Title
Recommendation to Consider Options on Coordination of the 4th of July Parade;
Adoption of Resolution Approving a Workforce Change in the Recreation and Parks Department to Create a New Classification, Recreation Assistant; Add One Position, Recreation Assistant; and Amend the Alameda City Employees Association (ACEA) Salary Schedule to Add the Classification of Recreation Assistant, Effective January 8, 2020; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2019-20 by $130,000 for Costs Associated with the 4th of July. (Recreation and Parks Department 280)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Alameda 4th of July Parade (Parade) is a well-established and popular community event that will celebrate its 44th year in 2020. For the last four decades, the Parade was coordinated by the volunteer-based “Parade Foundation,” (Foundation) in coordination with City staff. The Foundation has informed the City that the group will no longer be working on the Parade. As the City starts to plan for the 2020 Parade, staff has developed options for a long-term succession plan, ranging in cost from $157,000 to $193,000. A significantly higher level of security is included in these budgets and is recommended by staff due to increasing potential threats as seen across the country at other community events.
BACKGROUND
The Parade is one of the longest parades on the West Coast, spanning over three miles across the island from Park Street to Webster Street with an estimated 60,000 spectators. There are more than 170 entries including participation from school bands, local businesses, youth and non-profit organizations, equestrians, classic cars, and more. The Parade began in 1976 and since then has been coordinated solely by volunteers with assistance from local service organizations and funding from corporate and business sponsors.
This summer, the current volunteer event organizers (the Parade Foundation or Foundation) informed City staff they were retiring from many years of coordination. The Foundation also noted that the willingness of volunteers to assist had decreased significantly over recent years resulting in no succession plan for the Foundation’s coordination of the event. City staff identified and assessed options for the City to continue the Parade, including absorbing costs. All options include the Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD) assuming full responsibility for the Parade management.
Currently, there is $50,000 allocated in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 budget from the General Fund for Parade security. Additionally, $60,000 is absorbed within the budgets of the Public Works Department, for portable toilets, staff installation of barricades along the parade route and other staff coordination, as well as the Police Department (APD) for pre-event coordination, officer Parade detail and set-up coordination.
DISCUSSION
Successful Parade coordination entails a significant amount of hours and work. The community was fortunate to have dedicated volunteers, who did this work for many years, but the number of people willing to assist has dwindled over time. At this time, it is anticipated that the City will take on Parade coordination and continue to work with local service organizations, who provide one-time volunteers, but people willing to volunteer for months of coordination are rare and hard to find. Staff is proposing options that include either: hiring a new Recreation Assistant with coordination support from the Recreation Manager, or contracting a professional event planner with oversight by staff from City staff, likely from ARPD.
In addition, event security has become a more pressing issue in our society over the last several years with tragic events such as the Boston Marathon bombing and more recently the Gilroy Garlic Festival mass shooting that left four people dead and 17 injured. Current security at the Parade includes APD traffic control and additional officers, professional security personnel at intersections, and heavy duty trucks blocking six key intersections to prevent a person from driving a vehicle into a crowded area. In the past, volunteers have been utilized to assist at the intersections to offset costs, but in recent years it has become extremely difficult to recruit volunteers and there are a variety of complications and concerns that arise from using volunteers for security staffing.
Staff is recommending additional security staffing due to increased potential threats as seen in other communities. This includes activating the APD specialized units for higher level of security along the Parade route, as well as increasing the number of contracted traffic security personnel. This staff recommendation was already being developed prior to learning that the City was being asked to take over full event coordination. In addition, the Recreation Manager is attending a 3-day special event safety seminar that was recommended by APD that is focused on how to plan to avoid potential problems and how to implement security and traffic plans to ensure a safe and secure event. The total event security staff costs is $108,890 and includes $92,890 for contracted traffic control and $16,000 for the APD SWAT Team.
