Clarity Blog

A recent event titled Multifamily Building Boom caught our attention.  We haven’t seen the two words – building & boom – used together for awhile, so we bought a ticket to this Building Industry Association program.

It turns out, there is a bit of a boom happening.   Economic conditions and government policies are driving Southern Californians to rent apartments – which is great news for apartment builders.

That’s the good news that was shared.  The tough news was that the entitlement process for proposed apartment communities (typically located on infill sites) can be very difficult.  Opposition from existing neighbors is often so intense that local governments have difficulty approving even the best projects.

Small-group meetings are an effective way to introduce your project to the community in an infill area.

What’s the solution?   Laer Pearce & Associates has developed five guidelines – based on our 20+ years of entitlement consulting – for successfully working with neighbors of proposed infill projects.

1. Start with a simple introduction: Start small. Send a letter, hold a small group meeting.  Let your new neighbors get to know more about you and your concept.  Be prepared to explain why the existing land use (be it a golf course or industrial site) is no longer viable and why your plan can be a positive alternative.  It’s critical they understand there’s a real need for change other than your bottom line.
2. Be inclusive and responsive: Create opportunities for two-way dialog with your neighbors so you can get input during the design process, and eventual buy-in on the final plan.  If you can’t incorporate a neighbor’s idea, explain why.  He or she will appreciate that you tried.
3. Paint the picture: Invest in professional materials that help tell your story through words, pictures, sketches and video.  These materials help neighbors overcome their concerns, and strengthen the opinion of those who want you to succeed.
4. Build a coalition:  It is important that decision-makers see a strong coalition of supporters from diverse backgrounds.  Your supporters will typically come from neighbors who you’ve built relationships with by starting small and being inclusive and responsive.
5. Deal with opponents: Opposition groups will form against most infill projects – especially when rentals or affordable housing are involved. You need to be prepared to respond to misleading statements that cross the line.  We add “that cross the line” because it’s important that you do not get distracted responding to every negative claim that’s made.

These guidelines will go a long way in decreasing the duration and cost of the entitlement process and increasing your chances of success.

Amid the dark cloud of horror and sadness that engulfed our nation upon last weekend’s unspeakable tragedies in Arizona, there lies a glimmer of pride.  Chaos had erupted and a nation sat on the edge of its seat, eager for even the slightest tidbit of news.  In the blink of an eye, Tucson had become the center of the universe, and the University of Arizona became the public face of one of the most gripping news stories in recent history.

It’s not every day a university’s public relations department manages communications for a crisis of this magnitude.  Every media outlet in the nation simultaneously descended on the U of A, which was thrust into the spotlight because many of the victims of Saturday’s attack, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, were being tended to at the university’s medical center.  With the whole world watching, U of A’s PR team masterfully managed a torrent of information (and disinformation), and executed a crisis response that has impressed an entire industry of its peers.

Around-the-clock press conferences.  A dedicated news wire.  Constant twitter updates.  And a team of all-star doctors equally adept at addressing the media as they are at saving lives.

As an alumni and former employee of the U of A public relations department, I couldn’t be prouder.  (If you saw our recent bowl game, you’d know we haven’t had much to be proud of lately.)  Especially when compared to the efforts of the Pima County Sherriff’s Department and the un-corralable rantings of its top cop.

I’m also proud because, as a veteran of many crisis situations, I understand the challenges U of A’s PR team faced and know that it did things the right way.  It was able to respond so quickly and successfully (on a Saturday morning no less) because it followed rule number one of crisis PR:  Be Prepared.

In my time on the U of A PR staff, planning was a key component to everything we did.  Its current PR team had a strategy mapped out well in advance for incidents just like this and many others…and it showed.

U of A’s motto is “Bear Down.”  Kind of fitting given the performance of its leadership in recent days.  It’s also a great bit of advice for the rest of us PR pros as we lament dusting off our crisis communications plans.

Doom-and-gloom emotional messages that paint pictures of the sky falling or the earth burning don’t work well when you are trying to change public opinion.  That’s what a new study by two Berkeley professors found when they studied the impacts of fact-based vs. emotion-based global warming messages.

The professors had one group of subjects read stories that began with facts, but ended with apocalyptic warnings, while the other half read positive stories that focused on solving problems.  Those who read the positive stories were less skeptical than the group exposed to doom-and-gloom messaging.

