sr-021009-1f~®
~;tYof City Council Report
Santa rioniea
City Council Meeting: February 10, 2009
Agenda Item: ~ "~
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Director
Subject: Second Amendment to Contract with GMMB, Inc. to Revise Scope of Work for
Panhandling Education and Alternative Giving Campaign
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute
a Second Amendment to Professional Services Agreement N. 8895 (CCS) with GMMB, Inc.
and redirect remaining funding to a broader community education campaign with messages
about panhandling and opportunities for alternative giving.
Executive Summary
After extensive research and testing, GMMB, Inc. has developed a recommended
panhandling education campaign. However, stakeholder reaction has been mixed. Some
believe the proposed campaign will be effective while others have concerns about the image
and the message. Additionally, it appears that the perception of the issue among
stakeholders has changed. The current rieed is for a campaign that highlights the strategic
efforts underway to address homelessness in Santa Monica and builds on the growing
perception of success. At this time, staff recommends a Second Amendment to the
Professional Services Agreement with GMMB, Inc. to develop a broad community. education
campaign regarding homelessness, including messages about panhandling and opportunities
for alternative giving.
Background
In late 2006, the Urban Institute reported in "Ending Homelessness in Santa Monica: Current
Efforts and Next Steps" that panhandling plays a unique role in the local issue. of
homelessness. Panhandling in Santa Monica is lucrative and Santa Monica may draw people
who wish to solicit the city's many visitors and tourists. Money earned through panhandling
helps people sustain living on the streets, and the presence of panhandlers affects the ways
in which others use public places. A panhandling education campaign was recommended by
the Urban Institute and it became one of the community education goals in the "Action Plan to
Address Homelessness." In February 2008, Council adopted the Action Plan and the City
entered into a contract with GMMB, a strategic communications firm, to produce a community
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panhandling education and alternative giving campaign to help people understand the
potential harm of giving directly to panhandlers and the benefit of giving to organizations that
provide housing and services.
Between March and November 2008, GMMB, Inc. conducted research for the campaign,
developed, tested and revised campaign materials and explored alternative giving
mechanisms. A progress report was presented at the May 13, 2008 City Council meeting.
Discussion
The goal of the panhandling education campaign is to help people understand the potential
harm of giving directly to panhandlers and see the .benefit of giving to organizations that
provide housing and services. Changing the behavior of those who give is the desired
outcome.
GMMB, Inc. developed three preliminary creative concepts based on lessons learned through
the research process. Intercept surveys conducted on the Promenade and the Pier found that
people who give money to panhandlers think that the money is used to better an individual's
circumstances. Messages were designed to reach current and potential givers and change
these individuals' behavior. The three creative concepts were tested in focus groups with
Santa Monica residents and non-Santa Monica residents, and with givers and non-givers.
Findings from these five consumer focus groups were clear as to which message would be
most successful in creating behavior change.
The recommended campaign was direct and hard-hitting. Focus group participants found it to
be attention-grabbing and effective in conveying the campaign's message quickly and clearly.
It included an image of a panhandler chained to the street by a ball made of coins, linking the
act of giving change to supporting life on the streets. This very direct visual image was
coupled with an encouragement to use the "GivetheRightway.org" website to "give instead to
one of the many Santa Monica organizations that provide services that help the homeless."
Another, more "positive" campaign focusing on images of service providers was also tested.
This campaign included messages about how spare change may enable living on the street
and keep individuals from using the services depicted in the image. People found this concept
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confusing and were skeptical of the message. Focus group participants suggested that
people would be more likely to rethink their behavior if they knew the City had a "plan" to help
people off the streets.
A stakeholder group of local business interests, social service and health care providers, faith
leaders, residents, City staff and homeless individuals met in June and September to provide
input and feedback on the campaign's development. Feedback on the creative concepts was
also gathered through individual meetings with members of the stakeholder group as well as
presentations to members and Boards of Directors of the Bayside District Corporation; the
Convention -and Visitors Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, the Pier Restoration
Corporation, the Pico Business Improvement District, the Montana Business Improvement
District, the Main Street Business Improvement District, the Westside Shelter and Hunger
Coalition, and the Westside Interfaith Council. The Social Services Commission elected to
have its chairperson view one of the ad-testing focus groups and provide written feedback.
