HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2505-4619CITY OF PALO ALTO
Policy & Services Committee
Special Meeting
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
6:00 PM
Agenda Item
2.Workplan for Developing and Implementing Best Practices in Consultant
Management Staff Presentation
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Policy & Services Committee
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: May 28, 2025
Report #:2505-4619
TITLE
Workplan for Developing and Implementing Best Practices in Consultant Management
RECOMMENDATION
Staff requests Policy & Services Committee review and provide feedback on the workplan to
develop and implement best practices for the City’s consultant management.
BACKGROUND
The City of Palo Alto regularly engages professional consultants for a wide variety of functions.
These include, for example:
•Planning, architectural, engineering, and construction management for capital
improvement projects;
•Specialized and supplemental staffing for land use planning, processing entitlement
applications, building permitting and inspection, as well as other operations;
•Specialized recreation, arts, and enrichment programming for community classes,
summer camps, and other public services;
•Development of studies and plans on a broad range of topics in areas such as economic
development, transportation, and facilities planning.
Attachment A provides, by type, a sampling of consulting services approved by the City Council
in 2024.
The majority of City Council priority objectives rely on consultant services for their timely
completion. The use of consultants is critical to the City’s ability to produce the volume and range
of services expected by the community. At the same time, it is equally important that
circumstances under which consultants are engaged be clearly identified and that the quality of
work products provide the value expected from the engagements.
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The ongoing work effort described here seeks to enhance the clarity and effectiveness of these
engagements. It focuses on elevating the visibility of outsourcing decisions, staff expectations,
and strengthening consultant management protocols.
ANALYSIS
Core Principles
Project Timeline and Activities
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3. Practice Improvements: Into the summer, feedback from departments and management
will help identify priority areas for improvement in consultant engagement. This builds on
currently ongoing efforts led by the Administrative Services Department (ASD) and the
City Attorney’s Office with training sessions on contract management.
4. Clarifying Local Knowledge Roles: City staff play a vital role in ensuring that consultants
understand Palo Alto’s specific context. Through the Summer, expectations around
sharing prior work, guiding community engagement processes, and providing historical
knowledge will be articulated more clearly.
5. Identifying Skill and Role Gaps: Into the Fall, this review will also examine where project
managers may require additional training or role clarification to effectively manage
consultant relationships and deliverables, as well as review the workload capacity
required to fulfill these roles.
6. Training and Tools: Through the Fall and into 2026, potential outcomes include the
development of workflow templates, dashboards for progress tracking, and structured
training for project managers in collaboration with Human Resources and relevant
departments.
Consultant Engagement: Input from consultants will be solicited throughout the process to
gather insights into what makes engagements successful from their perspective.
The following paragraphs provide an overview of the typical consultant engagement process and
discuss in more detail the specific areas that have been identified for evaluation.
Annual Budget Cycle Review
As part of the annual budget development process, each department’s proposed consultant
funding levels is reviewed to assess whether those funds might be more effectively allocated to
hiring in-house staff. In some cases, the City outsources as a first step before adding permanent
staff due to concerns around long-term financial commitments and the need to sustain consistent
workloads. However, this practice is subject to strategic review. When consultants perform tasks
that are similar in some respects to those of City employees, the annual budget review provides
an appropriate point at which to consider whether in-house capacity could better serve the City
over time. This informs staffing changes proposed in the City Manager’s Proposed Budget
released every April.
The Decision to Outsource
Currently, the decision to outsource to meet specific project needs is based on the expertise
required and, in some cases, internal capacity. Scopes of service are developed in consultation
with the Administrative Services Department’s Purchasing Division and the City Attorney’s Office.
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Going forward, outsourcing decisions can more explicitly incorporate strategic considerations
such as:
•Does the work demand specialized skills not available internally?
•How could artificial intelligence and other technologies assist in delivering cost-effective
outcomes?
•Would taking on the project in-house compromise other essential priorities?
•Is outsourcing aligned with the City's long-term goals, such as building internal expertise?
•How will effective collaboration between consultants and staff ensure incorporation of
local context and knowledge?
