Latest / Modern Gov Matters / Being the Bad Guy: Communicating Unpopular Decisions with Steven Baird
Transcript
- Sarah Loyd: Welcome to Modern Gov Matters. I'm Sarah Loyd, and this show is all about honest conversations with local government communicators about what's actually working, what's not, and the stuff that keeps you up at night. Modern Gov Matters is presented by CivAll, powered by Social News Desk. Today I'm talking with Steven Baird, a public affairs associate at Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Southern California. And Steven's team has dealt with some of the toughest communications challenges you can imagine, telling wealthy homeowners that you're literally restricting their water flow because they won't stop watering their lawns during a historic drought. He won CAPIO's Crisis Communicator of the Year award for that work. So today we're talking about the hard stuff. Enforcement being the messenger when nobody wants to hear the message. and how you communicate when you have to be the bad guy in somebody else's story. So Steven, thank you so much for being here. Steven Baird: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be able to kind of share the Las Virgenes story. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, of course. So before we get into the crisis stuff, I do want to hear your origin story because you have a really interesting background. graphic design, you ran a pool service business, and somehow you ended up as a communicator for a water district. So how did that happen? Steven Baird: Yeah. So it is, it's a, it's a circuitous way that got me to affairs at Las Virgenes. I always wanted to be a writer, really love journalism, coming out of college when I did probably the beginning of the end for print publications, as we knew it, journalism was changing the internet and that stuff. but I always had this love for photography and through ⁓ the water team at Sac State, I was able to meet Bill Vassar. He had the photo contracts for all the major Northern California thoroughbred horse racing ⁓ and, his son was on the water ski with me. So I knew him. And when an opportunity arose for me to go work for him, I was really able to kind of like pursue professional photography. but it was a bit of a hustle and needed, you know, what's not a hustle is the bills. They come every month. So I did my best friend had a pool cleaning business and I kind of was doing pool cleaning and shooting as much as I could. And so I kind of focused on that and through the pool business, got really involved in sustainability, right? so I got certified through Southern California Edison and Los Angeles DWP to do some high efficiency installs. And all that leads me to then I had a taste of all this and the opportunity came to kind of come to Las Virgenes And so I started here as a, you know, field operations tech and that's reading meters and digging out meter boxes and stuff. And I loved it. I still needed some additional income to make up for the pool business. And so I started working overtime with the public affairs staff come to find out that they're very much into photography. I'm a good photographer. So I started working every event I could, I would work with them. I was the mascot Little Drop wearing the suit. I would go out to events, take photos Sarah Loyd: haha Steven Baird: for me, it was an opportunity because one of my predecessors decided it was time for to retire. And I was able to kind of move into the public affairs, role, which I've been here since 2019. ⁓ I manage and administer most of our digital ⁓ outreach as well as do graphic design. And then of course, the photo and the video stuff. So. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, that's great that you such a creative outlet still because you have this creative background and, it's great that you get to still flex those muscles in your current role. So you're doing everything now from Instagram to podcasts crisis response. But let's talk a little bit about 2022 and the drought Can you walk me through what your team was facing and what made that drought response different from anything you've done before? Steven Baird: Yeah, so it's interesting, right? Coming out of COVID in 2020 and then all of a sudden, you know, we started seeing the lack of rain. And so it was kind of like a slow motion car wreck because we could see that we weren't getting the rain. And so we started ramping up early, I think recognizing that we needed to, to ⁓ amplify the seriousness of the situation to customers. So we started that. and then we just kind of waited until eventually we, we did come under some really, draconian water use restrictions. basically were restricted about 75 % of the total water coming into the district. So, that was really difficult. And then. Our district, we are in the Northwest corner of Los Angeles County. It's a bedroom community, suburban, a lot of single family homes, people with yards. And they were being asked to go to one day week watering. one of the interesting things about our service area is we do serve an affluent subsection of our customers we do serve an affluent subsection of our customers and, and you know, these are people who aren't always accustomed to be being told no, but this wasn't an this wasn't something they could pay their way out of right and so we really stepped up ⁓ our awareness messaging to try to bring problem to the forefront of everybody's