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Adherence to RFP Requirements

To be considered responsive, the proposal shall include the information detailed in this section. Proposer must provide information in the proposal in the same order as shown below. The proposal shall be separated into the sub-headings referenced below. Failure to provide this information may result in a proposal being considered non-responsive to requirements.

Points Based 5 (5% of Total)

2. Firm Background Information

This section must include the following

(maximum 2 pages):

A. Legal name, addresses, telephone numbers of the principal office (national headquarters) and local office. Include the same information if services will be provided from additional locations.

B. Year established and history.

C. Business entity status (i.e., partnership, corporation, LLC).

D. Indicate if Proposer has defaulted in its performance of an agreement or project during the past five (5) years which has led the other party to terminate the agreement and if so, the identity of the parties involved and the circumstances of the default or termination.

E. Respond to the following:

1. Explain any pending litigation, liens, or claims involving your organization.

2. Has your company filed for bankruptcy in the last ten

(10) years?

3. Firm Qualifications, Expertise, and

Experience

In this section (maximum 5 pages), include the following:

A. Describe the Proposer’s qualifications and experience working on similar, relevant, or related projects that were completed, as outlined in Section 2.3 Preliminary

Scope of Services.

B. Describe how the Proposer (or

Proposers if submitting a jointly prepared proposal) is organized to provide the required services as outlined in Section 2.3

Preliminary Scope of Services.

C. If utilizing any subconsultants and/or subcontractors, describe their qualifications working on similar, relevant, or related projects that were completed, as outlined in Section 2.3

Preliminary Scope of Services.

D. Provide a list of all services

Proposer has performed for the

City in the past three (3) years, include a description of the services, date of engagement(s), members of the proposed team that performed the services.

Indicate if Proposer served as the prime contractor or as a subcontractor.

E. Provide response on the

Procurement Portal for Project

Background and Detail

Information.

Points Based 20 (20% of Total)

4. Team Qualifications, Expertise and

Experience

In this section (maximum 5 pages), include the following:

A. Provide the names, qualifications, certifications, and relevant technical experience of personnel and subcontractors of the proposed project team who will perform the services described in Section 2.3 Preliminary

Scope of Services. Include details about their experience with similar projects with comparable magnitude.

B. Provide resumes for each member of the proposed project team and include the qualifications and experience suited to the proposed assignment. A resume needs to be submitted for each bullet within the category or categories for which you are applying. Include resumes as a separate attachment.

If awarded the contract, Proposer shall make every effort to ensure that the staff resources identified in the proposal will be available for the Project. If staff identified in the proposal are not available, the City reserves the right to review and approve alternate personnel.

Points Based 25 (25% of Total)

5. Technical Approach and Work Plan

In this section (maximum 5 pages), include the following:

A. Technical Approach: Describe your approach to completing

Section 2.3 Preliminary Scope of Services. Identify deliverables and key decision points. Provide comments regarding the proposed

Preliminary Scope of

Services. This may be used as an opportunity to expand upon your team’s specific experience and expertise, and to outline any changes you believe would help achieve the Project’s goals and objectives.

B. Work Plan: Describe how the project team will fulfill Section

2.3 Preliminary Scope of

Services. Include a detailed project schedule in the Project

Schedule Document. Provide a matrix of personnel, tasks, and an estimated effort in hours.

The work plan shall include a process for delivery of the range of services outlined in Section 2.3 Preliminary Scope of

Services. To the extent possible, the proposal shall reflect the roles and responsibilities of team members in the major tasks outlined in Section 2.3

Preliminary Scope of Services and strategies to accommodate the staffing needs for each task order. As appropriate, include tools and techniques you could use in addressing challenges and delivering services outlined in

Section 2.3 Preliminary Scope of

Services.

Points Based 30 (30% of Total)

Proposers shall address all major tasks outlined in Section 2.3 Preliminary

Scope of Services and as appropriate, suggest supplemental tasks/sub-tasks for incorporation into the final Preliminary

Scope of Services.

6. Cost Proposal

Provide an all-inclusive cost proposal for all proposed services, including partnering firms and incidental expenses.

It is the Proposer’s responsibility to state all costs required to provide the services outlined in Section 2.3 Preliminary

Scope of Services. Proposal shall include the following:

• Hourly rates (or range of rates with reasons) for each resource type/subject expertise.

• Project costs broken out and to include all expenses that will be charged to the City.

• Identify any potential circumstances that the City would be charged for additional work.

• Provide proposed incremental costs for any optional services, or other variability in services.

• A disclosure of all personal, professional or financial relationships with any officer and/or employee.

This portion of the proposal will be evaluated based on the reasonableness of the proposed costs. Costs will be evaluated as compared to costs the City or other comparable public agencies have paid for similar services and with the industry’s standard and customary costs for the services.

