SR-07-09-2013-3FReport
City or
ID
.Mm City Council
Santa Monica'
City Council Meeting: July 9, 2013
Agenda Item: '�— r
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Karen Ginsberg, Community & Cultural Services Director
Subject: Mayors Challenge Award
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Authorize the City Manager to accept an award in the amount of $1 million
from Bloomberg Philanthropies for The Wellbeing Project; and
2) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate the associated award agreement;
and
3) Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impact & Budget Action
section of this report.
Executive Summary
The City of Santa Monica has been named one of five winning cities in Bloomberg
Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge. The $1 M prize will provide funding for The Wellbeing
Project to develop and use a dynamic tool to measure community wellbeing.
Background
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the first-ever Ma ors Challcnge in Summer 2012,
a contest designed to spur innovation in local government. All US cities with populations
over 30,000 were eligible to enter an idea that met criteria in four key areas: vision,
impact, ability to implement, and replicability. Inspired by work done through the Cradle
to Career Initiative and Santa Monica's first Yourn_Welldeina ReiDort Card (released
October 2012), Santa Monica submitted a successful entry to address wellbeing across
all segments of the community through a combination of measurement and action.
1
Discussion
Through The Wellbeing Project, the City of Santa Monica will work with top experts in
the fields of behavioral science, economics, public health, and psychology to create a
dynamic tool to measure wellbeing, pilot use of findings in City decision- making
processes, engage the public, and develop strategies to assist other cities with
replicating the project in their communities. The Wellbeing Project will launch by Fall
2013. The Mayors Challenge prize will be used to implement The Wellbeing Project,
including partnerships needed to develop the index, engage stakeholders, and create
strategies to sustain the project and share it with other cities. The project is expected to
take approximately two years to complete. A formal bid process for project partners will
be conducted this summer. The Wellbeing Project is an interdepartmental effort,
overseen by the Community & Cultural Services Department.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Award of a $1 M grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies requires the following FY2013 -14
budget changes:
1) Establish a revenue budget in the amount of $1,000,000 at account number
20501.410110.
2) Appropriate expenditure costs at account number 20501.545040.
Prepared by: Julie Rusk, Assistant Director, Community & Cultural Services
Approved:
Karen Ginsb`'yrg I
Director, Community &fCultyral Services
`a
Forwarded to Council:
Rod Gould
City Manager
Reference:
Contract No. 9766 (CCS)