Stakeholder response to the campaign preferred by the focus groups was mixed. Some liked
the. hard-hitting direct message and image and thought it would be effective. Others,
however, had the following concerns.
• Service providers felt that the image of a panhandler reinforced negative stereotypes.
• Businesspeople felt that the central image was too negative, expressed concerns that
placing advertising on the Big Blue Bus would promote negative stereotypes of
individuals and Santa Monica throughout the region and expressed opposition to
providing space for the advertising placements necessary to saturate the market and
create an effective campaign.
• Some members of the faith community believed the campaign to be in opposition to
religious and moral imperatives to help others.
Stakeholders shared that:
• There is a growing and significant perception of success in assisting people to exit
homelessness.
• The impact of homeless people on public spaces has lessened since the Urban
Institute's 2006 recommendation.
• The changing economic climate may place more people in need and any campaign
should be sensitive to that factor.
• Santa Monica has amulti-pronged approach to addressing panhandling including
legislation and enforcement and new programs like the Bayside Ambassadors are
coming on-line.
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• Panhandling may be less of a problem than it has been in the past.'
• There is strong support for a more positive, broader community education approach to
share local efforts and successes.
Panhandling education and alternative giving messages will not be successful unless
people understand the scope of local efforts to address homelessness.
Feedback from stakeholders led GMMB, Inc. and staff to recommend a campaign approach
that unites the community rather than a campaign that may be seen as divisive or negative,
and that highlights the strategic efforts underway and the growing perception of success.
Additionally, a campaign approach that is clear and effective in its messaging and sensitive to
the economic changes that may place more people in need would resonate with stakeholders
and therefore generate the necessary level of partnership, in-kind placements, and market
saturation needed for success.
Next Steps
Staff recommends that the panhandling education and alternative giving campaign become a
central component of a broader community education campaign. This campaign would build
on the growing success of Santa Monica's existing efforts to address panhandling; promote
awareness of the City's efforts to address homelessness, and promote community
engagement and alternative giving. The campaign would highlight:
Elements of Santa Monica's "Action Plan to Address Homelessness"
Best practice approaches
• Successes
• Panhandling education messages and alternative giving opportunities
• Ways in which the impact of homelessness on public spaces is being addressed
• Regional efforts
• How the community can help
Development and implementation of Santa Monica's broad community education campaign
could begin immediately and build on existing internal efforts and the research already done
by GMMB. GMMB's scope of work could be modified. If additional funds are appropriated,
the campaign could include elements such as:
' During the month of December 2008 SMPD conducted daily, staggered counts of the number of people visibly panhandling on and around
the Third Street Promenade. While the daily average was 10, the number of panhandlers ranged from 0 to 18 at any point in time, with the
higher numbers occurring during the Wednesday and Saturday Farmers Markets.
