CCS Partnership Intergovernmental Collaboration Award
A consortium of South San Francisco agencies, including the City of South San Francisco, South San Francisco Unified School District (SSFUSD) Peninsula Family Services (PFS), and Institute for Human and Social Development (IHSD), has received funding from the Big Lift, a collective impact collaborative, to create or enhance over 400 preschool spaces for South San Francisco children. The Big Lift is led by the three agencies - the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), San Mateo County Office of Education, and County of San Mateo - that have partnered with dozens of county leaders and community-based organizations to close the achievement gap and improve third-grade reading proficiency in San Mateo County.
Community Services and Economic Development
The San Leandro Homeless Compact represents a highly-successful and ground-breaking collaboration between San Leandro City government (human services and police departments), Building Futures with Women & Children (a local non-profit service provider) and the Rental Housing Association of Southern Alameda County (a landlord association) that is dedicated to providing long-term housing and services to chronically homeless individuals in San Leandro. This unprecedented partnership is the only one of its kind in Northern California.
Enhancing Public Trust, Ethics, & Community Involvement
Recognizing an underserved area of the Rancho Cucamonga community, staff and City Council sought extensive community input and partnership from the local residents in order to bring a vibrant neighborhood park to this area. With the help of community surveys, input forums, and design workshops, residents helped to create a park design tailored to their needs and wishes. When the City received Proposition 84 grant funds from the State, a vibrant, beautiful park came to life in an area that needed it most.
Health & Wellness Programs
With only one in four Long Beach 5th, 7th and 9th graders assessed to be in the "healthy fitness zone" according to the state required school FITNESSGRAM physical fitness test, Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine (LBPRM) wanted to help improve the health of children and their families. In 2007, LBPRM, Long Beach Health & Human Services, and Run Racing, operators of the Long Beach jetBlue Marathon designed "Junior Beach Runners" (JBR) to be administered in Long Beach schools and parks. JBR offers nutrition education and active fun to encourage youth and families to embrace physical fitness and healthy nutrition.
Housing Programs & Innovations
The City of Citrus Heights is an established, suburban community in Sacramento County with a population of 83,301 located between Sacramento and Roseville. In 2015, the city faced the growing need of providing services to its homeless population. The Citrus Heights Police Department conducted a survey of the homeless community and found there was a predominate desire to stay within the boundaries of the city even though most homeless resources were not available within the city limits. Post-Recession, the city had also experienced the contraction of services into the urban core. Through the city's partnership with Citrus Heights HART, the group expressed a need for a "Navigator" or case manager for the local homeless population, which is a model that has been used in other communities to facilitate enrollment into HUD's Coordinated Entry wait list and ranking system for available housing. Additionally, the city's police department expressed the need to partner with experts in homeless resources, similar to arrangements that existed with both child protective and domestic violence services.
Economic Development through the Arts
COMMUNITY + CREATIVITY = PROSPERITY + PRIDE Temecula's walkable arts district beckons with antique shops, unique restaurants, galleries, museums, performing arts venues, and public art. City Council support for Temecula's Cultural Arts District began with the building of two museums, Temecula Valley History Museum (1999), Pennypickle's Workshop: Temecula Children's Museum (2004), and state-of-the-art Old Town Temecula Community Theater (2005). Public art was also written into Municipal Code as part of the development process where developers must either donate City-approved public art or pay an in-lieu fee into the Public Art Fund. The City of Temecula now partners with over 40 non-profit organizations, professional associations, local businesses, and school districts. It is no wonder that the Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country welcomes nearly 3 million visitors each year with $660 million in tourism spending. City facilities in Old Town Temecula serve in excess of 110,000 patrons annually at the theater, performance spaces, museums, and art galleries. These keystone cultural resources in the City of Temecula, provide an excellent quality of life, supporting the economy, and elevating the City's profile as a creative community and cultural tourism destination.
Internal Administration
The City of Santa Clarita's robust employee development programs have had significant participation and tangible successes. In the Mentoring Program, 328 employees have voluntarily chosen to participate and many have grown to take on promotional opportunities within the organization. In a survey of all program participants, 100 percent said they benefited from the program and would recommend it to other employees. Since the start of the Leadership Academy in 2009, 67 employees have graduated from the program, many who have gone on to become leaders in the City's organization. The program's success can be attributed to the investment of the Leadership Team. The academy includes monthly training sessions, team-building exercises, open discussions and interactions with Directors, the Assistant City Manager and the City Manager.
