This document provides a proposal for a public relations campaign by The Sage Project at San Diego State University. It begins with an analysis of the organization's current situation, including a problem statement about lack of funding, a history of the program, and a SWOT analysis. It then discusses research on civic engagement for sustainable cities. The proposal outlines plans, objectives, strategies, and tactics for the campaign, including proposed projects with different cities. It includes a budget and appendix with additional research materials on sustainability initiatives and civic participation. The goal is to increase partnerships, funding, and engagement with San Diego County cities through an organized PR effort.

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SUMMIT PR CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
FALL 2015
Community Engagement for Sustainable Cities
CREATED BY:
Hallie Hoffmann • Allison Bawden
Vivian Nguyen • Vy Truong
Oscar Sanchez • Colin Sanchez
Catalina Duarte • Melanie Ramirez
Marcela Orozco • Bianca Pires

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Table of Contents
Section I: Situation Analysis……………………………………………………….……...………….3
Section II: Research….………………………………………………………………..……..………10
Section III: Planning………………………………………………………..…………………...……12
a. Audiences and Messages……………………………………………………………..…..…13
b. Objectives and Goals…………………………………………………………………………13
Section IV: Implementation…………………………………………………………………….……15
c. Strategy………………………………………………………………………………….…...…16
d. Tactics……………………………………………………………………………………......…16
e. City Proposals………………………………………………………………….………………18
Section V: Evaluation and Recommendations…………………………………..…………………39
Section VI: Budget…………………………………………………………...……………………….43
Section VII: Appendix……………………………………………………………………...…………54

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Section I: Situation Analysis

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Problem Statement
For the 2015-2016 school year, The Sage Project at San Diego State University received only
one request for proposal: a $50,000 budget for just two projects (from the city of Santee). This
proposal did not provide the funding Dr. Barlow needed in order to properly staff and run the
organization. Furthermore, the two projects were not broad enough to incorporate
campuswide engagement of at least 20 different disciplines and hundreds of students.
History
Modeled after the Sustainable City Program at the University of Oregon, The Sage Project
works to engage students, faculty and communities in creating sustainable projects to
enhance cities and further their community’s growth. The Sage Project philosophy works
under a one city per year model where it partners with local governments around San Diego
County.
This model works as a platform to connect students within interdisciplinary majors and help
them gain real-world experience by bridging innovative ideas overseen by faculty members.
The Sage Project begins its partnership by seeking cities in need of new development within
San Diego County. The process begins with proposals from city officials looking to partner
with Sage. Upon approval, the City must sustain the ability to finance the projects it seeks to
accomplish. This partnership then extends over the course of the academic year at San Diego
State University, where faculty members and students devote thousands of hours of research,
creativity, ideas and solutions to meet the city's overall goals. Students are able to propose
novel ideas toward stakeholders and community leaders to further communicate and
implement city objectives. All projects submitted are of high need to the community and
provide a service to its citizens.
The city partner for 2013-2014 was National City, the second-oldest city in San Diego County.
National City was the first city The Sage Project launched a partnership with. It is a low
income, high diversity city, with approximately 60,000 residents. Upon its partnership,
National City gained many benefits from the services provided by The Sage Project. Projects
proposed included: branding, budget solutions, store conversions, disaster preparedness and
response, Marina district redevelopment, freeway assessment, property management plans,
sustainability, craft beer industry, strategic planning, homelessness and policy alternatives, a
wayfinding system and public records act. Through these project proposals, National City
would engage students in multiple disciplines.

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Current State of Events
The start of the 2015-2016 academic year for The Sage Project was filled with many projects
that received the required funding to complete them. Upon conclusion of its second year
working with National City, The Sage Project was able to partner up with the city of Santee in
the east county of San Diego. Director Jessica Barlow had close ties with city officials of
Santee embarking the partnership for the 2015-2016 academic year. This partnership would
include the proposal of nine highly interdisciplinary projects that include: a new civic center
complex, iconic pedestrian bridge, water quality enhancement, city branding and homeless
intervention. The anticipated budget for these projects would be $200,000 and would
engage 11 disciplines, 16 faculty members, 22 courses and 1400 students. However, the
circumstances changed.
Due to budget restrictions, Santee withdrew almost completely from in its initial proposals.
Partnership reduced from the nine proposed projects to just two: the asset mapping GIS and
a water quality study. This reduction affected the budget The Sage Project initially had
leveraged going from $200,000 to $50,000 to cover project costs. Several factors that led to
these drastic changes were lack of communication, funding sources, timing of MOU and
project agreements and leaderships changes. Although The Sage Project was able to
maintain partnership with the City of Santee, the city's’ decision to reduce projects had direct
impact on its outlook of future partnerships. Currently, The Sage Project's goals is to maintain
it credibility, retain faculty confidence, increase funding and increase future partnerships with
San Diego County cities.
SWOT Analysis
Understanding the environment that surrounds The Sage Project will help to maximize the
positive outcomes and minimize the negative elements that affect the organization. In order
to determine which factors are helping or hindering in the organization, a detailed
comprehension of the internal and external environment is provided including strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in the organization. In particular, identifying
and addressing these four key factors can help to understand key issues affecting the
performance of The Sage Project and potentially lead to solutions for improvement.
Internal Strengths
1. Positive practice framework
The Sage Project is a campus-wide engaged learning organization located at San Diego State
University. The organization is part of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in
Communities (EPIC) Network, and is based on the highly successful and award winning
Sustainable City Year Program at the University of Oregon. By using this existing and highly
successful model, The Sage Project has direction and knowledge of what can work.
Specifically, the Sage Project partners with rural and urban communities across San Diego to

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develop partner-directed projects and address their priorities and sustainability goals for
advancing quality of life within the region. The Sage Project matches community needs with
the expertise and resources of the San Diego State University faculty and students.
2. Students engage and gain experience in community-involved projects
The Sage Project is a unique resource that helps students achieve academic and
professional success by offering project management, professional development and
administrative resources. Through project-based learning, students across the University can
apply what they learn to community-focused situations and develop an all-around enriching
education. As the students get involved with high-priority, high-need community projects,
interest and fresh ideas are willingly generated that create momentum and provide real
service to the community. Consequently, these community engagement activities allow
students to better prepared to be future leaders in the community.
3. Positive contributions to the community
Since its establishment in 2013, The Sage Project has worked with two city partners in San
Diego region and have completed 18 projects that have contributed significantly to the
advancement of our partnering communities’ economic, social and environmental
sustainability. In order to achieve this success, The Sage Project staff have implemented and
developed the community projects through close cooperation between community partners
and faculty members. The Sage Project has involved 55 classes, 35 faculty members, 23
disciplines and more than 2,000 students over the past two years.
Internal Weaknesses
1. Lack of funding and resources
One of the barriers that The Sage Project is facing is lack of funding to sustain the program.
Low levels of awareness within the sponsor and alumni community limit the funds coming in.
The organization currently does not have a fundraising strategy. Thus, the process of
identifying and securing funds is challenging. In addition, with only one part-time faculty
member directing the program and two other temporary assistants, there is a significant lack
of necessary resources within staffing to ensure long-term sustainability.
2. Lack of awareness and credibility
There seems to be a lack of awareness about the Sage Project specifically in regard to city
council members, city officials and potential sponsors. Despite the fact that The Sage Project
has only been established at San Diego State University for a short period of time (since 2013)
the level of awareness should be higher given the amount of resources provided by the
university and the program’s promising potential given the prior successful projects. There
was no significant attention given to the marketing, PR activities, and events in order to build
a specific image and credibility for The Sage Project. Since there have only been two cities

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that have been getting involved with The Sage Project on record; potential partners may
question the reliability and expertise of the program, thus resulting in missed opportunities of
partnerships.
External Opportunities
1. Working faculty & students with communities
The Sage Project at SDSU gives opportunities to students at one of the most competitive
state schools on the West Coast. They receive hands on experience by being able to design
projects and have the space to learn and grow from a qualified program.
2. National City and Santee Partnerships
These partnerships allow other cities to get insight on what successes the program completed
in the past. It gives more credibility to the program and makes it easier for new cities to be
convinced that Sage can provide them with the best plan.
3. Interns
The Sage Project gives even more opportunities for students looking for a part-time position
as an intern with the same hands-on experiences and qualifications needed to develop a
potential career.
4. Growing Market
The market for renovating and repairing city plans is huge and never-ending. Improvements
in sustainability help prosperity and maintenance in both the program and its selected areas.
External Threats
Although The Sage Project has grown significantly since its start, there are several obstacles
that threaten the success of this organization.
1. Resistance from city officials
One of The Sage Project’s biggest projects was with the city of Santee. The Sage Project and
Santee agreed to budget $200,000 and engage 11 disciplines, 16 faculty members, 22
courses and 1,400 students. Unexpectedly, Santee completely withdrew from most of the
project except asset mapping GIS and the water quality study. Instances like this pose an
enormous threat for this organization--where partnerships can be made almost definite and
city officials can later completely back up from a project.
2. Competition
There are several other organizations and private entities that threaten cities from selecting
The Sage Project to do their projects. Because this organization uses San Diego State
University’s students to complete these projects, some cities are skeptical to hire them due to

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the lack of experience some students may have. Some cities already have their own private
entities that are in charge of completing any projects the city needs to complete; therefore,
Sage must compete with not only other already hired professionals, but also other
organizations from different campuses that are just like them. UC San Diego’s Sustainability
Solutions Institute (SSI) and CSU San Marcos’ Community Engagement are organizations in
the greater area that aim to sustainably solve key problems facing society.
3. Limited Funding
This year, The Sage Project faced many financial problems that have hindered its ability to
grow and implement their ideas. Most of The Sage Project’s funds come from the cities it is
partnered with, however, in order to stay afloat every year, they need a minimum of $100,000
yearly budget. San Diego State University agreed to do an MOI (Memorandum of
Understanding) with The Sage Project. The purpose of this MOI was that San Diego State
University would only grant the organization $30,000 this one time in order to help them
continue to work this year. Without the appropriate funding, the project cannot strengthen its
goals to have a student-engaged organization and could overall disintegrate as an
organization.
4. Opposition from Community
As previously stated, one of the biggest reasons communities would be opposed to The Sage
Project participating in projects with cities is that students are known for not having enough
experience in their fields. Because of this, community individuals have difficulty trusting
students to partake in such intricate projects that involve taxpayer money. Instead, they would
rather trust experienced individuals/companies that cities have used in the past.
Competition
Overview
Sage faces a plethora of competition when it comes to helping communities and cities around
San Diego County. These competitors include other schools with programs similar to the
Sage Project, private contractors, other nonprofit organizations and other real-life,
government projects that revolve around bettering the community. However, Sage should
distinguish themselves from these competitors and make it the community’s first choice.
Other San Diego County Schools
The Sage Project faces competition against other colleges and universities in the San Diego
region. For example, UC San Diego’s Sustainability Solutions Institute (SSI) and CSU San
Marcos’ Community Engagement project both have various classes that assist in presenting
solutions to real-world problems. In comparison to UC San Diego, The Sage Project has a
more hands-on approach and tackle community issues. UC San Diego’s program is not as

