4i - Government Outreach Costa Mesa Sanitary District
…an Independent Special District
Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services.
www.cmsdca.gov
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager
From: Noelani Middenway, Deputy Clerk of the District
Date: October 15, 2013
Subject: Agreement with Government Outreach for Citizen Relationship
Management with Integrated Knowledgebase and Mobile Application
Summary
The Costa Mesa Sanitary District desires to enter into an agreement with Government
Outreach for the purpose of implementing a C itizen R elationship M anagement with
Integrated K nowledgebase and mobile application (app).
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommen ds that the Board of Directors receive and file the report.
Analysis
Staff was charged with the task of developing a District branded mobile app to provide
another avenue of communication to enable residents to receive answers to questions and
to submit service requests directly to the District at any time.
Staff researched three different mobile app providers, Government Outreach, PublicStuff,
a nd SeeClickFix, to compare and contrast their product and system functionality. The
District’s Website Committee met on several occasions to receive online demonstrations
of each provider’s product and to review and evaluate the vendor’s proposals. Althou gh
all three vendors were able to provide similar services, staff is recommending that the
District enter into an agreement with Government Outreach for the purpose of
Board of Directors
October 15, 2013
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implementing a system for citizen relationship management with integrated
knowledgebase and mobile application.
Government Outreach is a leading provider for Citizen Relationship Management, Work
Order, and Code Enforcement software provider for local government with clients ranging
in size from less than 5,000 to more than 2,000,000. Benefi ts of the District entering into
an agreement with Government Outreach include:
• Intranet portal for citizens – Provides residents with a personal login to update
contact information plus view status of previously submitted requests.
• Intranet portal for emp loyees – Incorporates an employee version of the Knowledge
Base as well as account access.
• iPhone and Android portal – Allows residents to submit issues from iPhones and
Androids directly into the GOrequest CRM system.
• Knowledge base – Allows residents t o quickly find answers to questions without
staff assistance.
• Multilingual support – Automatically translates the Knowledge Base interface and
content into 40+ languages plus automatically translates non -English submissions.
• Reporting – Full reporting in cludes more than two dozen standard reports as well as
a custom report capability.
• Satisfaction S urveys – Allows residents to provide feedback on services received
and include reports for staff analysis.
• Email Subscription and Broadcast – Allows resident s to subscribe to topics of
interest and staff to distribute formatted news and notices. Also allows staff to
broadcast email notices to residents that requested specific services.
• Google mapping and address validation – Allows citizens to validate addres ses and
map locations.
Upon e ntering into the proposed agreement with Government Outreach, the Costa Mesa
Sanitary District will be the first Independent Special District to provide a branded mobile
app. The set -up and integration is anticipated to take b etween two to three weeks with the
mobile app being fully functional thereafter, with an expectant launch date by December,
2013.
Strategic Plan Element & Goal
This item supports Strategic Plan Element 4.0, Community Outreach & Communication,
and Strategic Goal No. 4.2, CMSD App and 4.4, District Branding.
Objective: Our objective is to inform and establish beneficial relations with the community.
Board of Directors
October 15, 2013
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Strategy: We will do this by providing a high level of customer service internally and
through the careful management of service providers. We will provide information to and
seek feedback from our customers about our programs, services and accomplishments
through modern technologies, the media and direct interactions with our customers.
Legal Review
Legal counsel has reviewed and approved to form the contract between the District and
Government Outreach.
Environmental Review
Subject activity is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et. seq.). Section 15300.4 of CEQA
allows an agency while establishing its own procedures “to list those specific acti vities
which fall within each of the exempt classes”, and the District has adopted “CEQA
Guidelines and Implementing Procedures” that state on page 6 “”Projects” does not
include …. C. Continuing administrative or maintenance activities.”
Financial Review
The proposals for all three researched vendors are as follows:
• Government Outreach Initial set -up: $5,000
Annual Investment: $3,000
First year cost: $8,000
Second & subsequent year cost: $3,000
• PublicStuff 1 Year Agreement: $8,316
2 Year Agreement: $15,600
• SeeClickFix Annual Fee: $11,000
Implementation Fee: $4,000 _
Total cost: $15,000
The Government Outreach proposal cost of $8,000 for the first year and $3,000 for the
second and subsequent year is within the current approved budget of $18,000 allotted for
the creation of a District branded mobile app.
Board of Directors
October 15, 2013
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Public Notice Process
Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the entire agenda packet for the
October 15, 2013 Board of Direc tors Study Session at District headquarters and on the
District’s website at www.cmsdca.gov .
Alternative Actions
That the Board of Directors direct staff to not enter into an agreement with Government
Outreach and to provide additional information.
Attach ments: 1. Agreement with Government Outreach
2. Government Outreach Proposal
Reviewed by:
Stacey Cuevas
Finance Manager