League Partners Award for Excellence in City-Business Relations
The Mill Valley Recreation Adaptive Needs Program, thanks to innovative partnership with local nonprofits, has blossomed into a range of exciting community activities and opportunities for those with special needs from workplace training at the Center to Learn to Swim Programs at the Aquatics Facility to the dynamic summer CAMP PAASS and other inclusive arts and recreation programming. Camp PAASS was a glowing success reaching maximum enrollment within days of registration and shows great potential for expansion this fall into afterschool programming and into multiple camp sessions during the school year and in the summer months. For summer of 2017, Mill Valley Recreation will be offering three sessions of Camp PAASS are filling quickly with twice the enrollment of last summer! Thanks to the dedication and time commitment of nonprofit partners, parents, volunteers, and staff, all students who were on the waitlist last year were accepted into the camp to make sure no one felt left out. Mill Valley hopes to continue to draw upon local nonprofit and volunteer support this summer in expanding these critically important programs for their community.
Planning & Environmental Quality
Due to advanced, innovative planning, strategic partnerships, and community involvement, the City of Farmersville quickly mitigated a potentially disastrous human health and environmental crisis to provide permanent water delivery services to the neighboring community of Cameron Creek Colony in 2015. Cameron Creek Colony is a severely disadvantaged, unincorporated community of approximately 300 residents that is directly adjacent to the City of Farmersville in Tulare County. For generations, residents in Cameron Creek relied on their individual private wells for water, but they faced dire shortages and well failures during California's unrelenting drought beginning in 2013. Additionally, with diminishing groundwater levels and nearby septic systems on the compact parcels the underground environment created a potential breeding ground for the toxic blending of septic and drinking water and long term contamination of the residents' water supplies. Due to advanced planning, the City of Farmerville moved quickly within a matter of months to secure emergency funding and implemented a project which installed 7,262 lineal feet of 8-inch water main to connect 106 drought-stricken households to clean, fresh water from the City's municipal water supply. The project aligns directly with the League of Cities' Strategic Goal to increase funding for critical water infrastructure and water-related needs. It has won national recognition as the American Public Works Association Small Communities Project of the Year in 2016.
Public Safety
The Summer Bridge to Success program is a 14 week summer program, designed to provide a healthy environment where youths ages 8-14 can come together, in a collaborative environment to learn. The youth participants learn early intervention techniques that will help them combat: the daily peer pressure of gangs, bullying, anti-social behaviors, learn ways to improve communication skills and enhance self-confidence. Youth will work closely and learn valuable lifelong lessons and principles from certified instructors, from the Rialto Police Department, Young Visionaries, Youth Action Project, Black Voice Foundation, SARGES Community Base, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Public Safety
In 2011, after experiencing its tenth fatality involving young adults in less than two years, the City of Santa Clarita mobilized a new, hard hitting education and outreach campaign to address the new crisis facing its young people; heroin. In less than a year, Santa Clarita saw more than 100 heroin related arrests and according to a local emergency room physician, there were 400 overdoses treated in a two year span, most of which were attributed to heroin. Of the 400 people treated for overdoses, 108 of those were younger than 24 years old. To address the increase in the number of fatalities due to drug abuse, the City of Santa Clarita mobilized a hard hitting education and outreach campaign to raise awareness and educate youth and parents on the dangers and effects of drugs. Since 2011 with an average attendance of 400 guests, the City in collaboration with law enforcement, school districts, medical experts and local non-profit agencies host the Heroin Kills symposium.
Public Works, Infrastructure and Transportation
Farmersville's project was a complete overhaul to the City's entrance or "gateway" - from the Highway 198 corridor overpass and connecting streets, Farmersville Boulevard and Noble Avenue. The innovative project utilized a novel approach- dual roundabouts to move traffic into the City. The project includes a retaining wall, landscaping, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes that provide for complete street provisions and also create a grand entry into City. As motorists exit the Highway, it is clear that they have arrived at a unique destination. This is a significant upgrade over previous conditions, which were both non-descript aesthetically and lacked provisions for pedestrians and bicyclists at the City's hub of commercial activity. This corridor has long been identified in planning efforts as a potential site for increased capacity and economic development, but for many years it remained ill-equipped, and the City did not have the funds to invest in its renovation. Located in California's Central Valley in the western portion of Tulare County, Farmersville is a low-income, agricultural area that lies on the south side of State Route 198. Due to smart planning and impeccable project management, the City completed the Gateway Project in under one year from its first day of construction. The project was a first of its kind, not only in Farmersville but, in Tulare County as well.
Ruth Vreeland Award for Engaging Youth in City Government
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) to Pay it Forward Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) is a substance abuse prevention education program that seeks to prevent the use of controlled drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behaviors. It is a collaborative effort between the police, schools, and community where all three work together to help youth make wise decisions and become positive members of the community. The Tracy PD has taken the D.A.R.E program one step further by creating a D.A.R.E to Pay It Forward Program. This program involves high school students who participated in the D.A.R.E. program when they were younger and teaches them to be mentors and leaders that communicate and pass the D.A.R.E message forward to the younger generation. The core program is a ten-week program that teaches the fifthgrade students the hazards of drugs, how to resist negative peer pressure, and how to deal with bullying and stress. The lessons are taught once a week in fifty-minute sessions. The students complete a workbook, take home lessons and write an essay. At the conclusion of the lessons, the students and parents attend a celebration event.