County Soliciting Communications Services for Public Safety Outreach

Author: Executive Office
Date: 1/30/2026 1:53 PM

The County is soliciting quotes from qualified communications firms for a potential Public Safety tax measure for the November 2026 ballot.

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PURPOSE
The purpose of this Request for Quotation (RFQ) is to solicit offers from qualified communications firms to plan and support a comprehensive, bilingual public education and outreach program related to public safety services and needs within the County of San Luis Obispo. The County seeks an experienced partner to develop strategy, messaging, and multi-channel outreach that is factual, neutral (nonadvocacy), accessible, and aligned with County identity standards.

BACKGROUND
The County of San Luis Obispo is evaluating options to sustain and enhance public safety services in a time where revenues are flat, and costs and needs are increasing. To support informed community dialogue, the County will conduct a transparent public educational effort about service needs, tradeoffs, and potential revenue options to support growing needs within our public safety departments. This RFQ focuses solely on communications, outreach, and media strategy.

SCOPE OF WORK
The County is soliciting proposals for a communications consultant to provide the services identified below. Respondents may propose additional value-added tasks. All deliverables must comply with California law for public agency communications (informational, nonadvocacy) and County policies. All proposers must additionally ensure all communications are informational and do not advocate for a vote, consistent with California Government Code and case law on the use of public resources. All materials must align with County identity standards, be accessible per ADA/WCAG guidance, and be produced in English and Spanish (additional languages if directed).

A. Strategic Communications Plan

• Develop a countywide communications strategy and phased workplan through December 2026, including goals, audiences (residents, businesses, community organizations, rural/unincorporated areas), channels, timelines, and success metrics.
• Coordinate closely with County Executive Office – Communications Division and department PIOs; provide a kickoff and biweekly status updates.
• Ensure accessibility: plain language, ADA/WCAG compliance, bilingual English/Spanish, and culturally responsive outreach.
• Proposers must ensure all communications are informational. All materials must align with County identity standards; be accessible per ADA/WCAG guidance; and be produced in English and Spanish (additional languages if directed).

B. Core Messaging & Creative Development

• Draft a message framework (needs, options, service impacts, fiscal accountability, oversight) that is strictly informational and nonadvocacy.
• Create copy and layouts for collateral (factsheets, FAQs, talking points, presentation decks, digital assets).
• Develop a bilingual style guide and asset library (templates for social, web tiles, flyers, presentations) aligned with County identity standards.

C. Media & Community Outreach

• Earned media: pitch calendars, press materials, media briefings, and editorial board support.
• Paid media planning (if authorized): budget scenarios and placements across digital, radio, print, and outdoor; trafficking specs and timelines.
• Community engagement: plan and support public information meetings, webinars, popups, and partner toolkits; provide Spanish language outreach and translation QA.
• Web & email: content outlines, FAQs, and update cadence for County webpages and newsletters; analytics recommendations.

D. Implementation Support & Coordination

• Provide day today project management; maintain a living timeline and risk log.
• Coordinate with the separate polling/research vendor to align messages with research findings and milestone timing (Board actions, fiscal deadlines, ballot deadlines).
• Rapid response support for misinformation monitoring and factual corrections.

E. Measurement & Reporting

• Define KPIs (reach, engagement, earned media hits/share of voice, sentiment trends, multilingual reach, event attendance).
• Deliver monthly activity reports and end-of-phase (e.g., quarterly 2026) summaries with insights and recommendations.

TERM
The term of the contract will be SIX (6) months from date of award, with TWO (2) additional 6- month extension option periods following the initial term. Pricing will remain unchanged throughout the term of contract. Proposals submitted must remain firm for ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) days. Attached to this RFQ is a County Sample Contract for Services. If any County requirements cannot be met, please redline a copy of the contract to include with your proposal regarding suggested edits.

SELECTION
Proposals will be evaluated by the Project Manager based on, but not limited to, the below criteria.





AWARD
The County reserves the right to enter into a contract without further discussion of the submitted proposal. Therefore, the proposal should be initially submitted on the most favorable terms the proposer can offer.

The County expressly reserves the right, in its sole judgment, to accept or reject any or all proposals, with or without cause, modify, alter, waive any technicalities or provisions, or to accept the proposal which, in its sole judgment, is determined to be the best evaluated offer resulting from negotiation and taking into consideration other evaluation factors set forth in the RFQ. The successful proposer will be expected to enter into a contract with the County. If the successful proposer fails to sign a contract within fifteen (15) business days, unless the County grants an extension, following the delivery of the contract documents, the County may elect to negotiate a contract with the next-highest ranked proposer.

The County shall not be bound, or in any way obligated, until both parties have executed a contract. The selected proposer may not incur any chargeable costs prior to final contract execution. The foregoing should not be interpreted to prohibit either party from proposing additional contract terms and conditions during the negotiation of the final Contract.

Please submit the following:
1. Cover letter
2. Qualifications (i.e., resume) and description of your experience and expertise in public safety services.
3. A budget with narrative that details rationale for cost proposal. Proposal must clearly define any travel costs, if any.

Responses shall be submitted via e-mail to Jeanette Trompeter at [email protected] no later than 5:00pm on March 27, 2026.

If you have any questions, please reach out Jeanette Trompeter at [email protected]