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active. Their last Facebook post on the SSI page was posted over three years ago, and their
documents have not been updated on their website since 2010. In addition, calling the
telephone number for this program will result in no response. Sage will offer a quicker
response to inquiries due because it is a newer and passionate program.
CSU San Marcos offers a community outreach program that allows students to work in local
communities and address the particular region's most critical needs. The program focuses on
partnering with underrepresented students, tribal neighbors, military establishments, health
organizations and the business community to works on projects beneficial to these particular
communities. Students are given opportunities to help through service learning and civic
engagement. Furthermore, the faculty contributes to these projects through engaged
scholarships and research. This program directly competes with The Sage Project because it is
located within San Diego County, operates in the same service area as The Sage Project, and
addresses community problems through student ideas and work.
Other Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit organizations also pose as a threat. Community service and volunteer organizations
around the County may offer free labor. However, although The Sage Program is a program
that must be paid for, it has more positive attributes than volunteering does. The Sage Project
is more structured and each student that participates has a good understanding of the
situation, the solution, and the path to reach that solution. Students are able to gain real-
world experience as well as help their local communities at the same time. What makes it
unique from nonprofit organizations is that the students come up with the solutions, whereas
volunteers follow what they are told to do. The Sage Project also works with each city for a
year instead of volunteering from time to time like many nonprofit organizations.
Private Contractors
The Sage Project’s past efforts have focused on branding, budget solutions and strategic
planning among other services that are typically offered by private contractors. This makes
the contractors direct competitors with The Sage Project for city clients. The Sage Project
differentiates itself by supplying cities with thousands of hours of work done by SDSU
students over a year. In addition, the community partner gives students great opportunities to
gain real-world experiences through working on projects to benefit their city. Private
contractors may cost more money and be less flexible than San Diego State’s student work.
Government Projects
A situation The Sage Project may face is that local community problems already be in the
process of being addressed by the city itself. Instead of this being a competitor, it could
partner up with the plans that have already been made and either present more advice, learn
from those set plans or provide the man-power to put these plans into effect.

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Section II: Research

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This secondary research is especially important because, as Portney discusses in the Abstract,
the “recurring theme in these cities is the role of public participation in shaping and
implementing these (sustainability) programs.” In his research, Portney notes that some cities
(like Seattle) owe the city’s push for sustainability entirely to public involvement. The research
looks at the shift to sustainable living at the end of the 20th century, and the roles both the
government and the public fulfilled. It also discusses the importance of civic engagement, and
potential problems that can arise. This research will help us to understand the original
sustainability movement, as well. For comparison, there are three specific cities cited in the
research that pushed for sustainability through civic/community engagement (Appendix A1).
Ziegler’s research discusses that though governments and society have acknowledged the
need for sustainable development and urban planning, it is not happening fast enough. He
discusses how previous ideas of “limitless growth” are now replaced by overpopulation that
must be addressed. Ziegler argues, “The truth of the matter is that cities are great at talking
the ‘green talk’ but actually quite lousy at walking the "green walk.” This is relevant to our
project because, as our client mentioned, city officials appeared to like the idea of the
project, but then did not participate (Appendix A2).
Primary Research: Qualitative and Quantitative
Qualitative Research
For our qualitative research, we made an excel sheet that listed the different Community
Engagement Programs around the nation similar to Sage. Then we chose six programs to
reach out to and conduct in-depth interviews about how they run their programs. Our
university project coordinator, Dr. Barlow, served as a baseline for Summit PR in order to
compare and contrast findings from the other interviews (Appendix A3-A5).
Quantitative Research
Summit PR compiled a list of questions and formatted them onto an Excel sheet for further
breakdown as to what each program contained. We comprised graphs based on the data
gathered from the document used for code sheet (Appendix A6-A8). The graphs list the
percentages of keywords and website content per program. For example: 26 percent of the
total programs presented brochures in their website content.
These multiple methods displayed different kinds of research, each displaying different
outcomes. We focused our attention on the investigation of other nationwide programs with
the same incentives. They altered in the way they approached the respective city council
depending on the needs and renovations specified in each location. This allows us to see
what works for other organizations and to have a broad idea of how to create success.

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Section III: Planning

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a. Audiences and Messages
Target Audiences
Proactive communication is essential to success. In order to generate new business
opportunities and heighten institutional awareness, Summit PR must continually reach out to
targeted publics including, but not limited to, SDSU faculty, students, potential sponsors and
city partners, through various public relations strategies. In order to convert latent or aware
publics to active publics, The Sage Project must effectively communicate with the appropriate
audiences.
Internal Audience:
• Faculty: SDSU professors from different departments that teach upper division classes
and are willing to integrate community engagement in their courses. Among SDSU
professors, there should be no latent public.
• Students: Upper division and graduate level SDSU students who, by participating, will
learn how their disciplinary expertise and competencies translates into addressing
community needs.
External Audience:
• Sponsors: Companies in the San Diego area that see past performances and future
potential of The Sage Project and are eager to invest in its growth.
• City partners: All cities that are within San Diego State University’s service area; the city
council members whose votes have the power to supply the Sage Project with funds
Key Messages
• Sage is willing to work with cities across Southern California
• Sage will work to make it as straightforward as possible to work with them
• Proposals will include long-term plans to guarantee cost savings and emphasis on the
most important needs of the community
• The quality of the work is thoroughly evaluated to provide cities with the best
proposed plans, chosen from a variety of work from many students
• Though The Sage Project strongly emphasizes sustainability, there is opportunity for a
multitude of different community improvement projects.
See Appendix A9 for a comprehensive FAQ and Media Response to Query, organized by
target audience.
b. Objectives and Goals
Goal #1: To increase The Sage Project’s partnerships with cities and communities in San
Diego County.
Objective #1: To establish a partnership with the La Jolla community by January 2016 and
undertake at least two community projects.
Objective #2: To establish a partnership with the city of Imperial Beach by January 2016

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and undertake at least two community projects.
Goal #2: To increase The Sage Project’s awareness about community issues within the San
Diego area.
Objective #1: To increase knowledge of community issues by 20 percent among target
cities.
Goal #3: To improve The Sage Project’s public communication on social media and to attract
more visitors to the site.
Objective #1: To maintain close relationship with target communities and SDSU faculty
and students and to enhance their engagement by 30 percent by February 2016.
Objective #2: To establish and expand business network for Sage Project on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn by 20 percent by January 2016.

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Section IV: Implementation

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c. Strategy
Redesign The Sage Project’s Business Model
Rather than ask cities ‘what can we do for you?’ we will tell cities ‘this is why you
need us!’
Our team has compiled a highly detailed, specific template for pitching the Sage Project to
cities. In order to best prepare Dr. Barlow for the upcoming year, we have created two
potential proposals that can be pitched to the designated city.
The Old Model
• Currently, Dr. Barlow asks interested cities to submit a RFP, with a budget of how much
they’re willing to spend, how many projects plus what type of projects they want
completed.
• In order to determine which issues were more prevalent in the communities we
completed an environmental content scan of social and traditional media.
• This model puts most of the work on the cities to draft a proposal, compile projects
that are suited for students, and decide how much of a budget they can afford.
The New Model
• The new model centers around the idea that instead of asking cities to submit a RFP,
Dr. Barlow will actually reach out with a draft proposal that includes all of the same
elements from the RFP.
• By sourcing information from various cities General Plan’s, media outlets, and other
platforms, community members utilize these to directly voice what’s important to them.
• Dr. Barlow will present a proposal that incorporates issues the community has already
addressed as in need of attention.
• Dr. Barlow, with the help of SDSU students receiving course credit for their work, will
draft specific proposal specifically tailored to the needs of the community.
• This mutually beneficial model will allow Dr. Barlow to have more input regarding
which cities The Sage Project works with.
• We propose that Dr. Barlow alternate between more affluent cities who can afford
multiple and more expensive projects, and lower-income communities that may only
be able to fund a couple projects on a smaller scale.
d. Tactics
• Attend the La Jolla Town Council meeting in January to introduce The Sage Project to
council members and the community and to pitch suggestions for improving La Jolla’s
problems through the Sage Project’s services.
• Attend the La Jolla SunSetter Mixer Jan. 21 to build relationships and network with

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political community leaders, nonprofits, merchants, business professionals and
neighbors.
• Attend Imperial Beach City Council meetings Jan. 6 and/or Jan. 20 to introduce The
Sage Project to council members and the community while pitching suggestions for
improving Imperial Beach's problems through The Sage Project’s services.
• Conduct research on target cities monthly to keep up to date with the current situation
(e.g., population, socio-economic statistics).
• Check comments and reviews about target cities on social media twice a week.
• Conduct monthly surveys on target communities to learn about their existing issues.
• Create a Twitter and Facebook page to crowdsource ideas from community residents
about community problems and suggestions for improvements.
• Release a monthly media report to city officials to raise awareness for existing issues
and to assess the public’s thoughts and opinions on such issues
• Create a strategic social media content calendar for The Sage Project to ensure high-
quality, well-written, high-performing content pieces.
• Educate and deliver clear message about The Sage Project’s mission and vision.
• Update regularly with publics on current project progress, student involvement and
overall achievements of The Sage Project.
• Upload a link to The Sage Project’s online video portfolio on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
Social Media Rebrand
The Sage Project has a disjunction between them and the communities they are targeting,
and that can be an attest to a lack of communication via social medias to identify issues these
cities are facing. An example of a city utilizing social media to the advantage of the city
officials and the citizens is found in St. Louis and its usage of Facebook and Twitter.
The City of St. Louis found Twitter to be an effective medium for researching its market. In this
case the medium was used in a nonprofit effort to find way to improve the city titled “Tweet
Me in St. Louis.” After establishing community-based website, the organization used
Facebook and Twitter for crowdsourcing ideas on how to improve the city as well
crowdfunding to raise money to support the ideas generated. The public was asked to tweet
in ideas in regards to cultural arts, education, housing or virtually anything else that they
thought needed improvements. After the period for submitting ideas was closed, participants
were asked to vote on the best ones- again by tweeting in their votes.
This approach to public engagement to gather data on popular opinions and ideas is not a
new one, but one The Sage Project should consider. By building a greater presence on social
media, and then using that following to take suggestions and votes on ideas, it will have a
greater understanding for their contingency, and the proposed ideas that they bring forth to
city officials will hold a greater weight when backed by votes and tweets.