The price will be evaluated in the following manner:

A. The responsive proposal with the lowest price will be given

Points Based 10 (10% of Total) the full weight of points assigned to the pricing criteria.

B. Every other responsive proposal will be given points proportionately in relation to the lowest price. This point total will be calculated by dividing the lowest proposed price by the total proposed price of the proposal being evaluated with the result multiplied by the maximum weight for the price

(100 %) to arrive at a price score of less than the full score for price.

Example: Lowest Total

Proposed Price Total

% Price Proposer’s Total

Proposed Price X for

Price = Score

7. References

In this section (maximum 5 pages), provide the following:

A. Three (3) Client References that provide former clients and representative projects undertaken in the last five (5) years which demonstrate relevant experience with the

Project.

B. For each project identified above, provide a project description, project costs, project goals, project duration, actual project outcomes, project owner, and member(s) of the proposed team for this RFP that participated in the project, including any subcontractors that worked on the project.

C. For each reference, provide the name of the agency/firm, and contact person’s name, title, address, phone number, and email address. Please ensure that the contact information is accurate for each reference.

The City reserves the right to:

• Check as many references that the City deems necessary.

• Assess a Proposer’s past performance.

• Contact references that the City determines are representative projects demonstrating experience relevant to this RFP.

• Check any other reference(s) that might be indicated through the specified contacts or that result from communication with other entities involved with similar projects.

• Include other industry sources and users of similar services known to the City.

• Contact client references for only shortlisted Proposers.

It is the responsibility of the Proposer to ensure the client reference contact person is available and willing to provide a reference within the timeframe stated in this section. The client reference score/weight shall have no bearing on any other evaluation criteria.

4. Vendor Submissions

4.1. Proposal Submittal *

The undersigned, upon acceptance, agrees to furnish the following in accordance with the specifications and terms and conditions per City of Santa Cruz at the prices indicated herein.

The undersigned, under penalty of perjury, declares not to be a party with any other business to an agreement to propose a fixed or uniform price in connection with this proposal.

The unsigned declares under penalty of perjury that she/he is authorized to sign this document and bind the business or organization to the terms of this Proposal.

The undersigned recognizes the right of the City of Santa Cruz to reject any or all proposals received and to waive any informality or minor defects in proposals received.

The undersigned declares under penalty of perjury that the information contained in this Proposal and all accompanying documents are true and correct.

☐ Please confirm

*Response required

4.2. Proposal Requirements*

Did you read through and confirm that you met all of the proposal requirements?

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required

4.3. Proposal (without Cost Proposal)*

Please upload your proposal here without pricing included. Upload fee proposal separately in the next step.

*Response required

4.4. Separate Cost Proposal*

Confirm that your fee proposal is not attached in your Proposal and is attached separately here.

Proposers must complete and submit a Cost Proposal with their Proposal submittal by the Proposal

Submittal Due date. It is the Proposer’s responsibility to state all costs required to provide the services outlined in Preliminary Scope of Services. Costs shall include, but not be limited to, direct labor, overhead, fringe benefits, profit, subcontractor costs, and other direct costs (ODC) such as materials, supplies, taxes, and travel. A Proposer’s failure to submit a Cost Proposal will deem the Proposal non-responsive.

Provide an all-inclusive cost proposal for all proposed services, including partnering firms total cost and incidental expenses.

• Hourly rates (or range of rates with reasons) for each resource type/subject expertise.

• Project costs broken out and to include all expenses that will be charged to the City.

• Identify any potential circumstances that the City would be charged for additional work.

• Provide proposed incremental costs for any optional services, or other variability in services.

• A disclosure of all personal, professional or financial relationships with any officer and/or employee.

*Response required

4.5. Will your business extend the same prices, terms and conditions to other public agencies?* Indicate whether your business will extend the pricing, terms and conditions of this bid to other government agencies, if you are the successful bidder. Your business would be required to make this contract available to interested agencies for at least six months following the award of this contract.

Interested government agencies may enter into their own contract with the successful Contractor. They may negotiate minor changes in terms and conditions.

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required

4.6. Local Preference Certification Form

Please download the below Local Preference Certification Form, complete, and upload.

• Local_Preference_Certificat...

4.7. Non-Collusion Declaration Form*

Please download the below Non-Collusion Declaration Form, complete, and upload.

• Non-Collusion_Declaration_F...

*Response required

4.8. Upload W-9*

*Response required

4.9. I understand that by submitting false information or failing to disclose material information in order to qualify for the preference my business will be 1) required to pay the city any difference between the contract amount and what the city’s cost would have been if the contract had been properly awarded, and 2) prohibited from bidding on any city contract or receiving any city contract for a period of three years of the discovery of facts supporting the same.*

☐ Please confirm

*Response required

4.10. Acknowledgment of Addenda and Question and Answer*

In order to submit a proposal, the vendor acknowledges that they have read all addenda, and questions and answers posted for this solicitation.

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