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• Web presence:
o www.givetherightway.org apositive and educational website that explains Santa
Monica's Action Plan, successes, how people. can get involved, links to local
agencies and is a portal for on-line donations
o Web buttons on affiliate sites
Earned media coverage:
o Regular and favorable coverage on CityTV, TimeWarner Cable and in local print
and radio
• Grassroots education and outreach:
o .Training for Bayside Ambassadors, hospitality industry workers and City staff
o Faith and community speakers bureau
o Presentations to neighborhood and community groups
o Coordination of messages with the Convention and Visitor's Bureau and
Chamber of Commerce's outreach efforts
• Public education materials:
o Drop-in articles for community publications
o E-newsletters
o Information for businesses and residents
o City mailings to residents
o Parking pay station PSAs
Advertising
o -Big Blue Bus exterior ads
o Parking garage signage
o Print ads in local media
o Window clings
Alternative Giving
o On-line donations
o Parking pay stations
o Increasing awareness about the Dolphins and continuing to use the Dolphins as
collection bins
o Collection bins in City sites and local businesses
By the end of the fiscal year current funding could support the following expected
deliverables:
• A detailed community education plan and timeline for implementation
A graphic identity for the campaign
• Development of www.givetherightway.org website and on-line giving
• Special CityTV news packages on Action Plan progress
• Organization of a faith and community speakers bureau and development of talking
points
Talking points and materials for presentations to neighborhood and community groups
• Use of the campaign identity and campaign messages in information packets for
businesses and residents
• Alternative giving mechanism through parking pay stations
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Similar homeless awareness and education programs have been adopted in other cities
including Denver and New York. Denver is actively working to change the public view about
homelessness and build support for its local plan. New York City recently added a public
education campaign to its efforts to furtherreduce street homelessness.
Measuring Success
Questions in the 2009 Resident Telephone Survey will capture whether respondents have
given money directly to a homeless person or panhandler in the last year and how often they
did so. In addition, the Resident Telephone Survey will include questions designed to capture
the baseline level of awareness about local social services and other efforts to address the
number of homeless people in the city. These questions will be repeated in subsequent
surveys and used to measure changes in behavior and awareness. The data will also be
used to develop targeted outreach to the community, particularly to those who give to
panhandlers. Other evaluation measures will include the amount of money raised through
alternative giving mechanisms, regular counts of the number of panhandlers on and around
the Promenade and related crime statistics.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Funding for a professiorial services agreement with GMMB, Inc. ($337,000) was allocated by
City Council on July 8, 2008. Remaining funding currently allocated for the panhandling
education campaign ($150,000) is available in 012628.555060 to be redirected to implement
this fiscal year's expected deliverables. GMMB. Ines contract would be revised to achieve
the goals of the campaign. Funds to implement the full range of campaign activities will be
requested as an FY2009-10 City Budget enhancement.
Prepared by:
Danielle Noble, Sr. Administrative Analyst, Homeless Services
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
~o a._a.-a-`.`-
Barbara Stinchfield vP. ~r}~'ont Ewell
Director, Community and Cultural Cit anager
Services
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Supplemental Information: Item #1-F
February 10, 2009
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Staff
Subject: Supplemental Information for Item 1-F
Attached are executions of the three creative concepts developed by GMMB, Inc. for a
panhandling education campaign:
• "Signs"
• "Services"
• "Ball and Change"
Also attached are letters from:
• Brian Varnum
• Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce
Santa Monica Social Services Commission
® Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
• Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition
.~R~la nn r3 r}~a„6P„
From: Brian Varnum [mailto:brianvarnum@gmail:com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 4:16 PM
To: Council Mailbox
Cc: Danielle Noble
Subject: Support for Panhandling Education Campaigr
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to offer my support for staffs request to redirect the scope of work directed
at developing an effective educational campaign to address the panhandling issue in
Santa Monica.
I had the opportunity to see the campaign develop by participating in sessions in which
the ad material was presented to key stakeholders. Danielle Noble and her team have
done a great job developing messages that convey the damage of direct giving, and
highlight alternatives for effective, passionate contributions that offer real solutions to
those in need.
In addition, staff have been extremely responsive to request from the community. One
point that I felt strongly about is communicating more broadly to the community about
our homelessness issues and the many solutions currently offered, and importantly, the
need for greater community involvement. In this context, the messages about alternative
giving would be most effective.
Please do support the effort of this group and their specific request to redirect the scope
of their current campaign. This is a great team, and their efforts can make real
differences in the lives of those in our community most in need of assistance.
Respectfully,
Brian Varnum
SANTA MONICA
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
-- MEMBER"fe. -,
February 10, 2009
Members of the Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Anti-Panhandling Education and Alternative Giving campaign
Dear Members of the Santa Monica City Council:
The Santa Monica Chamber would like to express its support for the proposed changes to the
City's Professional Services Agreement with GMMB, Inc; which would develop a broad
community education campaign regarding homelessness. Over the past year we have attended
numerous meetings about the developing campaign, viewed ad testing focus groups, and
provided constant feedback.
