City of Lomita Taps Tripepi Smith to Support District Formation Outreach
The City of Lomita is considering the transition from at-large City Council elections to by-district elections and has tapped Tripepi Smith to provide outreach support throughout the process.
In January 2022, the City of Lomita received a letter challenging the City’s current election system and asserting that the City’s at-large election system violates the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). In light of the letter and to protect the City from financial and legal risks, Lomita has taken steps to consider transitioning its election process to district-based elections.
“The district formation process is an important one that requires an extensive amount of education and collaboration,” said City Manager Ryan Smoot. “With Tripepi Smith’s substantial amount of districting and redistricting work, we knew their expertise would be key to connecting with every part of our community, which is one of the most crucial elements throughout this process.”
Many jurisdictions throughout the State have received similar letters, prompting the shift to district-based elections. Though it has not been determined that Lomita is non-compliant with existing law, the City has taken steps to consider transitioning its election process to protect itself from financial and legal risks. If the City completes the district formation process and replaces the current at-large election system, voters will elect one City Council Member who lives in their specific district beginning in 2024.
To promote engagement among Lomita’s diverse community, Tripepi Smith has been supporting outreach efforts through various tools and strategies, including:
- Bilingual social media posts published across Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor.
- Bilingual press releases and flyers promoting public hearings, workshops and milestones throughout the process.
- Outreach phone calls and emails to community-based organizations to announce the district formation process and encourage participation.
- Virtual and in-person public workshop and meeting facilitation.
“We appreciate Lomita’s dedication to their community and ensuring that their residents’ voices are heard as they consider the switch to districts,” Tripepi Smith Principal Jennifer Nentwig commented. “Our team has been working with the City and its professional demographers to execute an engaging process that encourages community participation.”
The City of Lomita recently held its first few public meetings for the district formation process and is expected to hold the final public hearing in Spring 2023.
About the City of Lomita
As a family-friendly City, Lomita creatively and consistently strives to provide excellent public service and employee performance, with the intent to enrich the quality of life for every citizen, worker and business owner. The mission of the City of Lomita is to provide a healthy, safe and friendly small-town community where everyone can successfully live, work and play.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Duarte, City of Grover Beach, City of Santa Paula, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Martinez, City of Tracy, City of Vallejo, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, Bob Hall & Associates, West Coast Arborists and Climatec.