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Social Media Calendar
While The Sage Project has existing pages on several social media platforms, the
presence is lacking. By utilizing sites including, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter, The Sage Project will promote awareness in the San Diego State community as well as
the entire San Diego area, promote sustainability and endorse community involvement. Being
active and visible on social media is crucial in today’s society in becoming a successful
organization, and by following this enclosed social media calendar (See Appendix B17), which
extends all the way to the end of 2016, The Sage Project will benefit and grow.
e. City Proposals
La Jolla
INTRODUCTION
Also known as “The Jewel” in Spanish, La Jolla is one of the most attractive cities in San
Diego to visit. Located less than 15 miles north of Downtown San Diego, La Jolla is a vibrant
coastal community and highly sought after vacation destination due to its beautiful beaches
and wide assortment of upscale restaurants. In addition, the community is a desirable
destination as it is home to various prominent institutions such as Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, the Stephen Birch Aquarium, and the San
Diego Museum of Contemporary Art.
The community is home to about 32,000 residents, and, according to The City of San Diego is
the wealthiest community in San Diego County. We propose The Sage Project partner with La
Jolla because the community is in need of improvements and renovations and can afford The
Sage Project’s services.
The community generates large amounts of money through property taxes and local sales tax
from purchases. For example, the average sale price of a home is $1,200,000, relative to the
average sale price of a home sold in San Diego County, which is $495,000, according to
realtor.com (see Appendix B1). Therefore residents pay larger amounts in property taxes that
can go toward funding projects that benefit their community. In addition, according to
realtor.com, which sourced their information from the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the
median household income for La Jolla is $117,084 (see Appendix B2). According to the U.S.
Census Bureau, the median household income in San Diego County is $62, 692 (see
Appendix B2). Because La Jolla households on average earn more relative to San Diego
County residents, they have more disposable income to spend on both essentials and
nonessentials, which generates more money in sales tax. These funds can also go toward
projects to improve the community.

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In order for The Sage Project to work together with the community of La Jolla it will need to
develop a relationship with its City Council Representatives as they have the authority to
allocate funds to The Sage Project (see Appendix B14).
The community needs new long-term solutions to help protect sea lions residing in the La
Jolla Cove and improve the water quality at La Jolla Shores beach.
COMMUNITY ISSUES
Sea lion fecal stench and water bacteria levels at La Jolla Cove
The La Jolla Cove is home to a small population of sea lions that reside on the neighboring
rocks. Although the animals are a tourist attraction, the odor from their waste has been a
lingering problem for at least the past four years. The community needs a long-term solution
to mitigate the sea lion fecal stench.
According to an article about a La Jolla town meeting Oct. 8, 2015, Phyllis Pfeiffer, the
meeting’s moderator stated with respect to the Cove stench, “it breaks our heart to be asking
this because it’s the same question we asked the candidates running four years ago, and
nothing has changed” (see Appendix B3).
A long-term solution to the sea lion stench is important because the smell deters people from
frequenting the nearby due to the odors intolerableness.
According to an article, resident Jeff Chasan said “I won’t even take clients to restaurants if
they’re on the ocean side of Prospect Street because the smell is unbearable” (see Appendix
B4).
Various efforts have been made by the city including hiring marine mammal expert, Doyle
Hanan of Hanan & Associates to study the sea lions and formulate a solution to mitigate the
stench (see Appendix B4). The report has yet to be completed and released to the public nor
was it mentioned in the Oct. 8 town meeting. Mayor Kevin Faulconer is committing staff and
budget to spray an enzyme to help dissolve the sea lion waste, however, there is no clear sign
this is an effective or long-term solution (see Appendix B3).
Another issue is the water bacteria of the Children’s Pool. According to the San Diego
Coastkeeper, an organization that receives daily water quality reports from the county of San
Diego and the Department of Environmental Health, there is “ongoing contamination from
harbor seals” and people should avoid water contact in the Children’s Pool because the
bacteria levels may exceed safe levels (see Appendix B5).

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(Screen shot from San Diego Coastkeeper, see Appendix B5).
Opportunity for Involvement
We propose that The Sage Project works with the La Jolla community on finding solutions to
mitigate the sea lion fecal stench and improve the water quality of the Children’s Pool. The
Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) at SDSU involves scientists, students and faculty researchers
who study the marine environments around the San Diego and Southern California region and
would be a great partnership for The Sage Project to develop. By The Sage Project
developing a relationship with the CMI they will gain access to the program’s faculty,
professors, students and expertise that can be used to study and solve the La Jolla Cove
stench and Children’s Pool bacteria problem. (For more information/contact information see
Appendix B6.)
The Sage Project will reach out to the following classes as possible candidates to conduct
research about improving the smell and water quality of La Jolla Cove:
• Biology 497: UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
o Class Description: Individual research project, supervised by faculty. Research
course with research paper or other presentation of results.
o How this will help the La Jolla Cove: Gives undergraduate students an
opportunity to conduct research on marine life while offering innovative
solutions to the Cove’s problems.
• Biology 540: Conservation Ecology
o Class Description: Human impacts on ecosystems, the resultant endangerment
and extinction of plant and animal species, and strategies for the protection and
recovery of threatened forms.
o How this will help the La Jolla Cove: Give students the opportunity to formulate

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a long-term plan for residents/tourists and the seals to cohabitate.
o
The Village of La Jolla needs uniform publication racks
According to La Jolla residents, it is time to replace the numerous outdoor newspaper and
magazine racks in the Village. They are unsightly and unpopular, and it would be in the best
interest of The Sage Project to target these racks and present an alternative solution because
these are the facts:
(See Appendix B7)
• The current racks are unattractive and do nothing to enhance the Village’s appeal.
• Most racks are not permanently mounted.
• There is no standardization in their appearance; racks vary in size, color, materials
and location.
• Most are in poor condition with broken doors, missing/broken windows and
battered/broken containers.
• There is not enough accountability/enforcement of maintaining the racks’
appearance.
The solution to this problem will not be completed by the collaboration of The Sage Project
and any ONE class.
• CP 630: Seminar in Urban Planning Implementation.
o Class Description: Analysis of the content and function of zoning, subdivision
regulation, codes, capital budgeting, urban renewal, model cities, and other
implementation methods and programs.
o How will this help Imperial Beach: This class discusses different implementation
methods concerning urban planning. The professor could have students come
up with plans to place, budget and install a replacement method of publication
racks that are more suitable to the La Jolla community, and do so in a way that is
current with regulations and also attractive.
• GEOG 370: Environmental and Natural Resource Conservation
o Class Description: Scientific understanding of human-environment systems;
sustainable management of natural resources under changing global conditions;
role of science in addressing environmental issues and development of
environmental and conservation policy.
o How will this help Imperial Beach: Have the students collaborate with other
courses in designing a sustainable replacement for the publication racks using
environmentally conscious methods and materials.

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Inadequate parks for local residents and visitors
Through the social medial and online communities, residents from Jolla have been expressed
their discomfort of the condition of park amenities at Kellogg Park. This park is a family-
friendly park located in La Jolla Shores. Restrooms and showers that are located at the
playground and picnic area need attention. The city has earmarked $950,000 for the Cove
restroom pavilion as part of its 2016 budget. However, a timeline has not been specifically set
for when this facility will be built. (see Appendix B8).
Screen shot by: Vivienne Troung, Copyright 2015

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The current level of trash pickup is insufficient, especially considering the high-traffic during
the weekends and holidays. San Diego Police Lt. Scott Wahl addressed the La Jolla Shores
Association and said that residents are concerned about “the excessive use of barbecues; off-
leash dogs; people smoking cigarettes and marijuana; empty alcohol containers; overflowing
trashcans; a “crack pipe” left on a park bench; motorists stopping in a “no stopping anytime”
zone to load beach gear instead of using the designated loading zone in the parking lot; and
homeless people sleeping in the park. (See appendix B8).
Photo Credit: Caroline Chamales, Copyright 2014

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Photo Credit: Tracy Spiegler, Copyright 2015
Opportunity for Involvement
The Sage Project can resolve this littering issue with the help of professor Jesse Dixon, who is
the primary adviser for the Emphasis in Systems Management within the Recreation and
Tourism Management Program at San Diego State University. Professor Dixon has experience
working in a number of similar community projects. Professor Dixon’s teaching interests
include services for leisure, recreation and tourism, concepts of leisure, community benefits
from recreation services, accessible park planning, economics for leisure/recreation,
therapeutic recreation, future leisure experiences with technology, and community tourism.
Currently, he teaches Leisure and Tourism, Administration and Operation of Recreation and
Tourism Agencies, Recreation for Special Populations, and supervises Student Internship
Experiences. His extensive experience and knowledge in public administration can help the La
Jolla community to resolve and improve the current situation. During his career, professor
Dixon has been recognized for his teaching with a university Exceptional Merit Service Award,
two university awards for Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise, Outstanding
Faculty Awards from the College of Professional Studies, and the State Educator Award from
the California Park and Recreation Society (see Appendix B9).

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Imperial Beach
INTRODUCTION
Located close to the Mexican border, Imperial Beach is known as the most southern beach in
California. Imperial Beach’s motto is “Classic Southern California” and nationwide it is known
as the “Most Southwesterly City.” It is also the location of a U.S. Navy Facility, the Naval
Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, an outdoor surfboard museum, and more (Appendix
B10).
As written on their website, the city of Imperial Beach’s mission statement is “to maintain and
enhance Imperial Beach as "Classic Southern California"; a beach-oriented community with a
safe, small town, family atmosphere, rich in natural and cultural resources. (Appendix B10).
However, locals and neighboring community members commonly use the slogan “I.B. is OK,”
which shows that the “classic southern California” brand and vision still needs further
development. Through multiple projects, The Sage Project will rebrand Imperial Beach as a
beautiful coastal area instead of a city that is just considered “OK.” IB should not only equate
to Imperial Beach, but to “incredibly beautiful” as well instead of being an average city.
As of 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau reports the population of Imperial Beach as 27,149
(Appendix B11). According to realtor.com, the annual household income of Imperial Beach
residents is $57,795, 6 percent lower than that of San Diego County as a whole. (Appendix
B12).
In addition, realtor.com also reports that crime rates in Imperial Beach are lower than national
averages and San Diego County as a whole. This can be seen in the chart on the following
page taken off realtor.com.

