Driving Election Results with Social Media Video

Client: Shea Homes
Services: Video Production, Direct Mail, Coalition Building

In 2019, WMG was tasked with convincing homeowners in a 55+ retirement community in Arizona to vote for annexation into an established nearby city.  If no action was taken, the community would be enveloped by a newly incorporated city with little to no infrastructure.  Raising property taxes to pay for long term infrastructure projects and schools was not in the best interest of the community.  The community was simply being targeted by developers to quickly increase the tax base and fund the construction of a new city.

We interviewed concerned residents and helped document their concerns with being incorporated into a new city.  There were serious questions about safety as there was a clear contrast in the quality of emergency services between a long established city and the surrounding unincorporated land.  The residents were more than willing to pay their fair share of property taxes to enjoy the existing amenities nearby.  It made little sense to be on the hook for longterm construction projects that they likely would never see to completion.

The interviews were compiled into a video campaign that made the case for annexation over incorporation.  As a result of the campaign, enough holdout residents were swayed away from unfounded promises of increased property values from a city commissioner who essentially viewed the retirement community as an ATM machine.  The retirement community successfully petitioned its annexation into the established city nearby to the benefit of residents as well as the developers.

Results

• Successful Annexation into Queen Creek

• Decreased Tax Burden for Retirees

• Superior Access to Emergency Services