With regard to the current state of the Panhandling Education and Alternative Giving Campaign,
this amendment would grant GMMB, Inc. the flexibility required to respond effectively to mixed
reaction from stakeholders. Naturally, we hold that the message of the campaign bught not to be
adversely affected by off-putting imagery. In accordance with our mission statement, our goal is a
campaign that balances the needs of business with those of the community.
Representing a broad base of nearly 1,000 businesses in Santa Monica, we support the
continued consideration of our community's various perspectives. Moreover, we wholly endorse
any efforts that recognize the educational Tong-term value of publicizing the numerous avenues of
alternative giving in Santa Monica and the many successes of such organizations. As an early
partner in this campaign, the Chamber has been along-time supporter of increasing community
engagement on this front. In this regard, we feel the proposed redirection of the campaign
responds to the community's need for increased awareness of the growing success of the City's
efforts to addressing homelessness and panhandling, and will promote community engagement
and alternative giving.
We believe in raising awareness about the good works of local service providers, businesses,
faith groups, and others, and offering opportunities for people to get involved. The proposed
community education campaign will do just that. In fact, the Chamber has already been working
along similar lines in partnership with City staff. This year, our Homelessness Committee is rolling
out our new Business Cares program to promote and honor members of Santa Monica's
business community working to end homelessness. It is our hope that such a program, in
conjunction with the proposal before you, will encourage the much needed generosity of
individuals and businesses alike.
We would like to thank GMMB, Inc. and the City's Human Services staff, who have invested a
great deal of time in stakeholder outreach and have listened to our feedback.
~~ ~
Laurel Rosen
President & CEO
~~; ~~~
Brian C. Chase
Director of Government Affairs
City of
a~a"3@&~~ ®7®Y&°s°9~~
February 6, 2009
Social Services Commission
1685 Main Street
PO Box 2200
Santa Monica, California 90407-2200
Honorable Ken Genser, Mayor
City Council Members
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
In my capacity as Chair and on behalf of the Social Services Commission, I respectfully
recommend that Council adopt Item 1-F regarding the Anti-Panhandling Education and
Alternative Giving Campaign, and redirect $150,000 in remaining funding to a broader
community education campaign with messages about panhandling and opportunities for
alternative giving.
As we wrote in our letter to you dated December 29, 2008, in which we made several
recommendations about critical social service needs and priorities for Council to consider
during the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 budget process, the Social Services Commission supports
continuing the dialogue around the effects of.homelessness on our community. And we believe
very strongly that the panhandling education and alternative giving campaign, as recommended
by City staff, should become a central component of the City's efforts to engage the community
and address the broader impact of homelessness. By adopting the recommended changes to
the campaign, the City can move the discussion beyond our freedom to choose how and to
whom we give charity and focus instead on gaining a deeper understanding of the impact of
homelessness on our community and how we can care for our communifij's most vulnerable
members without setting aside the needs and concerns of others in these trying times.
Homelessness affects each and every one of us -from the persons who find themselves
without shelter to the schools, business community, residents and visitors to the City and even
our own friends and family. The Social Services Commission believes that a broader
community education campaign, a key recommendation of the Urban Institute, would build on
the City's current successes in addressing homelessness and encourage dialogue and greater
community engagement.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. We hope that you agree with our
assessment of the need to broaden the panhandling education and alternative giving campaign
and adopt Item 1-F.
Respectfully,
/~
Brian Buchner
Chair
tel: 310458-8709 9 tax: 370 458-33$0 ® TDD: 370458-8696
Friday,. February 06, 2009 4:00 PM
To: Council Mailbox
Subject: Regarding the Panhandling Education and Alternative Giving
Campaign - 2/10City Council Agenda
To the City Council:
Since I will not be able to attend the next meetingof the Council, I
am communicating with you via email in the hopes that my perspective
and that of .other Santa Monica faith leaders with whom I have spoken
might be represented when the Panhandling Education and .Alternative
Giving Campaign comes up on the agenda next Tuesday.
