Orange Completes District Formation Process
The City of Orange engaged Tripepi Smith to assist with outreach efforts as it converted its at-large city council elections to by-district elections to comply with the California Voting Rights Act.
“Modifying the governance structure of a city by moving to City Council districts is a big step, and one that warrants active community involvement and extensive education,” said City Manager Rick Otto. “The City of Orange was committed to all stakeholders having the opportunity to share their ideas about this new election format, and we engaged experts to ensure everyone could have a voice. Tripepi Smith was highly recommended, and the firm was an excellent partner for the City and collaborator with our other expert consultants. Tripepi Smith moderated our community conversations in a manner that gave a voice to all and encouraged conversation, not division.”
The City engaged the law firm of Nielsen Merksamer, demographer National Demographics Corporation and Tripepi Smith to assist with the districting process. Tripepi Smith’s role was to aid resident outreach efforts and to facilitate the community meetings to foment effective community dialogue.
On November 12, 2019, the Orange City Council adopted Ordinance No. 06-19, moving the City from at-large to district-based elections. The November 3, 2020 election will be the first election to use the new district maps. The new by-district election map creates six city council positions and still offers an at-large election for Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer. Maps of the new districts can be found here.
The City of Orange subsequently engaged Tripepi Smith on a follow-up project related to changes in the refuse collection services in the City.
“The Orange City staff were clear from the outset that they wanted a process that gave the community an effective voice and reached all corners of the City. The team in city hall hired top experts from Nielsen Merksamer and National Demographics Corporation to achieve their mission. Tripepi Smith was happy to be a part of the consultant team,” said Tripepi Smith President Ryder Todd Smith. “Sometimes these district formation conversations can be contentious, but the residents we heard from were both passionate about their views and civil in their interactions. I would say that tone is reflective of the Orange community.”
With the 2020 Census starting next year and a massive uptick in by-district elections for local government agencies across California, redistricting activity in 2021 is going to explode. There will be hundreds of agencies that will need to evaluate their data and potentially engage legal counsel, demographic assistance and public outreach services.
Tripepi Smith is here to help facilitate in person or virtual meetings, online workshops, create bilingual websites, handle outreach to local groups and manage social media outreach. Learn more about the services we offer.
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 El Cerrito, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lakeport, City of Lake Forest, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Santa Cruz, City of Tracy, City of Vallejo, Cal Choice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Rowland Water District, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, Institute for Local Government, League of California Cities, Renne Public Law Group, Bob Hall & Associates and Climatec Energy Services.