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Closeout and Evaluation
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
ATTACHMENTS
APPROVED BY:
Service Provider Description
Contract or
Amendment Value
Safebuilt, Integrated Design 360, CSG Consultants,
4LEAF, True North Compliance Services, TRB and
Associates, West Coast Code Consultants
Development Services On Call Services ‐ Staffing and Subject
Matter Experts: Inspection, Plan Review, Green Building 4,000,000$
Carollo Engineers Regional Water Quality Control Plant Long Range Facilities Plan 2,742,774$
Watry Design Downtown Parking Garage Design 2,403,592$
WaterTalent, LLC Temporary Licensed Water Operator Staffing Services ( 3 years) 1,896,000$
AgreeYa Solutions, Elegant Enterprise‐Wide Solutions,
Forsys, Object Technology Solutions, Techlink Systems,
Zion Cloud Solutions, Inspyr Solutions
IT Consulting 1,540,000$
Wallace Roberts & Todd Downtown Housing Plan 1,508,254$
Carollo Engineers Construction management and inspection for RWQCP 12kV
Electrical Power Distribution Loop (Amend 5)1,314,192$
MuniServices, LLC Tax and Fee Consulting (5 years) 1,161,550$
Park Engineering Electric Construction Inspection (5 years) 925,000$
Cumming Management Group (formerly Nova Partners) Construction Management for PSB & Other Infrastructure Plan 827,418$
Nova Partners, Inc. Construction Management for PSB & Other Infrastructure Plan 766,919$
Lexington, Metropolitan Planning Group, Arnold
Mammarella Architecture and Consulting, Page
Sotherland Page AE, Placeworks, Urban Planning
Partners, Michael Baker International
Planning On Call Services ‐ Staffing and Subject Matter Experts:
Long Range Planning Projects, Application Processing,
Environmental Review
750,000$
Concordia Development of a Revised Master Plan for the Cubberley Site 631,966$
GDS Associates, Inc. Electric and Gas Cost of Service Analysis (5 years) 505,723$
Lexington, Metropolitan Planning Group, Arnold
Mammarella Architecture and Consulting, Page
Sotherland Page AE, Placeworks, Urban Planning
Partners, Michael Baker International
Planning On Call Services ‐ Staffing and Subject Matter Experts:
Long Range Planning Projects, Application Processing,
Environmental Review
500,000$
Kittelson and Associates South Palo Alto Bike/Pedestrian Connectivity Project (2 years) 499,490$
Woodard & Curran Sewer Master Plan Study (2 years) 498,866$
3Di Systems Rental Registry Program 443,256$
BKF Engineers Charleston/Alma Railroad Crossing Plans (5 years) 397,705$
Urban Field Studio Car‐free Streets Study 384,990$
Good City Company Downtown Housing Plan Project Manager 375,522$
Kittelson & Associates Bike and Pedestrian Plan Update 333,945$
A3 Immersive Projection Mapping Production Services for the 2025 Code:ART
Interactive Media Public Art Festival 275,692$
4Leaf, Inc. WGW Construction Inspection (5 years) 264,247$
Michael Baker International, Inc. CDBG Program Administration (2 years) 211,310$
Rincon Consultants California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Review of a Revised
Master Plan for the Cubberley Site 202,322$
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. Legislative Advocacy & Grant Consulting 186,000$
Urban Planning Partners, Inc. Car‐free Ramona Street Design 165,573$
Kimley‐Horn Quiet Zone Study (Churchill, Meadow, Charleston) 162,359$
Rankin Stock Heaberlin Oneal Legal Services 150,000$
Integrated Design 360 Reach Code Development 132,200$
Anne Rosenthal Fine Art Conservation Services 118,624$
HdL Coren & Cone Property Tax Consulting (5 years) 111,800$
BKF Engineers Foothills Nature Preserve Design 109,583$
OIR Group Policing Auditing Services 105,000$
Salas O'Brien RWQCP 12kV Electrical Power Distribution Loop Design (Amend 4) 99,200$
DNV GL USA, Inc Gas Modeling 85,000$
Schaaf & Wheeler Design for 3 stormwater ballot measure projects 77,360$
Sandis Civil Engineers Construction Admin. for Churchill Enhanced Bikeway 59,975$
Matrix Consulting Group Department Fee Study 56,500$
Raftelis Financial Consulting, Inc. Water and Wastewater Collection Cost of Service Analysis (5 years) 48,905$
CSW/Stuber‐Stoeh Engineering University Ave. Streetscape Conceptual Design 25,000$
Hexagon Transportation Consultants Development Review Support 10,000$
Schaaf & Wheeler PSB Stormwater Construction Observation & Certification 9,600$
27,073,412$
ATTACHMENT A
CONSULTING SERVICES APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL IN 2024
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
Consultant Engagement: A Citywide Review
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OVERVIEW
Consultant Engagement Project
•Ongoing comprehensive review of decision-making and staff responsibilities from
budgeting and procurement to contract and performance management, as well as
community engagement
•Identify strengths and challenges in current practices, building on departmental best
practices
•Improve quality and consistency in consultant engagements
•Enhance tools for staff development and skill building
•Position the City as a leader in innovative, accountable consultant engagement
management
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
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1.Review Current Practices Dec 2024 –Ongoing
2.Annual Budget Review Completed for FY 2026
3.Identify Practice Improvements Summer
4.Clarify Local Knowledge Roles Summer
5.Identify Skill and Role Gaps Fall
6.Implement Staff Tools and Training Fall/Winter 2025
OVERALL PROJECT WORKPLAN
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
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•Ensure quality and value in consultant work products
•Elevate the visibility of outsourcing decisions
•Clarify and support staff roles throughout
•Reinforce consistency across wide-ranging consultant engagements
KEY TOPICS OF INTEREST
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
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•Consultant engagement success is susceptible to various issues:
−Market depth and competitiveness among service providers
−Skills and experience of individuals involved
−Inadequately defined scopes of service or management responsibilities
−Staff turnover, changes in scope, and other unanticipated impacts
•Consultants are often tasked with addressing issues of community change, with likely
potential for disagreements and criticism
•Consultants carry a level of independence from staff, requiring sophistication to
manage work products while respecting consultants’ independent perspectives
ACKNOWLEDGING CHALLENGES
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
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•Work with interdepartmental team to complete workplan
•Engage respected consultants for input and feedback on products
•Report to Council on progress and outcomes
NEXT STEPS
May 28, 2025 www.paloalto.gov
Kathryn E. Fortenberry
Management Fellow
Kathryn.Fortenberry@cityofpaloalto.org