attention and then we transition to what the enforcement is going to be. you know, these are people who aren't always accustomed to be being told no, but this wasn't an this wasn't something that could pay their way out of Sarah Loyd: Right. Steven Baird: And so our water resource and our ⁓ crew came up with a flow restrictor, which is basically small disc with a very small hole that we would put in the in a person's ⁓ water system. And that would basically allow them to do they needed to do indoor, but they couldn't water their lawn. And so that was kind of the crux, right? What is our communications problem? Our communications problem is one, bringing the the the drought to the forefront. We've been hearing about drought for years and years and years, but this was like a real serious drought. Our communication, second communication problem was making sure everybody understood what the change in compliance meant for them. When could they water? What days, what addresses, what should they water? How do they keep their trees alive? All of that became, you know, part of the subject matter that we were trying to convey. then thirdly, If you don't comply, these are the steps that's going to get you to be flow restricted. And so it was really a multifaceted communications ⁓ plan. One of the reasons we were so successful is we were really able to lean into the this kind of, equity aspect of it. That just because you have money, doesn't mean you get a green grass. And the bottom line is you're either going to reduce your water waste by making the cuts yourself ⁓ and, getting, having a brown lawn on your own accord, or you're to have a brown lawn because we were going to have to restrict it. Sarah Loyd: So one thing I want to know, how do you prepare yourself to be the face of unpopular decisions? Because you were actually on camera explaining why homes were getting flow restrictors. And that is got to be mentally really hard. So how do you handle that? Steven Baird: My job was to explain what the decision was, how we came it and how does it impact customers? and I think the other part that really, helped is. ⁓ Because this was a regional emergency, I was under the same restrictions at my home in a neighboring community. Right. So it wasn't like it was do as I say, not as I do. It was, we're all in this together. We need to get through this and then prepare ourselves for the future after this. I think that lessened the blow. think one of the more difficult things too is, you know, as a government agency, you're going to get the questions like, weren't you ready for this? And as we, as I think any public agency or utility, we're dealing with new challenges, right? The department of water resources never said it would get that bad. It was never supposed to be like this, but the reality is the reality has changed. And so that was a tough question to deal with. And really what we leaned into was, As we move out of this, we are going to show you what we're doing to be ready for the next time. when you talk about crisis, ⁓ there is the recovery aspect of crisis communications. And I would say that our crisis communicate, we have continued the recovery communications because it's a behavioral long-term behavioral we're looking for. I think the scale of it was also ⁓ surprising. You know, I think by the time we ended up all the collateral, we had to do of the advertisements, all of the website updates, all the social media updates, constant, the comments, all of that stuff. ⁓ But I'm really proud of being part of the team that was able to kind of rise to that occasion. Sarah Loyd: Yeah. And have you found that folks behavior has changed overall or did people kind of go back to watering their lawns right away as soon as they were able to? Steven Baird: we have seen, uh, lasting conservation. The numbers have re bounced back a little bit and a lot of that, you know, we've had an unseasonably warm start to this year. And if people are hot, they think their lawn is hot and they're going to water it, you know? but overall, if you were to look from a macro level, we are still seeing 20, 25%, 30 % on a month to month basis of. Sarah Loyd: you Steven Baird: water savings. we were able to drive a lot of our customers to some of the beneficial programs and rebate programs we have and so when I look and see that we've been able to drive 250 plus people who have then Replaced their lawn or replaced or upgraded their irrigation system to be more efficient That's kind of how I can see the success Sarah Loyd: So can you tell me maybe what didn't work and what you might do differently if you had to do this again tomorrow? Steven Baird: I think we would lean more heavily into person-to-person communications and using our digital channels to promote that. engagement. One of things we did was we had a town hall, we 1500 people show up, it lasted five hours, our general manager stayed on and answered every person's questions. And by the end, the questions were getting pretty weird. So but we did, right, we were in it for the customers. but we could also go to each individual of our of our customer cities make make presentations, have open town halls, and really be able to kind of help customers on a personal basis. I think also, Sarah Loyd: Mm-hmm. Steven Baird: that just more channels that we ⁓ own relying on trying to run paid ads on social or all those things. even in 2022, You know, the algorithmic feeds were different. The