East Bay Regional Park District Scientific Voter Survey and Focus Group

(Park District) is soliciting proposals for the annual scientific voter survey. The Park District has a strong history of annually surveying the East Bay public and voters to maintain longitudinal records. This work is guided by the Park District with the support of the Government and Legislative Affairs team in the General Manager’s Office. This survey is part of the effort to maintain an on-going understanding of the issues in which East Bay voters are interested as it relates to the Park District’s Legislative Program’s goals and priority projects. This survey will provide the dual outcomes of quantitative support data for the Park District and provide input for the Government and Legislative Affairs team’s 2023 Legislative Program, as well as longitudinal voter information for the foundation of future East Bay tax measures. Survey consultants should be able to provide an accessible, multi-mode (telephone, text, and online), multi-language scientific survey with respondents

reflective of the East Bay’s voter population. Proposals should include a pricing matrix for multiple lengths, languages, and number of interviews for consideration. Specific languages that should be considered within the proposal are English, Spanish, and Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese). In addition to the survey, the Park District is also soliciting proposals for focus groups of East Bay populations of interest. This proposal can be in addition to the voter survey or separate from. The Park District is interested in exploring through qualitative analysis deeper understanding of the East Bay community’s investment interests and priorities. 4 BACKGROUND ON THE PARK DISTRICT The East Bay Regional Park District is a system of beautiful parklands in Alameda and Contra Costa counties to the east of San Francisco, California. The system comprises 73 parks spanning across 125,000 acres; 1,250 miles of trails; 55 miles of shoreline. We manage and preserve natural and cultural resources for all to enjoy and protect. The regional parks are ideal for healthful recreation and environmental education. The Mission statement defines the essential role of the District: The East Bay Regional Park District preserves a rich heritage of natural and cultural resources and provides open space, parks, trails, safe and healthful recreation and environmental education. An environmental ethic guides the District in all of its activities. The Vision statement sets the direction, values and objectives of the District: The District envisions an extraordinary and well-managed system of open space parkland in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which will forever provide the opportunity for a growing and diverse community to experience nature nearby. More information can be found at - https://www.ebparks.org/about/mission-vision 5 HISTORY OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AT THE PARK DISTRICT The unique nature of the East Bay Regional Park District began in 1934 when, in the midst of the Depression, voters imposed a tax of 5¢ for every $100 of property owned to fund the creation of a Public Resources Code 5500 Special Park District in the East Bay. This vote was precipitated by a survey commissioned by the Olmsted Brothers and Ansel F. Hall which highlighted the need to preserve land as parks. Women’s groups in the 1930’s notably advocated to turn out the vote through lunches with elected officials. In 1936, the Park District started with three parks spanning 2,166 acres. All three parks were located in Alameda County. From 1934 - 1939 the Park District provided work for Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration crews, whose skilled work can still be found in District infrastructure today. The Park District’s growth would not be possible without the public support it relies on for funding. Currently, 87% of the Park District’s funding base comes from property tax, while the remainder comes from robust state and federal grants, as well as local parcel tax and bond measures. Community support continued to grow as the Park District delivered on services and projects benefitting the public as the East Bay became increasingly urbanized. In 1988, over two thirds of voters in Alameda and Contra Costa counties voted to pass Measure AA which provided $225 million in bond funding for the Park District and local parks. This was the first bond measure for the acquisition and preservation of thousands of acres of land. In 2008, 72% of voters chose to extend the bond measure by passing Measure WW, providing $500 million in bonding authority. Measure WW included $125 million for a local grant program which benefitted municipal park departments and unincorporated areas of both counties during the recession. Also, voters in the northwestern area of the Park District supported a parcel tax to fund, maintain and enhance services, and provide staff by voting for Measure CC in 2004 and extending the tax with an 85.6% vote for Measure FF in 2018. The Park District’s mission to preserve a rich heritage of natural and cultural resources and to provide open space, parks, safe trails, essential healthy activity and environmental education is meaningful to the growing and diverse communities of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Increasing opportunities to provide welcoming visitor use facilities is a primary goal of the Park District’s advocacy. To ensure this, the Park District has employed surveys since 1976 to understand the community’s needs and interests. The first survey identified a 94% user satisfaction rate of visitors. In compliment, a 2023 scientific survey of East Bay residents confirmed 91% of respondents agree East Bay parks are welcoming to people like them, 94% agreed they are a valuable public resource and 89% agreed they hold a sense of ownership of these parks and agree they are theirs to care for and enjoy. The Park District is governed by a seven member, publicly elected Board of Directors who each serve four - year terms. Each Director represents a specific geographic area of the Park District known as a Ward. Currently, Wards consist of approximately 400,000 individuals, roughly the same size as a state Assembly district. Directors must be a resident of their Ward to serve on the Board. The Board appoints a General Manager, who is responsible for leading the Park District. The tenth General Manager, Sabrina Landreth, was appointed in March 2021. 6 SCOPE OF SERVICES AND DELIVERABLES The Consultant will be expected to perform the following services: Scientific Voter Survey: Creation of Survey • In partnership with the Government and Legislative Affairs management team, create a scientific survey template exploring public opinion on the Park District’s legislative priorities and investment areas • Align the scientific survey templet with the 2023 Legislative Program with questions on wildfire resilience, sea level rise preparedness, community health, ecosystem stewardship, green jobs, welcoming visitor use facilities and climate-friendly transportation Fielding of Survey • Conduct scientific survey interviews in multiple languages • Provide for accessible scientific survey tool including telephone, text, and online options Reporting • Provide the Government and Legislative Affairs team with scientific survey topline report, cross tabs and overview report of findings Presentation of Information • As requested, present the information to the Park District’s Board of Directors, Executive Team and citizens advisory committee Focus Group Research Creation of Discussion Questionnaire • To guide discussions, in partnership with the Government and Legislative Affairs management team,