The City of Blythe, affectionately known as the city with “the first sunrise in California”, came to team Tripepi Smith with a desire to develop a plan to save Chuckawalla Valley State Prison from closing. The state prison employs over 800 people, a serious lifeline of economic activity in the small city on the Eastern edge of California. With a population of only around 20,000 residents, the loss of the state prison would send the already disadvantaged community hurtling towards disaster.
Tripepi Smith was brought in to lead a grassroots effort to spread the word to the residents and the rest of the state of California, the governor and state legislators in a bid to save the prison and thus save their city. With little time, and a challenging agenda, Tripepi Smith stepped forward. The campaign was dubbed ”Save Chuck”, a colloquial but catchy phrase.
Under the direction of director Jennifer Vaughn, the City held a virtual press conference; developed a new dedicated website; a monthly newsletter; and launched accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter (now X). The City also invested in producing informative, high-quality videos which was key in spreading their message, and doing so quickly. Senior Business Analyst Sara Madsen along with Junior Business Analysts, Josh Hernandez and Ethan de la Pena visited the city to produce an array of videos intended to tell the story of the community and the role that Chuckawalla plays in the community.
The videos produced were:
- a call to action, was a public plea with the state to find a different way to meet their budgetary needs;
- a storytelling video, which highlights the impact closing the prison would have;
- and interviews of a variety of residents designed to create short human interest stories.
Mallory Crecelius, the interim city manager, spoke highly of the team and their ongoing support: “Everyone from Tripepi Smith has been attentive, professional, and timely,” she said. “The speed with which everything from the preliminary meetings, to filming videos, to development of a monthly newsletter and establishing our presence on social media is impressive, and we have been able to make great strides in garnering much-needed support. ”
All video efforts can be found on the city’s YouTube channel, while the ‘Save Chuck’ campaign information can be found at their website.
About the City of Blythe
The City of Blythe is a General Law city that was incorporated in 1916. It is located 225 miles east of Los Angeles and 150 miles west of Phoenix Arizona. The Colorado River embraces the east side of the Palo Verde Valley. Blythe enjoys a comfortable California desert climate.
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.