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On paper, Imperial Beach seems like a nice city; however, their residents feel as though there
are many issues that are plaguing the city. These issues include: the lack of attractions and
artwork for visitors, the dirtiness of the beach water, not feeling safe and more.
Before anything can take place, however, The Sage Project must get in contact with Imperial
Beach city officials. See Appendix B13 for the Imperial Beach City Councilmembers’ contact
information.
All projects will be implemented with sustainable methods as a top priority in conjunction with
California’s vision to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

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COMMUNITY ISSUES
Through research on the Imperial Beach community, we have accumulated information on the
issues and areas in which they could improve. Featured below are comments made from IB
residents and visitors that were found through Yelp, Facebook and other social media
platforms.
These comments include:
“IB is NOT ok...It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Imperial Beach is one of the worst
looking beach cities in California. They don't want to improve, develop, clean things
up. This beach is often closed after rain storms due to sewage-contaminated water
from the Tijuana river overflowing” Yelp user Marcus F. said. September 2015.
“I parked in front of the Police Department and my car was still broken into” Yelp user
Linda F. said. July 2015.
“Area around there seemed a bit sketchy, especially at night, when all the shady
people come out. That's probably the main (and only) downside of this beach” Yelp
user Jen N said. September 2015.
“It's polluted by sewage runoff from MX's neighboring Tijuana River - gracias, amigos!
- MUCH more often than it should be, especially after rainfall. I don't mind the sketchy
'hood and people too much, but this beach is simply DIRTY!” Yelp user Mike G. said.
Sept. 10 2015.
The city has discussed redesigning Imperial Beach’s pier. The idea of a total redesign,
however, is facing opposition from residents. The residents see the iconic restaurant “Tin
Fish” as a symbol of their city and a historical landmark unique to their community.
Despite the problems the city faces, residents and tourists of Imperial Beach still appreciate
their city. Some things worth noting is the interest that locals and visitors have taken in the
artwork around Imperial Beach, the pride they show in Imperial Beach’s laid-back atmosphere,
and the city’s role in forming great memories for all who have stepped foot on its beaches
and streets.
“At Pier Plaza there is also a beautiful cast bronze sculpture by artist Wyland called
"Ocean Riders-"which depicts 3 dolphins leaping from the waves. That is so
appropriate, because I always see dolphins frolicking offshore whenever I visit this pier”
Yelp user Gail P. said. February 2009.
“As a native to this part of San Diego, Imperial Beach will always be one of those

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places that I'll never forget ... It's the beach you go to because your parents didn't
want to drop you off at La Jolla or Mission Beach because it was too far .. I'm older
now and let's just say this place holds a lot of memories” Yelp user Misty M said.
August 2015.
Despite negative comments and some disgruntled residents, Imperial Beach, by working with
The Sage Project, has the potential to firmly establish itself as one of Southern California’s top
beaches, and as a beautiful, relaxing coastal city. The Sage Project will tap into that potential,
take the City to greater heights, and yet still maintain the City’s history and atmosphere thus
truly allowing Imperial Beach to live up to its title of “Classic Southern California.”
(Photo Credit: Fox 5 San Diego)

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(Photo Credit: City of Imperial Beach, for educational use only)
Imperial Beach Evaluation
The Sage Project allows hands-on opportunities for students to plan and strategically evaluate
community issues. Cities will collaborate with The Sage Project to determine the best
solutions for its problems. We have gathered prospective projects that The Sage Project can
take on. Through these projects, our goal is to rebrand Imperial Beach as a city with timeless
appeal that is more than just “OK.” We hope that an upgraded, renovated and transformed
Imperial Beach will attract more visitors and satisfy current residents.
Imperial Beach Culture and Atmosphere
Project Statement
Review and analyze current status of city amenities and landmarks. Evaluate potential areas
that can further be cultivated to demonstrate the “Classic Southern California” vibe of
Imperial Beach. Rebrand Imperial Beach as a clean, safe area and alter current perceptions
toward the city to more favorable views.

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Proposed Tasks and Student Resources Used to Fulfill Them
1. Artwork around Imperial Beach
Many have praised artworks like the various sculptures around the city. We feel like more
artwork can be installed throughout the city to further demonstrate Imperial Beach’s “Classic
Southern California” motto. Artwork that already exists may also be brushed up for a more
modern feel. The Sage Project will reach out to the following classes to see if they will be
interested in designing new art pieces or developing plans to improve Imperial Beach’s
current art displays:
o Art 445C: Senior Portfolio with professor Benzel
§ Class description: Planning, strategy, and development of a
comprehensive body of design work to be professionally presented in a
portfolio and/or exhibition format.
§ How this will help Imperial Beach: Students can either create designs for a
temporary art exhibit to be showcased somewhere in Imperial Beach or
develop ideas of artwork that could be implemented in the City. Some of
the artwork can also honor veterans as Imperial Beach is home to a Navy
facility.
o Art 516: Sculpture III with professor Keely
§ Class description: Advanced level investigations into sculptural ideas,
processes and materials.
§ How this will help Imperial Beach: Similar to Art 445C, students will be
given the opportunity to come up with sculpture ideas and even
implement them in Imperial Beach.
2. Amenities for fishermen
The Imperial Beach Pier is known for being a prime spot for fishermen to go fishing, but many
fishermen feel as though more amenities should be created for them. For example, installing
more fish cleaning stations, renovating old and building new benches for fishermen to sit, and
opening a bait and tackle shop. Although The Sage Project cannot guarantee the opening of
a bait and tackle shop, the other two problems seem like an easy fix. We feel as though this
project is important to the city of Imperial Beach because we want it to remain a top fishing
spot for fishermen. Not only will it draw in visitors, but it will also bring money into Imperial
Beach’s economy if more fishermen come to the city. The Sage Project would like to touch
base with the following SDSU professors to see if they would be interested in this project.
o Professor Patricia Cue, graphic design
§ Professor Cue is responsible for the artistic, painted, and patterned
benches sprinkled across San Diego State’s campus. The Sage Project will
contact her and see if she would like to go through with the same project
but on a larger scale - benches for an entire city.
• The materials for the benches will be sourced entirely from

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recycled materials from San Diego’s recycling center, and will be
painted by San Diego State students in a mural-like fashion that
highlights Imperial Beach’s culture and community.
• Examples of these benches can be found at
sdsuartbench.blogspot.com and can also be seen in the picture
below:
(Photo credit: sdsuartbench.blogspot.com)
o The Master of City Planning Program
§ Program description: The MCP Program is designed to provide the
students with the generalized skills and experience necessary to approach
creatively and professionally the process and problems of urban and
regional planning.
§ How it will help Imperial Beach: The courses in this program will help
develop plans on where and how to make the fish cleaning stations
around Imperial Beach.
3. Eradicate beliefs that Imperial Beach is unsafe
Another complaint that the city of Imperial Beach faces is the perception and stigma that the
city is unsafe. The Sage Project would like to further brand IB as a safe place to be. As said
earlier in our introduction to this city, it is a fairly safe place with crime rates below the
national average. The program would like to reach out to the following SDSU courses to see if
they would be interested in developing a campaign promoting IB as a relatively safe city
compared to the entire nation:

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o MIS 797 and MIS 798: Research and Special Study respectively with Dr. Easton
§ Class description: Research in the area of management information
systems.
§ How this will help Imperial Beach: The Sage Project has worked with Dr.
Shin’s MIS 797 and MIS 798 courses in the past to redevelop National
City’s police department website. Currently, Imperial Beach’s police
department website looks outdated and tacky. With a revamped website,
residents should hopefully find a more streamlined approach to get their
problems heard and processed. Since Dr. Shin is not teaching the course
next semester, we hope that Dr. Shin will speak with Dr. Easton about
continuing a working relationship with The Sage Project.
o PA 497: Investigation and Report with professor Abdel-Samad, professor Rea or
professor Caves.
§ Class description: Analysis of special topics.
§ How this will help Imperial Beach: Like MIS 797 and 798, The Sage
Project has worked with PA 497 in the past when Dr. Chanin taught it.
The class worked to examine police leadership in National City and
“evaluate organizational values, transparency and oversight.” By bringing
this to Imperial Beach, we hope that students will help find errors in
police conduct, values, or leadership and bring them to light so that the
city may actively work toward fixing it.
o JMS 480: Principles of Public Relations with Dr. Sweetser
§ Class description: Concepts, history, theory, social responsibility, ethics,
and management of public relations. Public relations strategic planning
process. Survey of problems and practices in corporations, government
and politics, health care, education, associations, and not-for-profit
organizations.
§ How this will help Imperial Beach: Each semester, Dr. Sweetser assigns a
semester-long project aimed toward creating a public relations campaign
for a real-life client. In future semesters, Dr. Sweetser may have her
students work on creating a PR campaign promoting how safe Imperial
Beach actually is so that Imperial Beach may draw in more tourists as well
as develop a more trusting relationship between Imperial Beach’s
residents and the city’s government.
• It is in the best interest of Imperial Beach and its residents that the installment of two or
three ‘Blue Light’ safety phones to keep the beach areas safe from crime and other
kinds of emergencies. The ‘Blue Light’ telephone networks are smaller than pay
phones, and easily identified at night and from a distance by bright blue lights. In case
of an emergency, one needs only to press the red button to alert the local police. Most

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of these phones are equipped with a regular telephone keypad that can be used to
speak directly with emergency operators.
§ The Public Administration and Criminal Justice majors would conduct this
project.
• CP 630: Seminar in Urban Planning Implementation, professor
Henry.
• Class Description: Analysis of the content and function of zoning,
subdivision regulation, codes, capital budgeting, urban renewal,
model cities, and other implementation methods and programs.
• How will this help Imperial Beach: This class discusses different
implementation methods concerning urban planning. Professor
Henry could have students come up with plans to place, budget
and install these blue lights around Imperial Beach. Implementing
safety lights would also place a stronger trust between the
residents and police officers.
• CP 675: Seminar in Environmental Policy and Planning with
professor Herzog.
• Class Description: Theoretical elements of environmental policy,
sustainability; application to urban planning. Green site planning,
urban design, and transportation policy.
• How will this help Imperial Beach: Contact professor Herzog and
have students design and plan environmentally friendly blue lights
using recycled plastic, LED lights and etc. With newly designed
eco-friendly lights, the residents of Imperial Beach would not only
feel safer, but also they would appreciate the effort to implement a
new system in an environmentally safe way.
§ ‘Blue Lights’ can be purchased for Imperial Beach’s through JMAC Supply
Company for the price of $3,655 per light. An example of the blue light is
also shown on the next page.