just how social media companies operated was different. Obviously Twitter is no longer Twitter. It's X and that was, you know, a huge change from kind of emergency communications in the past. ⁓ I think, prioritizing, you know, information sharing from our website, through our email, through channels we own, I think would be a much higher priority now. And then kind of use our social media and, and, and, and paper advertisements and things like that, kind of as general awareness, But I think for us, personal connection and really prioritizing the communications channels we own would be a big difference. Sarah Loyd: So I want to shift gears a little bit. ⁓ I we've been talking a lot about crisis communication and the really hard stuff, but you also produced an entire podcast for the Pure Water Project. So for someone listening who's being asked to ⁓ just start podcast with no budget, no team, what would be your advice? Steven Baird: do it. You can do it with no budget and no team. So, what would say is the benefits of the podcast ⁓ are you are struggling to build content, a podcast episode can give you a bunch of pieces of content, right? So for my podcast, for the, for the pure full circle podcast, I'm looking to get eight clips ⁓ and full length out of every episode we do. Sarah Loyd: Do it. Steven Baird: So that's one thing, because if you have small resources, you can, you can put 30 minutes of your time interviewing somebody and getting them to tell their story. And now you have a week's worth of content on that. That was a huge help. I think the other, piece of advice would give like, so if you go look, which everybody should full circle podcast, it's a R H ⁓ R pure h o.com slash full circle pod. it's very much ⁓ the traditional long form. two people having a conversation at a table, format, but you don't have to do that format. And that's what's so great about podcasting is depending on your agency or what ⁓ talent and your people are, ⁓ could do something as cool as just taking your cell phone, jumping into your public works managers truck, ⁓ them five questions about a project and then going out to the project. Worst case scenario is you only get three good clips that you can use, or you go through five episodes and it may not be the right channel or the right, you know, not be the right initiative for your particular agency. I have been doing a podcast on professional since 2019. And we, ⁓ my bet, one of my best friends is from high school and I started it ⁓ and we started it, ⁓ just ⁓ with the cell phone on counter. Sarah Loyd: Wow. Steven Baird: and talking. And so you can go as cheap as you want, but I just feel that it's such a unique platform and gives you so many opportunities to have great discussions and tell great stories that in the end, if you are trying to build content for your channels, it's such a good resource. It's, ⁓ it's amazing. Sarah Loyd: Yeah, that's great. All right. So before we wrap up, I just want to do a quick lightning round, just three questions about your area. So first of all, what's your favorite local spot in your service area? It could be a restaurant, a park, a hiking trail, whatever. Steven Baird: Yes. Okay. So our area, my favorite spot is obviously our reservoir cause it's just spectacularly beautiful, but ⁓ not our reservoir. would say, I really love a Thai restaurant up the street on Las Virgenes Road called Green Basil Thai. I basically eat there once a week. ⁓ so it's fantastic. ⁓ One of the best parts our service area is We, we cover a huge amount is protected by the Santa Monica mountains. And so there is a really well-known trail around here called the backbone trail that basically traverses the mountain range between above Malibu. And so you get up on there and you're hiking and you basically, you can see Catalina, the channel islands, the ocean. So it's just visually spectacular. And I love the trails in the area are super awesome. And then, ⁓ I definitely do want to give a shout out. One of my hobbies is, ⁓ Sarah Loyd: Mm-hmm. Steven Baird: delicious craft beer and we have a really good local brewery called 14 cannons that if I'm not eating Thai, that is a place that I would like to, I like to go. So those are probably my three, my three tops. Sarah Loyd: You So what would you say is the most underrated part of your community that people should know about? Steven Baird: I think our community gets, gets painted with a broad brush. ⁓ like I had mentioned before about, it's the reality TV show. It's all this, but ⁓ know, our, our community is mostly made up of, you know, people who really, moved out here because they wanted to get out of the and bustle of Los Angeles proper. they love the natural beauty around here. And so what we have is we have this really strong. coalition of people who are very environmentally literate and conscientious. And so it just makes it a really awesome place to do the work that I do in water, right? Because yes, we did have people who didn't want to watering their lawn, but we also had ⁓ people who have been early adopters of drought tolerance. And ⁓ are very much understanding of the greater ecosystem. our constituents are very much like they're hiking, they're biking, they're riding their road bikes. They are, they're out and about in the community and especially out the natural beauty. And Sarah Loyd: Now, if your area had a theme song, what would it be? Steven Baird: I would say "Walking on