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Thanks to Laer Pearce & Associates, professionals that work with water policy around the world now have a LinkedIn group where they can discuss topics related to helping set and navigate water policy.  The Water Policy Professionals group encourages members to discuss legislation, communication strategies, regulations, incentives and news regarding policy on water supply, quality and pricing.  It will also include job postings and other networking functions.

Laer set up the group because he believes idea-sharing and open communications can help to find consensus on highly contentious issues – or at least move the discussion forward instead of having it bog down in rhetoric wars.

The group is a sister to LP&A’s other LinkedIn group, Water Conservation Professionals, which has 513 members. Seven people joined Water Policy Professionals in its first 30 minutes.

LP&A has been working on water-related issues for more than 20 years and is actively involved in helping to set policy for water issues on local, regional and state-wide levels.  We currently serve four water and wastewater agencies and CalDesal, a nonprofit advocating for pro-desalination policies and regulation in California.

50^th anniversaries are big deals; after all, they only happen once in an organization’s lifetime.  And it just so happened that two of Orange County’s largest water providers – and LP&A clients – happened to celebrate their golden milestones at the same time.

Mesa Consolidated Water District honored the occasion with a commemorative history book and decade-themed VIP and employee events.  Moulton Niguel Water District prepared a special edition of its customer newsletter with a pictorial timeline and history-themed display boards that will embark on a tour of local city halls and libraries.  Both districts celebrated their pasts with an eye towards the future, and we were proud to lend a helping hand.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher with Mesa Water's Board President Shawn Dewane

Mesa Water's Board of Directors with time caspule at VIP event

History posters will be on display in MNWD’s lobby through November before going on a tour to local cities and libraries

Each photo board represents a time frame in the District's history, and its accomplishments

We’re pleased to announce that Linda Ou has joined our staff at Laer Pearce & Associates.  Linda spent half her life in China before coming to America at 13, when she seriously got down to the task of learning English.  It turns out she’s an amazingly gifted communicator, as evidenced by her Master’s degree from the University of California, San Diego.

She will serve as a team member on many of our accounts – including our newest client, Great Far East, a commercial real estate and property management firm.  Linda also will extend our community relations expertise into the Chinese and other Asian communities, and is already hard at work on Laer Pearce & Associates’ new Chinese Business Initiative.

If you have been following Ford’s Fiesta Movement—the social media campaign for its new subcompact—you’ll know that Ford takes Twitter and Facebook very seriously.  How seriously was something I found out last week when I tweeted that I want to test drive a Ford Fiesta to see how it compared to my MINI Cooper.  Within minutes I had a response from Ford’s branding president Sam De La Garza (@samdelag). (more…)

What were the three biggest California land development stories of the past seven days?  Well, the news-heads and policy wonks here at Laer Pearce & Associates have compiled them for you here.  You’ll find the Big Three here, or you can follow LPAWater on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news and analysis. You can also sign up to receive the Weekly 3 via email here. This week:

Totally Cool About Climate Change

UCLA economist Matthew Kahn thinks global warming is the real deal, and he’s really cool with it. “There is a lot of evidence that we can cope with change, that we are not mice, and we have big brains,” he told the LA Times, stating what we’ve always thought was obvious.  As for California’s water woes in a hotter world, he’s once again positive … in a way:  ”Climate change may force us to get rid of our crazy outdated [water] laws,” he said.  Looks like good times ahead for water lawyers!

Read the L.A. Times interview here

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Laer will be giving a media training presentation to a professional association next week. As part of that presentation, we are including a slide on today’s media climate. We made one back in 2006 for a similar presentation and decided to start there. We all knew back in 2006 the power that the internet had to get information out. But what we couldn’t predict was how much the media landscape would change—and how quickly.

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What are the three biggest stories each week in the world of California land development?  You’ll find them right here, or follow LP&A all week long on Twitter at @LPALand for up-to-the-minute news and analysis.  You can also sign up to receive the Weekly 3 via email here. This week:

1. Don’t Worry, I’m a Doctor

Surprise, surprise.  Residents of a north San Diego community got more than they bargained for when they decided to manage future growth in their neighborhood.  A 1998 ballot-box zoning measure constricted the proposed Pacific Highlands Ranch to 1,900 units until a controversial new freeway interchange gets built.  Go figure, that interchange has been held up by red tape, and now the Ranch’s residents flood surrounding parks and shops because the facilities in their neighborhood aren’t planned until later, ballot-box-stalled phases.  Efforts to unwind the 1998 measure are currently underway.

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