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(Photo credit: CSU Chico)
Resources
• Participating faculty and students from San Diego State University
• City of Imperial Beach
• San Diego County Sheriff’s Office - Imperial Beach
• Unified Port of San Diego

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Key Issues to Consider
• Previous engagement from San Diego State University staff and students has been
made in implementing measures to water quality enhancement and awareness.
• Re-evaluate previous tactics and measuring its current effects is essential and will need
to be examined in order to better understand where future engagement may need to
occur.
Imperial Beach Water Quality Enhancement
Project Statement
Review and analyze potential underdeveloped sites for water quality enhancement projects.
Study potential sites for stormwater treatment methods and evaluation of water quality
around Imperial Beach. View current awareness measures being implemented and find
potential areas of reevaluation.
Proposed Tasks and Student Resources Used to Fulfill Them
• Evaluate the Tijuana River’s impact of sewage, chemical and pollutants being discarded
into city’s beaches and work with Tijuana in analyzing key issues (see appendix B15).
o Political Science majors may be involved in evaluating the impact of Tijuana
River on Imperial Beach.
§ POL S 482: International Relations of the Latin American States
§ Class Description: Foreign policies of Latin American states; the
Organization of American States; relationships with the United Nations
and the United States.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Contact professor Kristen Hill Maher,
who has background in San Diego-Tijuana relations and evaluate border
relations can be used to identify possible solutions to Tijuana River impact
on IB beaches.
• Cross-analyze previous report cases of Hepatitis A from previous San Diego State
University faculty and students work and re-evaluate water quality and safety for
citizens.
o Public Health majors may establish and evaluate current measures being
initiated. Previous collaborations and attempts have been made and further
examination of continued strategies may need to be researched to see if
changes have occurred.
§ PH 639: Water Quality Investigation
§ Class Description: Human health problems associated with water usage
and with various aquatic environments.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Contact L. Wiborg. Engage students in

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water quality investigation, to determine health problems associated with
water usage and various aquatic environments.
§ Spring 2016 - Contact E. Hoh and have students study the environmental
hazards in areas of food protection, vector control, solid waste and
community issues.
• Collaborate with the County Department of Environmental Health on studies and
treatments of potential hazardous zones.
o Engage Public Health and Geography students in analyzing and creating
effective measures of awareness and treatment of potential health hazards
caused by water quality. There is currently many forms of communication being
displayed in the IB community, including beach signs indicating hazard zones
and media. The following courses may be able to evaluate the current tactics
being initiated and see if any further changes can occur.
§ PH 304: Environment and Public Health
§ Class Description: Environmental hazards of living and working in both
industrialized and lesser developed societies. Chemical, biological, and
physical agents in food, air, water, and soil.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Students can examine environmental
hazards by observing and analysing factors contributing to poor water
quality in Imperial Beach.
§ PH 402: Public Health Communications
§ Class Description: Effective communication techniques used in public
health campaigns, social marketing, and risk communication. Use of
technology to design and conduct public health campaigns which focus
on recognizing and overcoming communication barriers, including cross-
cultural issues.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Revising and establishing new methods
of communication to the public's can be designed by students. Analysis
of current tactics may need research to see what approaches are enacted
presently.
• Survey Imperial Beach surfers and target areas impacted at a greater capacity.
o Public Health and Geography students and evaluate areas that need attention
and examination of potential hazard zones. Within these disciplines, surveying
and analyzing data from citizens perspective can be essential in evaluating what
the people find as the most impact in their community. Possible courses that
may influence study in this area include:
§ GEOG 101: Earth’s Physical Environment
§ Class Description: Earth systems and the global environment to include
weather and climate, water, landforms, soils, and ecosystems. Distribution
of physical features on Earth’s surface and interactions between humans

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and environment, especially those involving global change.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Have the students study the coastal
environment including the climate, water, landforms, soils and
ecosystems. Notate the distributions of physical features on the Earth’s
surface and the interactions between humans and the environment;
especially with the involvement of change.
§ GEOG 102: People, Places, and Environment
§ Class Description: Introduction to human geography. Global and local
issues to include culture, development, migration, urbanization,
population growth, identity, globalization, geopolitics, and environmental
change. Field trips may be arranged.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Have students discover change in
environment, population growth, geopolitics, urbanization and
development.
§ GEOG 496: Environment and Development
§ Class Description: Geographic analysis of environmental and social issues
in the global south. How colonialism, development, and globalization
have shaped equity and sustainability issues and access to resources,
environmental health, migration, and poverty around the world. Field
trips may be arranged.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Have the students conduct research on
coastal resource management as well as the consequences and benefits
of human interactions with oceans and coastal ecosystems.
• Examine possible ecological and wildlife impacts of poor water quality measures.
o Geography students may be involved in studying the nature and geography of
Imperial Beach and the ideal conditions of safe zones for its citizens and wildlife.
The following are several courses that can be applied to the case.
§ ENV- Engineering 441: Water Treatment Engineering
§ Class Description: Basic water chemistry; water quality criteria and
standards; residential, industrial and commercial water usage; principles
of physical and chemical processes employed in water treatment; design
of selected water treatment units; new and emerging water treatment
technologies; and water distribution systems.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Contact professor T. Smith and have
students test basic water chemistry, establish water quality criteria and
standards, and create new and emerging water technologies within the
city’s water distribution systems, etc
§ GEOG 370: Environmental and Natural Resource Conservation
§ Class Description: Scientific understanding of human-environment
systems; sustainable management of natural resources under changing

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global conditions; role of science in addressing environmental issues and
development of environmental and conservation policy.
§ How will this help Imperial Beach: Have the students create sustainable
management of the natural resources under the changing condition and
address the environmental issues and development of environmental and
conservation policy.
Resources
• Participating faculty and students from San Diego State University
• County of Department of Environmental Health
• City of Imperial Beach
Key Issues to Consider
• Previous engagement from San Diego State University staff and students has been
made in implementing measures to water quality enhancement and awareness.
• Re-evaluate previous tactics and measuring its current effects is essential and will need
to be examined in order to better understand where future engagement may need to
occur.
CONCLUSION
Through the projects listed above, our team hopes to accomplish four things: 1) to solve the
fixable issues that are currently plaguing Imperial Beach, 2) to have the city of Imperial Beach
become a top tourist destination in Southern California, 3) to have the residents of Imperial
Beach develop a stronger sense of pride and affection for their community, and 4) to engage
San Diego State students in real-world problems and provide them with the opportunity to
find the solutions.

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Section V: Evaluations and
Recommendations

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Evaluation
Objective #1: OUTCOME TO BE DETERMINED
To establish a partnership with La Jolla local government by January 2016 and
undertake at least two community projects.
This objective will be met if, after Dr. Barlow attends the La Jolla Town Council meeting Jan.
14 and the SunSetter Mixer Jan. 21 to meet council representatives and community
influencers, she generates interest in The Sage Project and a partnership on at least two
community projects.
Objective #2: OUTCOME TO BE DETERMINED
To establish a partnership with the city of Imperial Beach by January 2016 and
undertake at least two community projects.
This objective will be met if, after Dr. Barlow attends the Imperial Beach City Council
meetings Jan. 6 and/or Jan. 20 to meet council representatives and community influencers,
she generates interest in The Sage Project and a partnership on at least two community
projects.
Objective #3: OUTCOME TO BE DETERMINED
To increase knowledge of community issues by 20 percent among target cities.
This objective will be met if The Sage Project creates one media report per month on target
cities and the top opportunities for The Sage Project based on information collected through
Internet searches, comments and reviews posted on social media, surveys on issues facing
target cities and community issues garnered from residents crowdsourcing their concerns via
Twitter and Facebook.
Objective #4: OUTCOME TO BE DETERMINED
To maintain a close relationship with target communities, SDSU faculty and students to
enhance their engagement by 20 percent by February 2016.
This objective will be met if The Sage Project conducts a pre-survey of target cities, SDSU
faculty and students before implementing their strategic social media calendar. The Sage
Project should then conduct an additional survey by the last day of February 2016 to evaluate
whether engagement with The Sage Project and target cities, SDSU faculty and students has
increased by 20 percent.
Objective #5: OUTCOME TO BE DETERMINED
To establish and expand the business network for The Sage Project on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn by 20 percent by January 2016.
This objective will be met if The Sage Project’s business network increases by 20 percent
through assessing increases in followers and friends on various social media platforms such as
Facebook and connections on LinkedIn.

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Recommendations
Implementing all of the presented tactics might not be an attainable goal. Out of all the
presented tactics, Summit PR strongly recommends eliminating the focus on working with one
city per year and start compiling monthly media reports that identify community issues. These
focal points are projected to have the biggest impact on The Sage Project and the response
to it.
Eliminating the “One City, One Year” Model
The Sage Project needs to build its résumé and rapport with San Diego communities and their
officials. By focusing on only one city per year, The Sage Project does not allow itself to grow,
take on different opportunities, or help other communities in need. The Sage Project needs to
establish itself as a credible, quality program by working on projects with various cities
throughout the year. This will spread The Sage Project’s name and mission around San Diego
County, especially within city governments. By having a bigger portfolio of projects, The Sage
Project will also show how versatile its program is and that will also attract potential projects in
the future.
As a starting point, there are two proposed cities that The Sage Project should further look
into: La Jolla and Imperial Beach. La Jolla is an affluent city and Imperial Beach is a city that
has a greater need for the services The Sage Project can offer. By working with La Jolla, The
Sage Project demonstrates that any city - even wealthy cities - can have problems that The
Sage Project can address and resolve. Since La Jolla is affluent, the budget for The Sage
Project’s projects is more elastic which will result in more opportunities for The Sage Project’s
assistance. With Imperial Beach, The Sage Project stays close to its roots of helping less
affluent communities.
After extensive research, it was found that both La Jolla and Imperial Beach were plagued
with fixable problems. It is recommended that Dr. Barlow and The Sage Project team
approach the government officials of La Jolla and Imperial Beach about a potential
partnership with The Sage Project. After building their reputation through the multiple
programs, it is projected that other communities for help approach The Sage Project in the
future instead of the program initiating the first contact with cities.
Creating Monthly Media Reports
When The Sage Project reaches out to cities, they should supplement their proposals with
monthly media reports. These media reports will gather information on the public’s opinions
and complaints about certain community issues. For example, The Sage Project can gather
public input on wanting a bike lane from tweets, Facebook posts and more. Utilizing that
information, The Sage Project can pinpoint exactly what a community needs and can present

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their findings to city officials in an organized manner through the media reports. City officials
can find importance in these reports as they help increase the transparency between the
government and its people. Media research classes at San Diego State can conduct the
media reports.
Since the reports will be consistently sent out every month, it will further show city officials
that The Sage Project is a dependable, respectable and legitimate program.
If The Sage Project’s city proposals are approved, media reports may assist the program
further. The reports can be used as an evaluation tool to assess the progress of community
projects and gauge the community’s reactions toward the projects while they are in progress
and after they are completed.

