The City of Sparks has elected to update the Comprehensive Plan as identified in the City’s Strategic Plan.  Funding for this contract was included by the City Council in the City’s FY 2015/2016 budget.

A key component of the plan is public outreach and engaging the citizens of Sparks. Staff envisions engaging the community using traditional community workshops, forming community stakeholders/advisory groups, working with city stakeholders and utilizing digital tools and media. In particular, staff is recommending hiring a consultant to assist the City to utilize new tools, including social media and survey methods, in order to broaden public participation in the planning process.

Another component is involving all the City departments, not just the Planning Division, so the Comprehensive Plan has organization-wide ownership. The City’s goal is a collaborative decision-making process, resulting in a better Comprehensive Plan that establishes policies for the City’s operation that the City Council and city employees can use to guide their decisions and development of the City.

At the end of June 2015, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit and select a consultant to assist City staff with the public outreach component of the Comprehensive Plan update. The City received 11 responses from consultants across the United States.  An interdepartmental panel of five City staff members reviewed and scored the RFPs. Based on the review criteria, City staff members interviewed four consultants who presented information on their team, their proposed methodology and their ability to meet the project schedule.

The committee unanimously recommends to the Sparks City Council that the contract be awarded to RAD Strategies in the amount of $100,000. The RAD Strategies team has more than 30 years of experience working in Nevada and has been working with Sparks since 2009 on Sparks’ branding and smart phone APP. This component of the Comprehensive Plan update is at the intersection of communications and planning. RAD Strategies team has the knowledge and experience along with the tools and tactics to engage the public beyond the traditional public meetings, which is critical to target and engage the citizens of Sparks.

Council may reject or modify the proposed contract or provide other direction to staff.

I move to approve the contract in the amount of $100,000 to provide professional services to RAD strategies.