Outreach and Participation

Hundreds of stakeholders and members of the public participated in developing the Bay Adapt Joint Platform.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, hundreds of community members and stakeholders participated in working groups, focus groups, presentations and forums to discuss and shape the Joint Platform. The Joint Platform was informed by:

Community members discuss flooding and sea level rise in East Palo Alto with BCDC in 2018, setting the stage for participation in Bay Adapt.
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Public Forum Participants
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Working Group Members
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Focus Group Meetings
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Presentations Around Region
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Public Comments

Environmental Justice Caucus

To help ensure equity perspectives were present and included in the leadership of Bay Adapt, five leaders from community-based organizations representing frontline communities were invited to join the Leadership Advisory Group. They were dubbed the “Environmental Justice (EJ) Caucus” and received a small honorarium for their participation. The EJ Caucus provided perspective and feedback on embedding the principles on environmental justice, equity and inclusion into Bay Adapt’s planning process, the Joint Platform, and in implementation. EJ Caucus members also provided leadership to Working Groups and provided input and feedback before and after several of the LAG meetings.

Two critical themes emerged during discussions with EJ Caucus and community leaders:

  1. The need for fair and equitable funding for community partners, including targeted employment and economic opportunities for diverse frontline community members; and
  2. Capacity building, administrative support, and technical training and assistance are essential to realizing truly equitable adaptation planning

Public Forums

Two Bay Adapt Public Forums were designed to meaningfully engage the public and interested stakeholders and provide input into shaping the Joint Platform – a set of consensus driven actions that advance regional adaptation. 

Over 200 members of the public joined the first public forum for Bay Adapt. This meeting included speaker presentations from:

  • Liam Garland, Director of Public Works at the City of Alameda
  • John Coleman, CEO of the Bay Planning Coalition
  • Melissa Jones, Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII)
  • Mark Gold, Director of the Ocean Protection Council

Participants also joined virtual breakout groups and discussed their vision for a resilient Bay Area and brainstormed actions we could take to get there. Meeting materials are available here:

Words that stood out in Bay Adapt

Thanks to participants willingness to explore new online engagement tools, we successfully solicited input, and brainstormed specific actions to adapt to a rising Bay.

SPUR, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and regional leaders co-hosted the second public forum for Bay Adapt to share the draft Bay Adapt Joint Platform. This meeting included speaker presentations from:

  • Phoenix Armenta, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
  • Adrian Covert, Bay Area Council
  • Caitlin Sweeney, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
  • John Gioia, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
  • Ezra David Romero, KQED

Participants also had the opportunity to ask questions to the speaker panel about rising sea level challenges and opportunities. The Bay Adapt Joint Platform draft materials where shared at this meeting and a month-long public feedback opportunity was initiated. Resources shared at the meeting are available here:

Working Group Meetings

The in-depth details of the Bay Adapt Joint Platform were created through discussions with over 100  stakeholders across dozens of working group sessions. During summer 2020, collectively, hundreds of hours were spent identifying barriers and challenges to adaptation planning, brainstorming solutions, and organizing these ideas into 9 actions and 21 tasks that make up the Bay Adapt Joint Platform. 