Two parade route options are provided below in an effort to allow Council an opportunity to explore and consider a lower total event cost. One option is to keep the current parade route from Park Street to Otis Drive to Grand Street to Encinal Avenue and ending at Webster Street. The revised, shortened route travels from Park Street to Encinal Avenue and ends at Webster Street. This route option eliminates the section along Otis Avenue that generally has less spectators but also eliminates the popular Grand Street section. The cost savings is primarily in the reduction of the number of intersections that require traffic and security staffing.
While ARPD will be responsible for overall event coordination, the daily planning is recommended to be staffed by a new full-time Recreation Assistant position funded 50% by the General Fund and 50% by the Recreation Fund. An alternative option is contracting with a professional event planner, which would require less oversight by the ARPD Recreation Manager.
The three viable options below for the City Council to consider include:
1) Staff recommended police staffing levels for increased security;
2) Continuing to absorb costs within the Public Works Department and APD in the amount of $30,000 each;
3) A parade coordination budget based on the previous years’ costs with some cost savings utilizing City resources and vehicles; and
4) Assuming continued business donations as well as adding a small registration fee for additional revenue offset.
Option 1 is the staff recommendation.
Option 1
• Keep the existing parade route
• Add a full-time Recreation Assistant for ARPD event coordination
• Includes 25% of Recreation Manager’s time for oversight and coordination
$129,500 net additional funding required
$179,500 total event budget
Option 2
• Revised parade route along Encinal Avenue from Park Street to Webster Street
• Add a full-time Recreation Assistant for ARPD event coordination
• Includes 25% of Recreation Manager’s time for oversight and coordination
$108,000 net additional funding required
$158,000 total event budget
Option 3
• Keep the existing parade route
• Contract with a professional event planner with oversight by ARPD staff
$143,000 net additional funding required
$193,000 total event budget
If City Council approves either Option 1 or Option 2, then staff requests that City Council establishes a new classification of “Recreation Assistant” so the position can be filled quickly in order to assist with coordination of the 2020 Parade. The requested salary of the new classification is 16% below the Recreation Services Specialist position and is comparable to Recreation Assistant position with the City of Emeryville and the City of Walnut Creek. This classification is requested to be a 40 hour a week position represented by ACEA.
|
|
Step 1 |
Step 2 |
Step 3 |
Step 4 |
Step 5 |
Step 6 |
Step 7 |
Step 8 |
|
Hourly |
$24.75 |
$25.99 |
$27.29 |
$28.65 |
$30.08 |
$31.59 |
$33.17 |
$34.83 |
|
Annual |
$51,480 |
$54,054 |
$56,757 |
$59,595 |
$62,574 |
$65,703 |
$68,988 |
$72,438 |
ALTERNATIVES
• Options 1, 2 and 3 are viable alternatives to consider for the Alameda 4th of July Parade.
• Alternatively, the City Council could choose not to fund the Alameda 4th of July Parade, which would likely result in the Parade no longer occurring.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This report is designed to solicit direction from Council. A budget allocation will be brought back in January based on direction provided. There is $50,000 allocated for the Parade in FY 2019-20 budget from the General Fund. Any additional funding for staffing, contracts, and security as shown above, would be funded by the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Receiving this report does not affect the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project and is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15378 (b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines, because it involves governmental activities (event coordination), which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
There are no climate impacts as a result of receiving this report and adding the Recreation Assistant position.
RECOMMENDATION
For City Council to:
1. Consider options for coordination of the 4th of July Parade; and
2. If Option 1 or 2 is approved, to adopt a resolution approving a workforce change in the Recreation and Parks Department to create a new classification of Recreation Assistant and amend the Alameda City Employees Association (ACEA) salary schedule to add the classification of Recreation Assistant, effective January 8, 2020.
3. Adopt a resolution approving the budget allocation for costs associated with coordination of the Parade.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
This staff report is to outline an option for succession planning. I recommend continuing the same route in 2020 and then reevaluating the alternative routing for future years. The advantage of authorizing a Recreation Assistant is that the person could be utilized in other areas. Alternatively, the City Council could authorize contracting out for event planning 2020 and then reevaluate in the Mid-Cycle Budget.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Event Options Budget Detail
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager