Stemming from Citygate’s evaluation of the performance of the current vendor providing animal care and control services for San Mateo County, California, Citygate provided technical consulting support for the County’s efforts to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for the contract period for one or more vendor(s) to provide those same services to the County and its member cities. This project included providing detailed requirements and specifications for the services to be performed by the prospective vendor(s) as described in the upcoming RFP; minimum reporting requirements to be met by the vendor(s); and recommended evaluation criteria presented in the RFP, along with an associated scoring sheet to be used by the County during the evaluation of proposals received in response to the RFP.

Citygate was contracted to evaluate the performance of the contracted vendor, the Peninsula Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PHS), in San Mateo County. This audit specifically examined contractual compliance, as well as whether the necessary animal shelter operational elements—including budget, data systems, policies and procedures, staffing, shelter operations, field operations, medical operations—existed to increase performance and transparency, providing accountability and handling procedural issues. The budget review for this project identified how the revenue derived from the County contract is specifically allocated to animal control and shelter services—shelter and field services, spay and neuter (veterinary services), and management and general budget elements—and not used in other areas of the larger PHS budget. The review also identified potential revenue enhancements that could be used to increase PHS service levels to the County. As part of this project, Citygate interviewed and surveyed the city managers and police chiefs from the 18 cities that contract with San Mateo County for animal services.

Citygate assisted the San Mateo Fire Chiefs Association and the fire departments in San Mateo County with implementing a fire department deployment analysis system to provide near real-time operational data to each fire department. Citygate provided project management and assistance in tailoring the end-user display screens and briefing materials to meet the needs of the collective agencies, as well as each individual agency. Citygate leveraged its current knowledge of the geography and County fire agencies’ needs for this effort, while also ensuring the system was configured properly for any ongoing analysis the agencies might request.

Citygate analyzed the impact of reducing an engine from the San Mateo County’s service at one fire station.