6f Draft Motion
Item Number: 6f_motion Meeting Date: June 23, 2020 1 MOTION 2020-18: 2 A MOTION OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 3 4 directing the Executive Director that competitive solicitation is 5 not appropriate or cost-effective for youth opportunity services 6 and exempting such contracts from the requirements of Chapter 7 53.19 RCW. 8 9 PROPOSED 10 JUNE 23, 2020 11 12 INTRODUCTION 13 14 On May 26, 2020, the Port of Seattle Commission directed the Executive to implement short- 15 term employment opportunities for youth 16 24 that enhance the mission of the Port of 16 Seattle and support economic recovery for the residents of King County from the COVID-19 17 pandemic. The program was directed to be implemented by July 1, 2020. 18 19 During that same timeframe, the Port has seen unprecedented impacts and shutdowns in the 20 airline and cruise industries, has taken extraordinary measures to protect its workforce, and has 21 reduced the Port budget by $70 million for 2020. The impacts of the pandemic on every aspect 22 of life at home and work are extreme. 23 24 The Port is making a strategic investment in opportunities for youth even in the face of a 25 $70,000,000 budget reduction. These competitive exemptions are necessary to allow the Port 26 to respond in a timely appropriate fashion to the extremely high youth unemployment rate, the 27 disproportionate impacts on communities of color, the lack of public or private summer youth 28 employment/internship opportunities due to the COVID-19 related shutdown, and the need to 29 get expediate contracts for qualified firms to address these issues this summer. 30 31 TEXT OF THE MOTION 32 33 The commission exercises its authority under RCW 53.19.020(5) to determine that a competitive 34 solicitation process is not appropriate or cost-effective to address the emergency nature of the 35 youth facing the highest unemployment rates in King County, among other indicators in King 36 County as directed by commissioners during the May 26, 2020, commission meeting and to assist 37 in these four areas: best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth unemployment, for youth 38 of color, and youth in South Seattle and South King County; connection with Port industries; 39 breadth of industries/opportunities; career trajectory for students, connecting to another 40 program; working with organizations that have strong track record and can deliver solid results; 41 and more money in hands of student achieved through lower overhead. 42 Motion 2020-18 Competition Waivers Page 1 of 5 43 To that end the Commission authorizes the Executive Director to execute contracts for Aerospace 44 Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Partners in Employment, Seattle Goodwill, Seattle Parks 45 Foundation, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle for up to a total of $1,500,000. 46 47 The Commission has determined that a competitive process for these agreements is not 48 appropriate or cost-effective based on: 49 1. Research identified the five non-profit organizations listed here have established youth 50 opportunity programs serving Port-related industries. Although there are sufficient non- 51 profit organizations with the ability to provide youth opportunities, the programs serve 52 non-Port related industries; 53 2. The non-profit organizations identified here have established programs developed to 54 support South King County youth; whereas others served youth outside of South King 55 County; 56 3. The non-profit organizations identified here have the ability to launch youth 57 opportunities during the summer months to provide rapid economic recovery, whereas 58 others required program development and implementation time limiting delivery of 59 service opportunities to youth. Economic recovery is urgent due to COVID-19 impacts 60 limiting youth employment, particularly youth of color. 61 4. The nonprofit organizations identified here are qualified and operating during the COVID- 62 19 shutdown; where as others are operating at a limited capacity which impact their 63 ability to provide summer youth opportunities. 64 5. The nonprofit organizations identified have lower cost of overhead providing a more cost- 65 effective method to deliver the youth opportunities program. They also have the financial 66 capability to launch the program within the time frame limitations. 67 68 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION 69 While workers in nearly every sector Washington's economy have been adversely affected by the 70 Covid-19 pandemic, the loss of employment opportunities for low-skilled workers between 16- 71 24 years of age is the most substantial. The Port is expediting these contracts to meet this 72 emergency through a competitive waiver for these five organizations: Aerospace Joint 73 Apprenticeship Committee, Partners in Employment, Seattle Goodwill, Seattle Parks Foundation, 74 Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle organizations to meet the need for this population. 75 76 According to the Washington State Employment Security Department in May 2020, the highest 77 numbers of claims per capita were workers with a high school or equivalent education, 78 between the ages of 18 and 24, living in south Seattle and South King County area, and workers 79 of color. Works of colors are defined as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black/African 80 American and American Indian/Alaska Native workers. This resulted in these demographics 81 being laid off at higher rates, have greater impacts from COVID, and have greater pre-existing 82 health and environmental conditions that negatively affect outcomes. 83 84 King County and the City of Seattle have largely cancelled their summer internship 85 opportunities. The Port of Seattle has had to limit our in-house internship opportunities to 20 86 down from almost 110 spots as staff are trying to figure out how to return to work. Motion 2020-18 Competition Waivers Page 2 of 5 87 Opportunities in the private sector are also extremely limited in the industries where youth 88 work, for example, through the end of April, job losses within the leisure and hospitality sector 89 represented 42 percent of all job losses in the state. 90 91 The Port of Seattle designed a summer employment Opportunity Initiative to respond to the 92 unprecedented impact in communities of King County The Initiative will connect youth between 93 the ages of 16 and 24 with paid learning opportunities designed to build skills to succeed in the 94 workplace, create learning opportunities that connect young people to a long term career path, 95 strengthen community, and support young people and their families during the COVID-19 96 pandemic. 97 98 Facilitated by community-based providers who specialize in employment readiness, cultural 99 enrichment, mentorship, educational opportunities, and career readiness training in the focus 100 areas of the Port of Seattle: Aviation, Maritime, green careers---the program offers participants 101 the opportunity to explore career interests, develop work-readiness skills through learning 102 experiences designed to strengthen civic and leadership abilities 103 104 The Opportunity Initiative has identified specific programmatic elements that must be met by 105 each organization supporting this effort: 106 Best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth unemployment, for youth of color, and 107 youth in communities most impacted by Covid-19 (this data is provided by Seattle-King 108 County Public Health and Workforce Development Council) 109 Connection with Port industries; breadth of industries/opportunities 110 Career trajectory for students as part of a workforce development program 111 Working with organizations that have established and effective youth employment 112 program, to support hire dates in time for summer employment, a strong track record in 113 youth employment and/or workforce, can deliver results that fall within Port authority, 114 and with lower overhead and cost-effective programs 115 With a requirement of salaries/wages/stipend for youth at a $15/hour minimum wage. 116 117 Projects must provide youth with opportunities to participate in economic activities like 118 occupational job training and placement, job advancement and job retention, pre-apprenticeship 119 training, or occupational education programs associated with port tenants, customers, and local 120 economic development related to port tenants or port-related economic activities 121 122 Project staff must have at least five years demonstrated experience in education, mentorship, 123 leadership development, and empowerment of "opportunity youth" defined as young people 124 between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor 125 market. 126 127 Project staff must have demonstrated cultural competency and possess a strong understanding 128 of operationalizing racial equity. Project must evaluate outcomes with quantitative information 129 including: number of trainees, recruited, placed in jobs, and retained; the types of jobs and range Motion 2020-18 Competition Waivers Page 3 of 5 130 of compensation; the number and types of businesses that are served; and any other tangible 131 benefits realized by the port, workers, businesses, and the public. 132 133 The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion created a working group with Port employees from 134 various departments with expertise with youth employment. This working group looked at the 135 following organizations with a strong understanding of the Commissioner's focus areas. 136 137 The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC). AJAC has over 10 years of experience 138 and direct ties to Port industries by creating a pipeline for aerospace careers and strong ties with 139 communities in South King County, workforce development, and expertise in youth employment. 140 It is uniquely equipped and positioned to create solid career paths for incarcerated youth, youth 141 at risk of entering the juvenile justice system, immigrant population, and low-income youth 142 within the South King County area. 143 144 Partners in Employment (PIE): This organization has strong ties with communities in South King 145 County, workforce development, and expertise in youth employment. It is uniquely equipped and 146 positioned to create solid career paths for incarcerated youth, youth at risk of entering the 147 juvenile justice system, immigrant population, and low-income youth within the South King 148 County area. 149 150 Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle: This organization will develop, own and operate housing 151 for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in Washington State. This 152 summer both programs will employ youth to help build tiny cottages for the homeless. These 153 programs are a bridge to link people of color to apprenticeships or pre -apprentice construction 154 training programs. The Port understands the construction industry is a hard trade to get your foot 155 into the door. 156 157 Seattle Goodwill: This organization is a strong candidate that demonstrate a long history (short 158 of 100 years) of understanding on how to execute student centered cultural competency within 159 King County. Seattle Goodwill has three dynamic programs: Youth Maritime Program (YMP); 160 Youth Aerospace Program (YAP) and Youth at Work (YAW) (all Port Industries) which center on 161 youth development design to help youth identify their strengths and set goals. The Goodwill's 162 partnerships with various established organzations helps this program to fastrack connecting 163 students with career opportunities within Port Industries. 164 165 Seattle Parks Foundation: This organization will be the cluster lead and fiscal sponsors for five 166 grass roots organizations in the Duwamish Valley. This funding structure helps smaller 167 community-based organizations lead by people of color navigate the governmental overbearing 168 process and legislation. These programs will create internships within maritime, aerospace, and 169 environmental industries. The workgroup understood that smaller organizations have many 170 obstacles to overcome to develop quick rapid response proposals for government review. 171 172 The competition waivers are justified on the basis that it will help the Port expeditiously meet 173 the extremely high need for summer employment for youth, in particular, the emergency nature Motion 2020-18 Competition Waivers Page 4 of 5 174 of the skyrocketing youth of color unemployment and secure the limited number of programs 175 that can meet the specific Port requirements. The Port conducted outreach to groups that could 176 handle a ramp-up of activities during the pandemic and identified those groups that could meet 177 our legal, financial, programmatic and emergent issues. 178 179 Identifying projects and programs that can advance the Port's mission, including the creation of 180 short-term employment emphasizing this age group, will provide material benefit to the Port as 181 it looks to maintain, preserve and enhance the assets and programs of statewide significance that 182 are necessary to Washington State's economic recovery in 2020. Motion 2020-18 Competition Waivers Page 5 of 5
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