City of Hercules Passes Measure N with Help from Tripepi Smith
In November 2022, the City of Hercules passed Measure N, CITY OF HERCULES NO TAX INCREASE / FINANCIAL STABILITY MEASURE, which addressed the renewal of an 8% taxation towards maintaining the City’s essential services and financial consistency.
In order to efficiently communicate information on Measure N, the City of Hercules recruited Tripepi Smith for assistance. The City of Hercules has worked alongside Tripepi Smith since 2021 in media and communications efforts and sought out the consulting firm for outreach and education regarding the measure.
“Tripepi Smith was instrumental in helping get the word out about the importance of Measure N,” said Mayor Alexander Walker-Griffin. “As a smaller city, we are a down-ballot election, and with so much media paid attention elsewhere, it would have been extremely difficult for the city to produce content in-house. Not only were the graphics great, but the information they included in the post made it viewer friendly and essential to get the message out there.”
To clarify the features of this taxation to the community, Tripepi Smith’s Senior Business Analyst Melanie James established a website, produced mailers and oversaw updates to social media communications. Art Director Kevin Bostwick also played a major role in the design efforts by creating visual elements and infographics for ballot measure outreach and other projects with the City. This iconography, combined with the website and social media, was utilized to inform the public on the ways in which Measure N’s removal or reinstatement would impact taxation and the city maintenance it funds.
“Taking on the Measure N informational initiative has been a rewarding task, as trust and consistency are crucial between the City and its residents,” said Director Jennifer Vaughn. “It’s always exciting to assist in communications revolved around maintaining the community’s progression and growth.”
The measure passed with 69.24% of residents voting in support, and 30.76% voting against. The passage of Measure N supports the maintenance of water quality standards, police patrols, encouraging local businesses, and generalized community upkeep services. The measure is anticipated to generate $3,600,000 per year.
Tripepi Smith and The City of Hercules have developed a well-established working relationship since their first project. Tripepi Smith initially took on an Express Communications Assessment but has since expanded to also cover content creation, including animated videography, social media post-production and article drafting.
About the City of Hercules
The City of Hercules is a twenty-square-mile suburban community located along the coast of San Pablo Bay in Northern California. The City resides in the Eastern San Francisco Bay area with a population of about twenty-four thousand. Known for its historical sites, vibrant landscape and variety of outdoor activities, the City of Hercules provides plenty to visitors and locals alike.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a marketing, technology and public affairs firm based in Orange County, CA. Its clients include for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies throughout the state of California. The firm’s unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage for organizations seeking to leverage the Internet to achieve their communication goals. Tripepi Smith provides full content creation services, including: ghostwriting, collateral development, photography, video production, search engine optimization, email marketing, crisis communications, social media management and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of Santa Ana, City of Culver City, City of Rolling Hills Estates, City of Tracy, City of Santa Cruz, City of Snoqualmie, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Paramount, City of Huntington Beach, City of El Cerrito, City of Indian Wells, City of Yuba City, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Industry Business Council, NHA Advisors, CalChoice, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Rowland Water District, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, League of California Cities, Institute for Local Government, Renne Public Law Group, Inland Empire Utilities Agency and Climatec Energy Services.