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Section VI: Budget

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Budget
The Sage Project currently operates on a one city, one year basis. Therefore, the yearly
budget has fluctuated in the past depending on the success of its ability to form partnerships
with cities and ability to receive grant money from San Diego State University. This proposal
for improving The Sage Project includes a restructuring of the method and approach taken to
link with cities, and therefore the budget too will be altered. Without knowing the exact
specifications that will result from this new means that The Sage Project forms partnerships,
we offer this sample yearly budget, breaking down the distribution of funds in a way that
would best serve The Sage Project and its collaborators.
Cost breakdown:

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Vendor Information for 2015
Business: FedEx Office
Mailing Address: Mission Valley 7510 Hazard Ctr Dr. Ste 211 San Diego, CA 92108 FedEx
Office
City: San Diego State: CA
Zip: 92108
Email:randall.walsh@fedex.com
Phone: 619.294.
Contact Person: Randy Walsh. Senior Center Manager
Business: JMAC Supply | Security, Surveillance, & Low Voltage Supplier
Mailing Address: 333 West Merrick Rd. Unit #4
City: Valley Stream State: NY
Zip: 11580
Email: support@jmac.com
Phone: (516) 812-0917
Contact Person: Agent JMAC
These expenses are funded by the two proposals to two cities to which The Sage Project will
present to each year (of course after already researching and identifying popular community
issues and spelling out solutions for each). The remaining funds, of course, will feed the
proposals made to the cities.
The expected allocation of fund from the two cities (one affluent, one not prosperous) is as
follows:
- $100,000 from the affluent community (see proposal for La Jolla)
- $50,000 from the non-affluent community (see proposal for Imperial Beach)

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2015 VENDOR Information
The Sage Project
Business: FedEx Office
Mailing Address: Mission Valley 7510 Hazard Ctr Dr. Ste 211 San Diego, CA 92108 FedEx
Office
City: San Diego State: CA
Zip: 92108
Email:randall.walsh@fedex.com
Phone: 619.294.
Contact Person: Randy Walsh. Senior Center Manager
Business: JMAC Supply | Security, Surveillance, & Low Voltage Supplier
Mailing Address: 333 West Merrick Rd. Unit #4
City: Valley Stream State: NY
Zip: 11580
Email: support@jmac.com
Phone: (516) 812-0917
Contact Person: Agent JMAC

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RULES OF THE MARKET
1. We are a Farmers’ Market; therefore farm products are primary sales. Some craft or
bakery type items will be allowed.
2. All vendors are responsible for liability insurance and compliance with any and all
requirements of State of Delaware.
3. Any scale used for determining price will display a current legal inspection sticker.
4. All products will be displayed in a clean and safe manner.
5. Vendors are responsible for leaving a clean area at closing.
6. All vendors shall exhibit professional manners always.
7. Tables and canopies are available at the market.
8. Spaces shall be assigned by the Market Chairperson.
9. Applicable fees shall be paid each market day.
10.Collected fees go towards advertising, equipment, maintenance, and other items as
decided upon by the Farmers’ Market Committee.
I/WE agree to abide by all market rules.
Please print name_______________________________
Date__________________________________________
Signature______________________________________
Please return completed application to:
Downtown Milford, Inc.
7 S. Washington Street
Milford, DE 19963
302-839-1180
Please List Items for Sale

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RULES OF THE MARKET
11. We are a Farmers’ Market; therefore farm products are primary sales. Some handmade
craft or bakery type items will be allowed.
12. All vendors are responsible for liability insurance and compliance with any and all
requirements of State of Delaware.
13. Any scale used for determining price will display a current legal inspection sticker.
14. All products will be displayed in a clean and safe manner.
15. Vendors are responsible for leaving a clean area at closing.
16. All vendors shall exhibit professional manners always.
17. Tables and canopies are available at the market.
18. Spaces shall be assigned by the Market Chairperson.
19. Applicable fees shall be paid each market day.
20. Collected fees go towards advertising, equipment, maintenance, and other items as
decided upon by the Farmers’ Market Committee.
I/WE agree to abide by all market rules.
Please print
Name_______________________________Date________________________Signature_________
_____________________________
Please return completed application to:
Downtown Milford, Inc.
7 S. Washington Street
Milford, DE 19963
302-839-1180
TIMESHEETS
The timesheet on the following page is a complete breakdown of the hours dedicated
to this proposal for The Sage Project. The process has been broken down into the following
categories: research (91.5 hours), planning (103 hours), implementation (166.75 hours), and
evaluation (131.21 hours). These billable hours represent the costs that would be associated
with employing the services of Summit Public Relations. By the hour, our employees charge a
flat rate of $80.00 per hour. However, after 200 billable hours the client will receive a discount
of 10 percent, and a discount of 20 percent after 300 billable hours.

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RPIE Process Colin Sanchez RPIE Process Oscar Sanchez
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Research Research
Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50 Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50
Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 11:45 PM 4.75 Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 11:45 PM 4.75
Research Total: 8.75 Research Total: 8.75
Planning Planning
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Fri 10/23 3:15 PM 5:00 PM 1.75 Tue 11/3 5:00 PM 9:00 PM 3.00
Tue 10/27 9:30 AM 11:00 AM 1.50 Thu 11/12 9:00 PM 12:00 AM 3.00
Tue 11/03 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 2.00 Sat 11/14 8:00 AM 11:00 AM 3.00
Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Planning Total: 10.25
Thur 11/12 9:30 PM 11:45 PM 2.25
Planning Total: 10.00
Implementation Implementation
Mon 11/17 4:00 PM 6:30 PM 2.50 Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thur 11/19 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 2.00 Tue 11/11 5:00 PM 8:30 PM 3.50
Sat 11/21 1:00 PM 5:00 PM 4.00 Mon 11/16 6:00 PM 11:00 PM 5.00
Sun 11/22 5:30 PM 11:45 PM 6.25 Wed 11/18 11:30 AM 1:30 PM 2.00
Mon 11/23 10:00 AM 1:00 PM 3.00
Implementation Total: 17.75 Implementation Total: 11.75
Evaluation Evaluation
Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Wed 11/25 12:30 PM 5:00 PM 4.50 Wed 11/25 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 2.00
Fri 11/27 3:00 PM 8:00 PM 5.00 Sat 11/28 1:00 PM 9:00 PM 8.00
Sat 11/28 5:00 PM 9:00 PM 4.00 Sun 11/29 8:00 PM 12:00 AM 4.00
Evaluation Total: 14.75 Mon 11/30 12:00 PM 5:00 PM 5.00
Evaluation Total: 20.25
Total Billable Hours: 51.25 Total Billable Hours: 51.00

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RPIE Process Allison Bawden RPIE Process Hallie Hoffmann
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Research Research
Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50 Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50
Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 11:45 PM 4.75 Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 11:45 PM 4.75
Research Total: 8.75 Research Total: 8.75
Planning Planning
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Wed 10/07 6:15 PM 7:30 PM 1.25 Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Fri 10/09 3:00 PM 4:30 PM 1.5 10/23/2015 8:00 AM 12:00 PM 4.00
Tue 10/13 2:00 PM 4:00 PM 2.00 10/27/2015 10:45
AM
3:00 PM 4.25
Wed 10/14 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 3.00 10/30/2015 10:00
AM
2:00 PM 4.00
Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Tue 10/27 4:00 PM 4:30 PM 0.50
Tue 11/03 1:00 PM 6:00 PM 5.00 Planning Total: 13.50
Sat 11/07 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 2.50 Implementation
Planning Total: 17.00 11/10/2015 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Implementation 11/12/2015 9:30 AM 12:00 PM 2.50
Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 11:00 AM 3.00 11/17/2015 4:00 PM 8:00 PM 4.00
Mon 11/16 6:00 PM 11:00 PM 5.50 11/18/2015 11:30
AM
1:00 PM 1.50
Thu 11/19 4:00 PM 8:00 AM 4.00 11/28/2015 1:00 PM 11:00 PM 10.00
Sun 11/21 11:00
AM
2:00 PM 3.50 11/29/2015 6:00 PM 1:00 AM 7.00
Implementation Total: 16.00 Implementation Total: 26.25
Evaluation Evaluation
Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 11/24/2015 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Wed 11/25 12:30
PM
5:00 PM 4.50 11/25/2015 1:00 PM 7:00 PM 6.00
Fri 11/27 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 2.00 11/30/2015 6:00 PM 9:00 PM 3.00
Sat 11/28 4:00 PM 8:00 PM 4.00
Mon 11/30 5:00 PM 8:00 PM 3.00 Evaluation Total: 10.25
Evaluation Total: 14.75
Total Billable Hours: 58.75
Total Billable Hours: 56.50

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RPIE Process Catalina Duarte RPIE Process Marcela Orozco
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Research Research
Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50 Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50
Wed 10/14 3:00 PM 11:45 PM 8.75 Wed 10/4 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3.00
Research Total: 12.75 Mon 11/2 10:40 AM 12:00 PM 1.75
Planning Mon 11/16 5:15 PM 10:00 PM 4.25
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Research Total: 13.00
Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Planning
Tue 10/27 9:30 AM 11:00 AM 1.50 Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Mon 11/16 8:00 AM 3:00 PM 7.00 Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Mon 11/16 6:30 PM 11:00 PM 5.50
Thu 11/19 4:00 PM 8:00 AM 4.00
Sun 11/21 11:00 AM 1:30 PM 3.50
Planning Total: 9.75 Planning Total: 14.25
Implementation Implementation
Fri 10/23 9:00 AM 3:00 PM 6.00 Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thur 11/19 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 2.00 11/15/2015 6:00 PM 11:30 PM 5.50
Mon 11/23 2:00 PM 5:00 PM 3.00 11/16/2015 8:00 PM 11:30 PM 3.50
Wed 11/25 12:30 PM 5:00 PM 4.50 11/19/2015 9:30 AM 12:30 PM 3.00
Implementation Total: 15.50 11/24/2015 9:30 AM 5:30 PM 8.00
Evaluation Implementation Total: 21.25
Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Evaluation
Wed 11/25 2:00 AM 5:00 PM 15.00 Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 11/29 9:00 PM 12:00 AM 3.00 11/27/2015 5:00 PM 9:00 AM 4:00
11/28/2015 1:00 PM 9:00 PM 8.00
Evaluation Total: 19.25 11/29/2015 7:00 PM 1:00 AM 6:00
11/30/2015 6:00 AM 1:00 AM 7:00
Total Billable Hours: 57.25 Evaluation Total: 9.96
Total Billable Hours: 58.46