Ana Alvarez, EBRPD
Phoenix Armenta, WOEIP (Chair)
Julie Beagle, USACE
David Behar, BayCAN
Claire Bonham-Carter, AECOM
Allison Brooks, BARC
Cheryl Brown, Save the Bay
Paul Campos, Building Industry Association
Warner Chabot, SFEI
Chris Choo, Marin County
John Coleman, Bay Planning Coalition (Chair)
Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute
Adrian Covert, Bay Area Council
Jessica Davenport, State Coastal Conservancy
Paul Detjens, Contra Costa County
Hannah Doress, San Mateo County
Arthur Feinstein, Sierra Club
Laura Feinstein, SPUR
Xavier Fernandez, RWQCB
Andrea Gaffney, BCDC
Stefan Galvez-Abadia, Caltrans
Julio Garcia, Environmental Justice Caucus Member
Michael Germeraad, MTC/ABAG
Vincent Gin, Valley Water
Juliana Gonzales, The Watershed Project
Terrie Green, Shore Up Marin
Marcus Griswold, San Mateo County
Dave Halsing, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
Sami Harper, RWQCB
Katie Hart, RWQCB
Rachael Hartofelis, MTC/ABAG
Kristina Hill, UC Berkeley
Brian Holt, EBRPD
Stefanie Hom, MTC/ABAG
Lee Huo, San Francisco Bay Trail
Melissa Jones, BARHII
Nuin-Tara Key, Office of Planning and Research
Leslie Lacko, Marin County
Roger Leventhal, Marin County
Jack Liebster, Marin County (Chair)
Emily Loper, Bay Planning Coalition
Corina Lopez, City of San Leandro (elected)
Lindy Lowe, Port of San Francisco (former)
Jeremy Lowe, SFEI
Mark Lubell, UC Davis
Pat Mapelli, Granite Rock
Moira McEnepsy, State Coastal Conservancy
Paul Medved, BART
Mike Mielke, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Lil Milagro Henriquez, Mycelium Youth Network
Kris May, Silvestrum
Rafael Montes, BCDC
Hoi-Fei Mok, City of San Leandro
Stephanie Moulton-Peters, Marin County (elected)
Heidi Nutters, SFEP
Gail Payne, City of Alameda
Erik Pearson, City of Hayward
Dave Pine, San Mateo County (elected)
Jim Ponton, RWQCB
Erika Powell, CHARG (Chair)
Bruce Riordan, BayCAN
Harriet Ross, Delta Stewardship Council
Ana Ruiz, Mid Pen Open Space District
Sarah van der Schalie, NOAA
Magdalena Sta Maria, Santa Clara County
Sandra Scoggin, SF Bay Joint Venture
Jasneet Sharma, Santa Clara County
Stuart Siegel, SF NERR
Zoe Siegel, Greenbelt Alliance
Becky Smyth, NOAA
Robert Spencer, Urban Economics
Mark Stacey, UC Berkeley
Caitlin Sweeney, SFEP (Chair)
Laura Tam, Resources Legacy Fund
Will Travis, Independent Consultant
Stu Townsley, US Army Corps
Luisa Valiela, EPA Region 9
Matt Vander Sluis, BARHII
Edgar Westerhof, Arcadis
Angie Xiong, Ascent Environmental
Jacqueline Zipkin, East Bay Dischargers Authority

Community and Stakeholder Focus Groups

In early 2021, key stakeholder groups were invited to participate in focus groups to provide feedback on early drafts of the Joint Platform. Ten focus groups helped steer the direction of the final Joint Platform. More details can be found in the Bay Adapt Outreach Memo. 

Five meetings in total were held in East Palo Alto and Vallejo. Co-hosted by Nuestra Casa, Vallejo Environmental Justice Committee, BARHII, and the Water Resources Control Board

Co-hosted by Marin County Bay Wave Steering Committee

Co-host by the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN)

Co-hosted by San Francisco Estuary Partnership and Sierra Club

Co-hosted by Bay Planning Coalition, Building Industry Association, Bay Area Council, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Co-hosted by the the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, also known as OneShoreline

Focus groups in East Palo Alto and Vallejo were done in partnership with Nuestra Casa, BARHII and the Regional Water Quality Control Board

Presentations to Boards and Groups Around the Region

Throughout the course of developing the Joint Platform, over 50 presentations were given to regional organizations, elected officials, planning directors, flood control districts, cities and counties, and even state and national meetings and conferences.

Public Feedback Opportunity

Kicked off by the August 2021 Public Forum, a 30-day public comment phase solicited comments from the public via an online feedback form and comment letters.  Over 120 comments were received which help refine and shape the final draft of the Joint Platform. Responses to all public comments can be found in the Bay Adapt Public Comments and BCDC Response spreadsheet.

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