Sunshine." Because I feel that when you get out in the community and people are either at the community events, they're coming out to creek cleanup or all that stuff. There really is a sense of optimism about where we live and a joy about being outside and being in the area. And I think about the song "Walking on Sunshine," that's kind of what I think about, you know, just being out enjoying where you are with walking on sunshine. Yeah. Sarah Loyd: Yeah. Steven Baird: So I think that would be a good one. Agoura Hills is a city that we serve and they have a whole thing like Agoura Hills, it's the good life. And I think that kind of encapsulate, like "Walking on Sunshine" encapsulates that. Sarah Loyd: So my final question, if someone's listening right now and they know that they have a tough enforcement message coming like water restrictions, rate increases, some kind of unpopular policy, and they're really dreading it, what's the one piece of advice that you'd give them? Steven Baird: pull the bandaid off and start earlier. I wish we would have been a, I wish we would have had the opportunity to start in on the drought messaging earlier. obviously coming out of COVID, was a little bit different. definitely we just did a rate study and we started almost a whole year in advance. Just, you know, communications is, is it's like building a building. You got to start with your foundation, right? And so the earlier you can start and get that done and start laying the groundwork. for the difficult conversations, the better off you're going to be. we've been really lucky, because I think a lot more customers know they should pay attention. So since we've come out of the drought, that's actually one of the really interesting things is our email list is so strong. It's like consisting 68 % open rate, you know. Sarah Loyd: ⁓ wow. Steven Baird: Because I think they're all just afraid that they're going to miss out on what we're going to do the restrictions again. Yeah, no. So that's like, If you know what's going to happen, right? Compliance and like rate studies, give yourself the longest runway possible and keep receipts because my favorite thing is, I didn't know about it. It's like ⁓ we did four public sessions. ⁓ I sent you an You said you opened the email on this day at this time. ⁓ So, Sarah Loyd: and something important. Yeah. Yeah. Steven Baird: But also, you know, it's people are busy. And so the earlier you start, the more opportunities you have to really help shape opinion, sentiment and behavior. Sarah Loyd: where can people follow your work or connect with you later on? Steven Baird: Yeah, definitely. So LinkedIn, is definitely a place to message me. If you want to follow my professional work, all of the LVMWD channels, you're, can see kind of my photos, videos kind of where, where my lies and, and, and ⁓ utilizing some these channels. for those of you in California, ⁓ if you aren't would highly suggest, ⁓ getting involved with CAPIO, the California association of public information officers. I serve on their board as vice president of awards, but also I'm just all the events and all this stuff, the networking and, and the, you know, ⁓ the support you get, like the people I was able to call when feeling really bad about myself, cause people were mad at me online for, you know, shutting down their water. ⁓ that's invaluable. Right. And so I would highly recommend that. ⁓ PRSA is also very good here in Southern California. So, Sarah Loyd: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Steven Baird: Those are where I would and definitely if anybody's listening and interested in our story or things I've done, please reach out. I love to share what we've done and help in any way I can. Sarah Loyd: Yeah. And that's, that's one thing I love so much about the government comms community is everyone's got each other's back all the time. You know, if one person's going through something hard, there's 10 more people behind them willing to, to prop them up while they're, while they're going through the really hard thing. Steven Baird: those things I think, you know, to wrap up as you, you know, take moving forward things that I've really learned is like, nowadays, most emergencies ⁓ are going to be and they're going to be, be beyond a single agency's ability to, to communicate. So, you know, having that network of, of people who have your back, not only for the emergencies, but also when you do something great and have people applaud you, it's amazing. And our work is hard. Sarah Loyd: Okay. Steven Baird: Some people are never happy with us. You know, there's always someone who's going to tell us what we could have done better or why it was wrong or why we should have made this font different or whatever it may be. And so having that network of professionals who have your back in good times and, are there to applaud your successes, I just think is the best. Sarah Loyd: Absolutely. Yeah. And Steven, thank you so much for being honest about the hard parts about this work. I think a lot of people need to hear this. And for everyone listening, if you're doing crisis communications, enforcement messaging, or just trying to survive in local government comms, you are not alone. And that's what this show is all about. Modern Gov Matters is presented by CivAll, powered by Social News Desk. And if you found this episode helpful or interesting, please share it. I'm Sarah Loyd and we'll see you in two weeks.