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CAC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Recommendation to City Council Regarding Selection of CVL Economics + MIG as Consultant for the Community Cultural Equity Plan (“CCE Plan”) and (2) Recommendation of the Authorization of a Professional Services Agreement.
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Meeting Date: December 16, 2025
Contact Person/Dept: Sally Unsworth / City Manager - Office of Economic & Cultural Development
Phone Number: (310) 253-6003
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - Cultural Affairs Commission,
(12/11/25)
Department Approval: John Nachbar,City Manager (12/09/25)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Cultural Affairs Commission (CAC) recommend to the City Council the selection of CVL Economics + MIG as the consultant for preparation of the City’s Community Cultural Equity Plan (“CCE Plan”) and further recommend that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Professional Services Agreement with the selected firm.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
The Community Cultural Equity Plan (CCE Plan) will serve as Culver City’s guiding document for how the City will support and grow arts, culture, and creativity over the next decade. The Plan centers on fairness and inclusion, ensuring that every resident-across all neighborhoods and backgrounds-has equitable access to cultural opportunities. It also seeks to uplift diverse artistic and cultural voices, strengthen community connections, and celebrate the city's rich cultural identity.
A key objective of the CCE Plan is its alignment with the City’s recently adopted General Plan 2045 and the Parks Master Plan, both of which emphasize the importance of cultural access, public life, placemaking, and creative economy development. Consistent with the goals contained in General Plan 2045, the CCE Plan will also include a Public Art Master Plan as a required deliverable. This component will evaluate public art opportunities citywide, identify strategies for equitable investment in public art, and provide a long-term vision for integrating art into public spaces in ways that reflect the diversity and cultural strengths of Culver City’s communities.
The CCE Plan will help the City make informed investments in arts programs and cultural infrastructure; support local artists, cultural workers, and organizations; foster creativity across all neighborhoods; and ensure that the City’s history and cultural heritage are honored while planning for a vibrant and inclusive future. The Plan will be shaped through extensive community engagement opportunities throughout 2025-2026, with the goal of presenting a completed plan for City approval in late 2026.
RFP Process
The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the CCE Plan was released on August 21, 2025. The City invited qualified cultural planning professionals to submit proposals and circulated the RFP widely through arts, culture, creative-economy, and municipal planning networks. Interested firms were able to submit questions through September 4, 2025. Two addenda addressing more than 40 proposer questions were distributed on September 10th and 11th, 2025. CCE Webpage: <https://www.culvercity.gov/Explore/Arts-Culture/Cultural-Plan-2025>. (Attachment 1)
Proposals were due September 18, 2025 by 3:00 PM, and the City received 18 complete submissions, a significantly higher-than-anticipated response. Because of this volume, the timeline for finalist selection was extended by about four weeks.
Throughout this process, staff ensured clear communication, transparency, and adherence to competitive procurement principles. The high response rate reflected consultant interest in supporting a cultural planning effort centered on equity, inclusion, and community voice.
Proposal Review and Scoring
An interdepartmental review team representing the City Manager’s Office, Cultural Affairs Division, Advanced Planning, Economic Development, and Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) evaluated all 18 proposals. Evaluators used the weighted criteria established in the RFP and summarized in (Attachment 2), including:
• Understanding of Scope & Goals
• Relevant Experience
• Community Engagement Approach
• Team Expertise & Capacity
• Equity & Inclusion Commitment
• Project Management & Deliverables
• Budget & Value
Based on combined scoring and reviewer assessments (Attachment 3), four firms were jointly identified by staff and the CAC Creative Economy and Cultural Plan Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Chair Ehsaan Mesghali and Vice Chair Tania Fleischer) for interviews.
Interviews were conducted in mid-October and assessed the firms’ cultural equity frameworks, methodological clarity, feasibility, public engagement strategies, understanding of Culver City’s creative ecosystem, and potential to produce an actionable, community-informed plan.
Two firms emerged as the strongest finalists:
• CVL Economics + MIG
• Lord Cultural Resources
Their full proposals appear in (Attachment 4).
After thorough review of proposals, interviews, scoring, and departmental feedback, the CAC Creative Economy and Cultural Plan Ad Hoc Subcommittee selected CVL Economics + MIG as the firm best positioned to deliver a comprehensive, equity-centered Cultural Equity Plan for Culver City.
Subcommittee Statement
“The CAC Creative Economy and Cultural Plan Subcommittee has selected CVL Economics + MIG to serve as the consultant team for the development of Culver City’s Cultural Equity Plan and Public Art Master Plan. This decision is based on their strong analytical capabilities, their clear understanding of Culver City’s needs, and their demonstrated ability to deliver innovative and forward-looking cultural planning.
CVL brings nationally recognized strengths in research, creative-economy analysis, and policy design, which is essential for a city with a creative ecosystem of Culver City’s scale. MIG complements this with deep experience in public art, community engagement, and working effectively with diverse communities.
Together, we feel they offer the most robust and future-oriented team to guide this process and deliver a plan that is actionable, equity-focused, community-informed, and positioned to support Culver City’s cultural development over the next decade.”
Summary of Proposal
The CVL Economics + MIG team proposes a comprehensive, equity-centered approach to the Community Cultural Equity Plan and Public Art Master Plan, combining rigorous economic analysis with inclusive and multilingual community engagement. As described in the Executive Summary, the team frames the project around addressing historical inequities, strengthening community capacity, and positioning Culver City for future cultural and creative-economy growth. Their methodology integrates cultural asset mapping, public art strategy, creative-economy data modeling, and participatory planning processes that engage historically underserved communities. CVL brings specialized expertise in Los Angeles-area economic and creative-sector analysis, while MIG contributes decades of experience in public art planning and community engagement frameworks.
Timeline
CVL proposes a 12-month project schedule consisting of six phases and nineteen deliverables. These phases include project initiation; research and data collection; cultural asset mapping; community engagement; development of the cultural equity and public art frameworks; and production of the final Community Cultural Equity Plan and Public Art Master Plan Component. Presentations to both the Cultural Affairs Commission and the City Council are built into the schedule. The detailed implementation schedule, which appears later in the proposal, affirms the team’s ability to complete the work within one year and maintain regular touchpoints with City staff.
Anticipated Budget
The total not-to-exceed cost for the project is $173,660, which aligns with and remains slightly below the City’s established $175,000 project budget. As stated in the Executive Summary, the cost encompasses all work associated with the Community Cultural Equity Plan, the Public Art Master Plan component, and the full suite of proposed deliverables, including engagement, analysis, design, and final plan preparation.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The agreement, including any associated contingency costs, will be for an amount not-to-exceed $173,660.00. The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 includes sufficient funding for these services in CIP NO. PZ959 (4138000.730100.PZ959).
ATTACHMENTS
1. 25-12-16_ATT_1 Community Cultural Equity Plan RFP
2. 25-12-16_ATT_2 Proposal Evaluation Criteria
3. 25-12-16_ATT_3 Summary of Proposal Scores
4. 25-12-16_ATT_4 Finalist Proposals from CVL Economics + MIG and Lord Cultural Resources
RECOMMENDED MOTION(S)
Staff recommends that the Cultural Affairs Commission:
1. Recommend to the City Council the selection of CVL Economics + MIG as the consultant for the Community Cultural Equity Plan; and
2. Recommend that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Professional Services Agreement with the selected firms.