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RPIE Process Melanie Ramirez RPIE Process Vivian Nguyen
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Research Research
Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50 Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 12:00 AM 5.00
Wed 10/14 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3.00 Wed 11/18 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 2.00
Research Total: 7.00 Research Total: 9.50
Planning Planning
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Tue 11/03 1:00 PM 6:00 PM 5.00 Tue 11/3 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 1.00
Thu 11/12 9:30 PM 11:45 PM 2.25 Thu 11/12 9:00 PM 12:00 AM 3.00
Planning Total: 5.25
Planning Total: 8.50 Implementation
Implementation Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Sun 11/22 4:00 PM 1:30 AM 9.50
Sun 11/22 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 3.00 Sat 11/28 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 2.00
Mon 11/16 6:00 PM 11:00 PM 5.00
Implementation Total: 9.25 Implementation Total: 12.75
Evaluation Evaluation
Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Wed 11/25 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 2.00 Wed 11/25 5:00 PM 6:30 PM 1.50
Sun 11/29 6:00 PM 1:00 AM 7.00 Sun 11/29 9:00 PM 12:00 AM 3.00
Mon 11/30 6:30 PM 1:00 AM 6.50 Mon 11/30 4:00 PM 1:00 AM 9.00
Evaluation Total: 14.75
Evaluation Total: 16.75
Total Billable Hours: 42.25
Total Billable Hours: 41.50

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RPIE Process Bianca Pires RPIE Process Vivienne Truong
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Research Research
Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Tue 9/29 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Thu 10/08 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Thurs 11/12 2:00 PM 5:15 PM 3.25 Sun 10/11 8:30 PM 10:00 PM 1.50
Mon 10/12 9:00 AM 11:30 AM 2.50
Research Total: 5.75 Wed 10/14 10:00 PM 12:00 AM 2.00
Planning Research Total: 8.50
Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs Planning
Thu 10/22 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Day of Week: Time In Time Out Total Hrs
Thu 10/22 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3.00 Thu 10/22 8:15 AM 9:15 AM 1.00
Sun 10/25 11:00 AM 3:00 PM 4.00
Tue 11/03 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 1.00
Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Mon 11/23 2:00 PM 5:00 PM 3.00
Planning Total: 4.25
Implementation Planning Total: 10.25
Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Implementation
Thurs 11/12 9:30 PM 11:45 PM 2.25 Thu 10/08 9:30 AM 10:45 AM 1.25
Sun 11/16 8:00 PM 11:30 PM 3.50 Sat 10/24 9:00 AM 2:00 PM 5.00
Sun 11/22 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 3.00 Tue 10/27 9:30 AM 11:00 AM 1.50
Fri 11/27 4:00 PM 8:15 PM 4.25 Tue 11/10 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Implementation Total: 14.25 Mon 11/16 8:00 AM 3:00 PM 7.00
Evaluation Thu 11/19 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 2.00
Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25 Wed 11/25 1:00 PM 5:00 PM 4.00
Fri 11/27 8:15 PM 9:00 PM 0.75
Mon 11/30 3:45 PM 5:30 PM 1.75 Implementation Total: 22.00
Evaluation
Evaluation Total: 3.75 Tue 11/24 8:00 AM 9:15 AM 1.25
Sun 11/29 9:00 PM 11:30 PM 2.50
Total Billable Hours: 28.00 Mon 11/30 2:00 PM 5:00 PM 3.00
Evaluation Total: 6.75
Total Billable Hours: 47.50

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Section VII: Appendix

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Appendix A: Situation Analysis, Research, and
Planning
A1: Secondary Research: “Civic Engagement and Sustainable Cities in the United States,”
by Portney, Kent. Public Administration Review Sept./Oct. 2005
A2: Secondary Research: “The Case for Megapolitan Growth Management in the 21st
Century: Regional Urban Planning and Sustainable Development in the United States,” by
Ziegler, Edward H. The Urban Lawyer. Winter 2009.
A3: Executive Summary
Introduction
The Sage Project at SDSU is currently amplifying its opportunities by improving their program
as an entirety. Students are the main contributors to this project, however ultimately it is
program founders and directors that manage how their program will set up proposals,
symposiums, outreach, funding, models, and implementation. This report summarizes findings
from projects similar to The Sage around the nation that are also located at universities and
have the same basics and goals.
Method
The data findings come from interviews of highly positioned staff members who are more
established and have great success with their program. In all we conducted a total of seven
interviews: two from Texas, one from Iowa, one from Maryland, one from Minnesota, one
from Tennessee, and our main focus, California.
Results
We found that most of the projects had similar responses to the questions. For example,
when we asked directors about their staffing and if they felt that they were fully staffed, all of
them felt that they needed more staff. The Sage Project’s “one city per year” model limits
their program expansion. However, Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities stated that
they started that way focusing on small projects and making sure they had the capacity and
success they needed before expanding to bigger platforms. These programs want to make
sure they are coming up with proposals that surpass expectations of city councils and their
citizens. Once attained, I think the money and credibility gained from previous partnerships
will definitely increase opportunities for new contracts.
Ultimately, programs get leads to work with a city by face to face outreach and word of
mouth. Both of these were greatly emphasized by all of the 7 projects and how important it is
to have that face to face interaction with leads. They provide them with a formal request for

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proposals after conducting research. The director from Minnesota mentioned to keep
proposals broad so that leads have a more generalized idea about what their city needs and
then once they agree to implement the plan, they get more detailed into research.
Participation in several presentations or attending conferences was also mentioned by all of
the interviewees. A few also mentioned grant support to aid their funding and provide better
proposals for a more guaranteed agreement.
When first approaching city councils, the program recognizes what that particular city they are
approaching needs. They make themselves familiar with the city profile and then sell their
program to them based on what they feel is most targetable to that city. Programs truly
emphasize how incredible it is for students at the University to be able to partially manage
these programs and do most of the work behind the scenes, giving students experience to
become future leaders in their fields. The program is required to display a mission statement
and provide them with plans that save them bulks of time and money.
Each state also has different approaches to language used to describe their program.
Oregon, being the oldest in all of the programs in the United States, focuses on sustainability
and climate. While the two Texas programs tend to shy away from the term “sustainability.”
They focus on hazards such as flooding, fires, and other offerings associated more closely with
the particular location. Social equity is another phrase used by some of these programs
inquiring a more personal and beneficial outlook for city residents rather than just city
environment.
Recommendations
-Take a multi-program approach rather than focusing on one city
-Communication to city council members is best when done face to face
-Update social media newsletters as often as possible
-Higher opportunities with more ample budget
-Reduce the number of projects if the work feels overwhelming
-Let cities reach out to you rather than imposing on them
Conclusion
Since The Sage Project is fairly new to San Diego, it must establish a rapport that eventually
warrants statewide recognition. Once The Sage Project becomes accountable for several
partnerships, funding should increase and the project will grow. Other university community
outreach programs across the nation initiate similar objectives to provide cities with
outstanding proposals. All in all, the more funding and dedication a program has, the more it
can employ students and staff, will result in an umbrella effect for cities in need of proposals.

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A4: INTERVIEWER GUIDE
This is the interviewer’s rough script of the interview.
THANK YOU FOR CONNECTING WITH ME TODAY! CAN YOU SEE AND HEAR ME OKAY?
[wait for response] I’M , AND I’M WORKING WITH A PROGRAM AT SAN DIEGO STATE VERY
SIMILAR TO YOURS. OUR PROGRAM IS CALLED THE SAGE PROJECT, AND IT IS PART OF
THE SAME EPIC NETWORK THAT YOUR PROGRAM IS IN. FIRST, I WANTED TO THANK
YOU TODAY FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CONNECT WITH ME. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO
SHARE THE GREAT THINGS YOU TELL ME TODAY ABOUT YOUR PROGRAM WITH MY
TEAM. IS IT OKAY IF I VIDEO RECORD THE CONVERSATION? [wait for response] OKAY,
GOOD. WE WILL START RECORDING IN A SECOND. I’M WORKING WITH SAGE TO HELP
THEM COMMUNICATE THE PROGRAM TO LOCAL CITIES AND GET THEM EXCITED
ABOUT THE STEWARDSHIP OPPORTUNITIES. BECAUSE OUR PROGRAM IS NEW, WE
THOUGHT TALKING TO SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS LIKE YOURS WOULD HELP US
UNDERSTAND THE BEST PRACTICES. ARE YOU READY TO START? [wait for response]
[when ready, press the green “Start Broadcasting” button at the bottom of the screen] I
LOOKED AT YOUR PROGRAM ONLINE AND AM VERY IMPRESSED. TELL ME A LITTLE
ABOUT YOUR STAFFING. § PROBE: how many staff members do you have? § PROBE: are
people’s jobs 100% dedicated to the program or is it an extra duty in their normal job at the
university? § PROBE: do you feel you have enough staffing? HOW DO YOU GET LEADS TO
WORK WITH A CITY? § PROBE: do you approach them or do they approach you? § PROBE:
do you make presentations at meetings? § PROBE: do you tend to meet with the key
influencers one-on-one first or during the courting process? I’M SURE YOU HAVE A GREAT
ELEVATOR PITCH FOR THE PROGRAM. IF I WERE A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER & WE MET AT
A SOCIAL FUNCTION, HOW WOULD YOU FIRST TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROGRAM TO
GET ME INTERESTED? § PROBE: encourage the program director to role play & provide give
that 30-second elevator speech THAT WAS GREAT! WHAT ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM
HAVE YOU FOUND CITIES ARE MOST INTERESTED? § PROBE: what language do they seem
to react to when you describe the program? § PROBE: how do you talk about the program to
get cities interested? § PROBE: what are some of the first impressions you commonly get
when talking to cities about the program? § PROBE: what seem to be the biggest uphill
battles you face in trying to establish a project with a new city? WITH THE PROJECTS YOU’VE
DONE, WHICH APPROACH IS MORE ATTRACTIVE –EXCLUSIVE MULTI-PROJECT OR MANY
CITIES DOING SEPARATE SINGLE PROECTS? WHY? § PROBE: do cities like to seem
exclusive in being the only client? § PROBE: do cities like to just have one thing to focus on to
test out how helpful the program is to them? § PROBE: have cities asked you to change the
way your program is structured to better meet their needs?
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD ABOUT HOW YOU COMMUNICATE ABOUT THE
PROGRAM IN GETTING CITIES TO SIGN UP FOR A PROJECT? THANK YOU FOR YOUR
TIME! § PROBE: say goodbye and hang up.

