As part of its commitment to clear and transparent communication, the City of La Mesa has partnered with Tripepi Smith to provide customized writing training for city staff. The training supports La Mesa’s efforts to improve internal and external communications by ensuring staff reports and written materials are clear, consistent and easy for the public and decision-makers to understand.
“Our main focus going into the new year has been to streamline our communication efforts with staff reports,” said La Mesa City Manager Greg Humora. “We are so excited to host Tripepi Smith later this spring to onboard and teach our city staff best practices in staff report writing.”
Tripepi Smith’s writing training service launched more than 10 years ago with a series of writing workshops for the City of Placentia. Members of Team TS also have educated the Port of Long Beach’s staff on an updated writing style guide, presented on Associated Press style for the California Association of Public Information Officers and provided practical lessons on navigating Federal Plan Language Guidelines for the Municipal Management Association of Southern California. The firm is excited to expand its training capacity through a new partnership with the City of La Mesa.
Senior Business Analyst Brandon Lewis, Business Analyst Kendall Lowery and Junior Business Analyst Erin Pinkelman, with oversight from Principal Katherine Griffiths, worked closely with city staff to create a personalized writing curriculum, which emphasizes the new staff report template alongside guidance on how the La Mesa team can improve their writing.
“We are excited to join forces with La Mesa,” said Brandon. “Clear and transparent communication is crucial in the municipal sector, and it’s encouraging to see the City of La Mesa prioritize this for its staff.”
To foster effective written communication within the City of La Mesa, Tripepi Smith will host an in-person seminar designed to help La Mesa staff rapidly improve their writing skills. The interactive workshop, which will be recorded by Videographer Josh Hernandez and made available for subsequent learning, will include a review of basic grammar and usage based on the city’s frequently noted challenges as well as editing and writing best practices.
To continue supporting staff in their professional writing development, Tripepi Smith will conduct eight virtual bi-weekly sessions that will address content and topics tailored to La Mesa’s writing needs, based on questions and areas of need identified during the inaugural session. The sessions, held via Zoom and recorded, also will serve as a resource for real-time feedback on in-progress projects.
About La Mesa
The City of La Mesa, also known as “jewel of the hills,” is a mid-sized community of over 60,000 residents nestled in the hills of San Diego. This quiet suburban neighborhood is just a quick drive away from Downtown San Diego. The City was established in 1912 and has been serving its residents for over 100 years.
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, aerial imagery, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith’s diverse clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Calabasas, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Grover Beach, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Malibu, City of Napa, City of Palmdale, City of Paramount, City of Tracy, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, West Coast Arborists, Scripps College, Blind Children’s Center and Climatec.