TS Bolsters Paramount’s Transparency and Outreach on Environmental Matter
In the fall of 2016, hexavalent chromium was detected in Paramount’s air by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). Following this discovery, the City sought to connect with leading environmental agencies to find a solution and inform its community along the way. Early on the City called on the assistance of Tripepi Smith for its communications expertise.
“Paramount climbed a steep learning curve to address air quality concerns and learn about the different challenges we were facing,” stated John Moreno, city manager of Paramount. “Tripepi Smith staff are supportive and detail-oriented as they took the time and effort to carefully learn about the issue from a local perspective. This was critical to keeping our community informed and helping the City develop constructive partnerships with environmental experts. We continue to prioritize public information and support policies and agencies that secure our public’s health.”
Tripepi Smith worked closely with the City to stay atop the developing news and quickly publish information to address community concerns. The team actively partnered with various environmental enforcement agencies, such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), LA County Public Health and the State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control to evaluate and lower hexavalent chromium emissions.
“The team at the City of Paramount was running hard to address public concerns and develop partnership with leading environmental regulatory agencies. We were able to help them execute on communications and develop platforms to be responsive to the public’s concerns,” said Ryder Smith, president of Tripepi Smith. “Response to the public health concern was more than a job, it was a personal mission to support a team of City Staff who spent months in the trenches moving to address concerns. The good news is, significant progress was made and the data from the SCAQMD shows the significant health concerns have been abated. Yet again, Paramount made progress happen.”
Tripepi Smith aided the launch of the Paramount Environment information portal as a community resource in January 2017. The website serves as a means to provide consistent information and transparency to the public. Key features of the portal include: a Frequently Asked Questions section, online articles covering environmental issues in the City, primary data resources and reports, City updates on breaking news, a centralized calendar that consolidates crucial events related to environmental issues, a map of SCAQMD air sampler locations and Google Translate integration.
Tripepi Smith also delivered pamphlets, provided in both in English and Spanish, and an air quality community update video. Each summarized the City’s actions in pursuing a solution. Watch the video.
The team has continued to add relevant information and reports on air, water and soil quality to the website for the past three years. Today, the portal serves as an overview of the environmental work Paramount has accomplished as well as a unique resource for cities and regulatory agencies that face similar situations.
SCAQMD reported significant progress in lowering hexavalent chromium emissions in late 2018, and has continued partnering with Paramount to ensure the levels remain low. Further, due to its unprecedented efforts to address air quality, the City was recognized with the Model Community Achievement recognition at the SCAQMD’s 30th Annual Clean Air Awards in October 2018.
“Paramount is a prime example of how a city can partner directly with other public agencies to act on environmental concerns quickly and effectively,” said Ryder. “Having experienced an air quality crisis firsthand, I believe Paramount will be a leading voice in addressing longer term health issues and can serve as an example for other cities to learn from.”
About Paramount
Paramount, California is nationally known for its successful transformation from blighted suburb to a well-run city with an attractive business climate and quality of life. Located at the gateway to the Los Angeles metropolis, the municipality has earned numerous state and federal awards for its innovative strategic planning and investment in capital improvements. Today, Paramount is a business-friendly, growing community of landscaped boulevards, enhanced police service, parks, recreation programs, affordable housing, public art, and tree-lined neighborhoods with white picket fences. For more information, visit www.paramountcity.com.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a marketing, technology and public affairs firm located in Orange County, CA. Its clients include for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies throughout the state of California. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provide a competitive advantage for organizations seeking to leverage the Internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm also 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 Culver City, City of Rolling Hills Estates, City of Tracy, City of Cupertino, City of Duarte, City of Daly City, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Santa Ana, City of Paramount, City of El Cerrito, City of Indian Wells, City of Yuba City, NHA Advisors, Cal Choice, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Rowland Water District, Valley Water Company, 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.