Committee approves forwarding in‑kind Civic Bridge consulting services to full Board

The Budget and Finance Committee voted to forward a resolution accepting in‑kind consulting services valued at approximately $302,000 to support three Civic Bridge projects with the mayor’s Office of Innovation.

Sofia Kittler described three projects: a shorter sprint with the Department of Public Health working with ZS Associates to reduce barriers to substance‑use treatment; a data‑design/convening project with the Department of Emergency Management using US Digital Response volunteers; and a logic‑model redesign for the Fire Department’s EMS‑6 program with pro‑bono volunteers from Adobe to better measure outcomes for high‑utilizers of 911.

Kittler said the mayor’s office proposes a city attorney amendment (page 1, line 20) to record the coordination of volunteer services in the valuation, and the committee adopted that amendment and forwarded the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation. Vice Chair Mandelmann asked to be added as a cosponsor. No public speakers addressed the item.

Kittler acknowledged the Civic Bridge program’s historical 16‑week model and explained two innovations for this year: shorter sprints for certain projects and recruitment of individual volunteers through US Digital Response rather than corporate volunteer teams.

Next steps: the amended resolution will be forwarded to the full Board; departments and the mayor’s Office of Innovation will coordinate implementation and any non‑material modifications to donor agreements as needed.