I was humbled to be asked to participate in the meetings with the
private marketing firm that was hired to put this plan together. As
the series of meetingsensued, it became clear to me that there existed
a philosophical disconnect between the faith constituency of the City
and the marketing people. The. marketers were interested in getting the
message to the citizens that giving money directly to the homeless is
the "wrong" way to help them and that giving to service organizations
is "right." -
Their approach conflicts with major spiritual values held many
religious communities. In those traditions, reaching out to the poor,
the homeless, the disenfranchised, etc. is a spiritual obligation. For
example, the Christian value is imitatio dei, imitating God, or asit
is expressed in the contemporary question: "What would Jesus do?"
When it comestb responding to the outstretched hand of the needy, the
Christian's duty isclear: immediate, direct aid.
It is similar within Judaism. Our tradition is a tapestry of613
commandments. These are mandates, not suggestions. We arecommanded
to take care of the poor. We are specifically told in ourcommentaries
that we are neither to judge the veracity of someone's claim to poverty
nor the ultimate affect of our giving. We should just give in the best
way possible in the moment we perceive or are told about the need.
That being said, I don't disagree, nor do I believe any of my
colleagues would, that we_should all try to help our homeless in the
mosteffective way possible. Our complaint is that it is not the
City's place or prerogative to tell those of us who act according to a
religious mandate that we are "wrong." .The proposed name of the
marketers' website c:~aw.givetherightc~:ay.org
Cnttp:/h~ww.givetherightway.crg/> does precisely that! The "Ball and
Change" image and scheme are only barely not quite as horrendous and
insulting.
The City should not be in the business of telling the religious
community to change its values either directly, through proxies it
hires or through innuendo anda-slick marketingphrase. We want to
participate in this process of doing the best for our homeless
population, but not at the expense of our traditions and spiritual
mandates.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Neil. Comess-Daniels
\ ..~
E+~
4~ ~
Febt27ary 5, 2009
Honorable Mayor Ken Denser and Councilmembers
City of Santa Monica
l6&5 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: February 10, 2009 Council Agenda Item 1-F -Panhandling Education & Alternative
Giving Campaign
Dear Mayor Denser and Councihnembers:
i am writing on behalf of the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition (WSHC) to endorse City
staff's recommendation to expand the Panhandling Education & Alternative Giving
Campaign to focus on broader community education and engagement azaund solving
homelessness. The W SHC represents over 40 service providers, faith communities and
government entities working together on the issues of hunger and homelessness in Santa
Monica and on the Westside of Los Angeles County. Several of our memb~;rs have been
actively involved from the beginning in the stakeholder process to develop the campargn,
including participating in focus groups and public forums during the process.
While the Coalition has consistently endorsed the concept of a public education campaign
about panhandling, we feel the `Ball and Change" images and messaging are net appropriate
in tone in the way they represent homeless people or the City. We agree with staff s assertion
that a more effective strategy would be to engage the community in a way that both educates
them about alternative giving methods, as well as publicizes and builds upon the successes of
effective programs linked to the City's Action Pian to Address Homelessness. Based on our
participation in the stakeholder process, there seems to be positive momentum across various
consdtueacy groups in the City to work together to design and implement an effective
educational campaign.
We appreciate the City's contsnued leadership in addressing the complex issues of
homelessness, and look forwazd to working together with you as you move forward to the
campaign.
Westside Shelter&Hunger CoaliteonlSPN ~ AProject of Community Partners ~ P.O.Box 7417 ~ Santa Monica, CA 90406
P: (370)3140071 ~ F: (310)314-0073 ~ www.westsideshelter.org
Reference Amendment to
Contract No. 8895 (CCS).