Host: County of Monterey
Region: Central California
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Transportation / Mobility, Climate Mitigation
Skills Needed: Project Management, Data Collection, Critical Thinking

Service Needs & Plans

The County of Monterey is required to transition its 1200 vehicles to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Many of those transitions need to be made in the next 5 years according to the Advanced Clean Fleet Regulations. We are working to determine how to deploy electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) strategically across the County so that departments may feel more comfortable purchasing EVs. This plan mainly addresses the emissions from our fleet which is the second largest source of emissions in our operations, however, it also provides for cleaner air in Salinas, currently considered a Disadvantaged Community. A result of the deployment of EVCS across the County will be increased access to the stations by Salinas residents. The County may be able to provide discounts or low/no cost charging to low income residents.

Project Description

The goals of this project are to determine where and how to rapidly deploy EVCS across the County’s facilities. The County’s previous CivicSpark Fellow has done some great work in analyzing its fleet and determining which vehicles should be transitioned to EVs in the near term and has helped to prepare department heads with a better understanding of their near-term switch vehicles. In Phase 2 of this project, the next Fellow will work with the Sustainability Program Manager to facilitate the deployment of EVCS so that as departments begin to make the switch, there is a simple method of procuring EVCS that is centralized and streamlined. Such work will involve detailed conversations with departments and vehicle purchasing coordinators to determine where vehicles are stationed overnight so that the proper number and type of station can be installed across the County’s 189 facilities. There will be a a few outcomes of this project:

1. A plan that identifies the number of stations needed annually and identifies and prioritizes locations for installation across County facilities.
2. An EV purchasing policy with annual targets.
3. A Request for Quote (RFQ) that qualifies station installers for County use.
4. An annual Request for Proposal (RFP) that deploys stations based on the plan that has been created.

Additional work will be done with County Counsel to standardize service terms for EVCS and with County Finance teams to set up a process for financing the stations.

Desired Skills

The ideal Fellow will have both analytical skill and communications skills. We are looking for someone who can do some data analysis and run numbers, and would like to see someone who has a little bit of experience using GIS. We also need someone who is process oriented and can think through next steps. Someone who has an understanding of public budgeting and/or public works would be extremely desirable. Although there will be some contractual work, the program manager will be a good guide and our county counsel will work with us on achieving that end.

Organization & Community Highlights

Monterey County is really a beautiful place to live and work, with beaches, mountains and valleys to hike and enjoy. Working here gives Fellows a chance to see how a rural and diverse local government faces challenges in serving its citizens and meeting its climate goals.

The County offers a challenging work environment, but one that can be extremely rewarding and teach Fellows how to navigate through the differing relationships, objectives and general politics of an office place. If Fellows are tenacious, they will see good progress in their efforts and will learn how to be resilient. There are so many opportunities to learn and network and in this project in particular, the Fellow will get an opportunity to see how the “rubber meets the road” because we will be working to implement a state level policy locally. We will not be the first County to do this, but we will be on the edge of the curve and this will give the Fellow a chance to really be on the cutting edge of demonstration and deployment.

The organization recently committed to hiring a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer and also offers GARE training. In the Sustainability Program generally, we work hard to include equity in our decision making process and we work with a group of Community Based Organizations to ensure that we are giving a voice to underserved communities.

Remote or On-Site Placement

We prefer candidates that can serve on site. We run a hybrid workspace.