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A4: Interview Transcript
Program Location: University of Tennessee
Program Name: Smart Communities Initiative
Interview link: http://youtu.be/Ws9JAXEpyOc
Date: Nov. 2, 2015
Number of Interviewee: Kelly Ellenburg
Name of Interviewers: Melanie Ramirez and Marcela Orozco
Name of Transcribers: Vivian Nguyen, Oscar Sanchez, Melanie Ramirez, Marcela Orozco,
Hallie Hoffman, Bianca Pires, Allison Bawden
Length (Time) of Interview: 20:28
I: OKAY, IT IS STARTING. SO, UM I LOOKED AT YOUR PROGRAM ONLINE AND I
WAS CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR STAFFING AND HOW YOU CONTROL HOW YOU
CHOOSE TO STAFF PEOPLE, YOUR BUDGET ON THAT..
P1: YES..
I: AND YEAH..
P1: SURE AND THAT’S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION. SO RIGHT NOW, I AM A ONE
PERSON SHOW. UM I’M ALSO THE DIRECTOR OF SERVICE LEARNING FOR THE CAMPUS.
UM (STUTTER) OUR CAMPUS IS IN THIS REALLY TRANSITIONAL PLACE WHERE WE’RE
TRYING TO UH, BUILD OUT SERVICE LEARNING. UM LARGELY AS A PART OF OUR
QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN
I: MHM..
P1: UM AND OUR SMART COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE PROGRAM UM FALLS UNDER-
CURRENTLY FALLS UNDER THIS SERVICE RUNNING UMBRELLA [CROSS TALK] UM SO AS
FAR AS STAFFING UM I-I DRAW COMPLETELY FROM THE SCI CONTRACT UM REALLY FOR
CONTRACT POSITIONS EITHER TEMPORARY UM POSITIONS OR STUDENT WORKER
POSITIONS BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT’S JUST ME
I: OKAY, SO...
P1: AND I, I WOULDN’T RECOMMEND IT
I & P1: (LAUGHTER)
P1: WITH THAT MODEL UM REALLY HOPING TO BE ABLE TO BUILD IN SOME FULL
TIME STAFF UM THE UNIVERSITY COVERS MY POSITION
I: OKAY
P1: UM
I: SO IF YOU WERE TO HAVE A HIRE YOU’D DO THAT?
P1: ABSOLUTELY (NODS) ABSOLUTELY.
I: UM... AND HOW DO YOU GET LEADS TO START WORKING WITH A
PARTICULAR CITY?
P1: YEA, UM, THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION. SO SOME OF IT IS WORD OF MOUTH I
THINK FROM UM OUR CURRENT CITY UM OR FACULTY THAT, THAT KNOW
ABOUT THE PROGRAM OR PARTICIPATED IN THE PROGRAM UM AND AND CITIES THAT

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THEY HAVE CONNECTIONS WITH. UM... ALSO I ATTEND, UM I TYPICALLY ATTEND THE
TENNESSEE UM AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE. UM AND I ATTEND
SOME REGIONAL PLANNING CONFERENCES. UM I UM I SERVE ON THE BOARD OF EAST
TENNESSEE QUALITY GROVE, WHICH IS UM IT’S A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION BUT IT,
IT’S UH REGIONAL IN SCALE AND IT DRAWS ITS MEMBERS FROM 18 COUNTIES, UM IN
EAST TENNESSEE SO IT’S A GOOD WAY TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THE
PROGRAM. AND THEN I ALSO HAVE UM...A PRETTY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME
FOLKS FROM THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE AND THEY HELP TO SPREAD THE WORD AS WELL.
SO UM IT’S KIND OF A MULTI UM, A MULTI-STRAND, AH, STRATEGY FOR RECRUITING.
BUT I MEAN IT’S I’M I’M ALWAYS RECRUITING REALLY SO UM IT’S EVERYTHING FROM
YOU KNOW CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS TO JUST MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE I
WORK WITH, OTHERWISE KNOW ABOUT THE PROGRAM [NODS] UM AND WHAT WE’RE
DOING.
I: OKAY, AND YOU OBVIOUSLY MAKE THE PRESENTATIONS AT THESE
CONFERENCES YOU ATTEND, CORRECT?
P1: UH TYPICALLY, HOWEVER, A LOT THE FACULTY WHO HAVE WORKED WITH US
ARE PRESENTING ABOUT THE PROGRAM AS WELL AND THE CONTEXT OF THE WORK
THEY’VE DONE. [NODS] SO [CROSS TALK] UM SO THAT HAPPENS TO AND IT’S REALLY
HELPFUL IN I THINK GETTING THE WORD OUT SO IT’S NOT JUST ME TRYING TO, UM,
TRYING TO RECRUIT BUT UM AND AND SORT OF LINEUP AND NETWORK OF POTENTIAL
PARTNERS BUT IT’S THE FACULTY UM BASED ON GOOD EXPERIENCES, YOU KNOW
WANTING TO SHARE THAT AS WELL.
I: OKAY...UM...LET’S SEE (PAUSE) AND OK I'M SURE YOU HAVE A GREAT
ELEVATOR PITCH FOR THE PROGRAM. IF I WERE A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AND WE MET
AT A SOCIAL FUNCTION…HOW WOULD YOU FIRST TELL ME ABOUT THE PROGRAM TO
GET ME INTERESTED?
P1: OKAY [LAUGHS] UM I I THINK IT WOULD DEPEND ON WHAT YOUR, WHAT
YOUR CITY WAS AND AND THE PROFILE OF YOUR CITY AND IF YOU’RE A CITY WITH A
REALLY SMALL BUDGET...UM I WOULD PROBABLY START WITH SORT OF ASKING ABOUT
WHAT ARE WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MAJOR PRIORITIES UM WHAT ARE SOME OF THE
CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACE AND THEN SHARING WITH THEM SOME OF THE WAYS
THAT WE HAVE ADDRESSED SIMILAR CHALLENGES WITH OTHER CITIES AND THE WAY
IT’S UM ALLOWED THEM TO GROW THEIR CAPACITY AND ADDRESS UH PROBLEMS OR
PROJECTS THAT THEY WOULDN’T OTHERWISE BE ABLE TO DO, UM SORT OF BRINGING
UM, BRINGING THEIR GOALS MORE IN THE REALM OF UM UM SOMETHING THEY CAN
ACCOMPLISH. SO UM I’D PROBABLY START THERE, I’M NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST
SALES PERSON. SO I I DON’T KNOW, TYPICALLY THE CONVERSATIONS THAT I HAVE
ARE WITH PEOPLE I KNOW AND AND OR GET CONNECTED TO THROUGH SOME
OTHER...MECHANISM SO THERE’S UM TH-TH-THERE’S USUALLY NOT A WHOLE LOT OF
HAVING TO START FROM SCRATCH BUT UM I THINK THAT WOULD BE MY APPROACH IF I

60.
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WERE WITH A CITY COUNCILPERSON YEAH [LAUGHS].
I: UM, DO YOU TYPICALLY LIKE TO GO FOR CITIES WITH A HIGHER BUDGET
THAN WITH A LOWER BUDGET?
P1: ANOTHER GREAT QUESTION, UM SO WE HAVE WORKED WITH TWO
CITIES SO- OR TWO COMMUNITIES SO FAR. THE FIRST ONE WAS WITH UM THE CITY OF
CLEVELAND AND OF TENNESSEE’S CITIES THEY ARE PROBABLY NUMBER FIVE UM IN
TERMS OF SIZE...AND I WOULD SAY BUDGET PROBABLY SOMEWHAT PROPORTIONATE
TO THAT. UM REALLY THERE’S ONLY A HANDFUL OF CITIES THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE
THE LARGE SCALE S-C-I PROGRAM, UM IN TERMS OF THEIR BUDGET AND SO UM AND
AND ALSO UM WE HAVE WE’RE DOING THIS WORK, I HAVE A FACULTY PLANNING TEAM
AS WELL UM THAT HELPED TO DEVELOP THE PROGRAM AND AND HELPS TO UM
OVERSEE IT AS WELL. BUT WE DEVELOPED AN AFFINITY FOR SMALLER CITIES WITH
SMALLER BUDGETS UM AND WE HAVE, WE’VE CONSIDERED SOME WAYS TO MODIFY
THE PROGRAM TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE THOSE COMMUNITIES UM ONE OF THEM
WAS, UM THIS PAST YEAR WE WORKED WITH A DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT, UM, THE
SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT. AND THESE DEVELOPMENT
DISTRICTS ARE UM THEY’RE CONSIDERED REGIONAL CONSORTIUMS OF GOVERNMENT
SO THEY ACTUALLY COVER 10 COUNTIES [CROSS TALK] UM AND THEY ARE THEY ARE
THEMSELVES GOVERNMENT ENTITIES. BUT THEY ARE REALLY PUT IN PLACE TO UM
FACILITATE REGIONAL CONNECTIONS AND TO SERVE AS A PLANNING SORT OF
AGENCY ALMOST FOR SOME OF THE SMALLER LESS, LOWER-RESOURCED
COMMUNITIES. SO UM SO WE WE’RE WORKING WITH, THE ACRONYM IS SATDD; WE’RE
WORKING WITH THE SATDD WE WERE ABLE TO UM AH … WORK ON PROJECTS WITH A
WHOLE LOT OF UNDER RESOURCED COMMUNITIES UM … AND THEN WE’RE ALSO
BRINGING THEM ON AS A SUSTAINING PARTNER. UM SO EVERY YEAR WE’LL CONTINUE
TO RECRUIT A NEW PARTNER BUT THE SATDD WILL WE’LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH
THEM, THEY’LL BE OUR PARTNER MOVING FORWARD AS FAR AS CONTINUING THE
PROJECTS WE HAVE STARTED OR LAUNCHING NEW PROJECTS. WE’LL JUST HAVE THEM
AS A RUNNING PARTNER. UM AND SO THAT’S ANOTHER WAY THAT WE’VE DONE IT...
BUT UM...I WOULD HAVE TO SAY I PREFER WORKING WITH SMALLER, LOW BUDGET
COMMUNITIES BECAUSE THEY NEED IT MOST. [CROSS TALK] UM BUT ANOTHER THING
THAT WE’RE DOING NEXT YEAR IS TO PACKAGE OUR PROGRAM AS AN S-C-I MINI, UM
AND AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF 10, UH IM SORRY, 5 TO 10 PROJECTS
OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. UM AND AND KEEPING IT REALLYYYY LOW COST UM
BUT THEN WE’RE ASKING THE UNIVERSITY TO SUBSIDIZE THE PROGRAM UM NEXT YEAR,
SO.
I: THAT’S INCREDIBLE, THAT'S A LOT OF CITIES TO TAKE CARE OF, BUT
[GIGGLE][CROSS TALK]
P1: IT’S FUN, IT KEEPS US BUSY. [GIGGLE]
I: YEAH...LET'S SEE, WHAT LANGUAGE DO YOU UH THE UM CITIES SEEM TO