Waves of Support: How a Beach Town Came Together to Invest in Its Future
Challenge
In a small coastal community known for its laid-back spirit and strong environmental values, local leaders faced a challenge that tested the town’s identity. Years of rising costs and aging infrastructure were beginning to strain essential services — from public safety to road maintenance and shoreline protection.
City officials had proposed a modest sales tax increase to protect long-term financial stability and maintain the quality of life residents cherished. But the effort faced skepticism.
After years of contentious local politics and competing priorities, trust in government spending had eroded. Many residents feared that “new taxes” meant broken promises.
Fog Signal Strategies was brought in to design and execute a public information campaign that could rebuild trust, clarify facts, and unite a divided community around shared values.
Our Approach
Our strategy began with one guiding principle: in communities that thrive on connection and character, trust isn’t earned through persuasion — it’s earned through participation.
We built a campaign designed to speak to what mattered most to residents — stewardship, transparency, and protecting the place they love.
1. Listening to the Community
We started by conducting local interviews, community listening sessions, and digital sentiment mapping to understand the concerns behind the skepticism.
We discovered that most residents supported responsible investment — they simply wanted confidence that their money would stay local and make a visible difference.
Those insights shaped the foundation of our messaging: clear, values-based, and focused on accountability.
2. Framing the Conversation Around Shared Pride
Fog Signal Strategies helped city leaders reframe the measure from a tax increase to a community investment plan.
Our storytelling emphasized what made the town unique — clean beaches, vibrant small businesses, safe neighborhoods, and public spaces that define daily life.
We used a message framework centered on local control, visible benefit, and generational responsibility:
“Our community, our decision, our future.”
3. Radical Transparency
We worked with city staff to develop an accessible, transparent communication structure that turned information into trust.
This included:
A clear “Where Your Dollars Go” breakdown, showing exactly how funds would be allocated.
Consistent bilingual updates through email, social, and local news outlets.
Community information sessions that allowed residents to ask tough questions — and get real answers.
Every piece of communication reinforced that accountability wasn’t an afterthought — it was the promise.
4. Inclusive, Authentic Outreach
Because the town’s identity was tied to both its civic independence and coastal culture, our campaign combined traditional outreach with creative local touchpoints:
public pop-up booths at farmers markets, surfside events, and neighborhood coffee chats.
Our bilingual campaign materials — written in accessible, plain language — ensured every resident could see themselves in the conversation.
Execution
Over the course of six months, Fog Signal Strategies managed a fully integrated information campaign.
Creative Development: Messaging, visuals, and storytelling assets that reflected the community’s distinct tone — casual, honest, and grounded in place.
Digital Engagement: Social media and targeted ads that emphasized transparency and shared benefits, reaching residents where they already engaged with local news.
Public Events and Media Relations: Coordinating community Q&A sessions, local editorials, and feature stories that reinforced the campaign’s credibility.
Coalition Support: Helping community leaders, small businesses, and resident advocates confidently communicate how the measure would protect local priorities.
Through consistent, transparent communication, we helped the city replace doubt with understanding — and frustration with ownership.
Results
When ballots were counted, the results reflected more than policy success — they reflected renewed public confidence.
The sales tax measure passed comfortably, with support across age and political demographics.
Local turnout exceeded regional averages, driven by strong engagement from families and small business owners.
Follow-up community surveys showed a 25-point increase in trust in city leadership’s ability to manage funds responsibly.
Engagement on city information platforms more than doubled, establishing lasting channels for civic participation.
This wasn’t just a win for local funding — it was a turning point in how the city communicated with its people.
Impact
The campaign proved that even in an era of skepticism, communities will rally around shared values when leadership communicates clearly and acts transparently.
By helping the city speak with honesty, accessibility, and pride, Fog Signal Strategies turned a technical ballot measure into a story of unity and investment in the future.
It was proof that when communication aligns with community values, civic trust can rise — and everyone benefits.
What This Means for Partners
Fog Signal Strategies helps cities, counties, and organizations build credibility and drive public support for important initiatives — especially when trust is fragile.
Our expertise includes:
Public finance and ballot measure communication
Government trust restoration and transparency strategy
Community and stakeholder engagement
Creative storytelling for civic participation
Multilingual communication and inclusive outreach
When communities face hard choices, we help leaders connect those decisions to what matters most — people, place, and purpose.
