Case Study: City of Pico Rivera

“Abstract provides an innovative solution for a great value with substantial time savings and workflow improvements. Everything we need to be effective advocates is available in the same place and available on the go.”  - The City Of Pico Rivera

The Challenge

‍The City of Pico Rivera developed the Pico Rivera 2035: Community Revitalization Program (PR 2035), a comprehensive collection of programs, projects, and policies designed to support the city’s evolution towards a more holistic, healthy, sustainable, multimodal, and modern smart city. Their challenge and goal was to elevate their presence and impact regionally, by introducing solutions locally. To do this, they sought a tool to help them modernize their tech stack, better navigate the legislative process, and increase efficiency to improve their legislative impact.

No Longer Tracking Bills With Spreadsheets

Prior to Abstract, the city was tracking bills manually using spreadsheets and searching for bills one by one on Google using the default Leg Info portal. The process of updating the tracking sheets took anywhere between 4-6 hours every week which has been cut significantly to less than an hour now that bills are effectively sorted and tracked on Abstract. Abstract’s comprehensive search cuts through the noise, allowing city staff to immediately see relevant bills, and creating reports of tracked bills can be done with just a few clicks.

Proactive Advocacy

The city’s aggressive city-wide corridor revitalization program called for more active participation in the legislative process and a need for proactive advocacy at all levels of government. Using Abstract’s bill page feature (where all the most important information for bills are available in one place, including the author’s information and contacts, vote status, analyses and current status) allowed staff to get a quick read of the bill’s status to brief stakeholders right away. This shift allowed the team to work quickly and take action and/or make changes more efficiently. The City went from submitting 4-5 letters a legislative cycle to more than 30 letters a legislative cycle including legislative amendments and proposals that align with their city’s legislative platform.

Elevated Profile Through Legislative Expertise

“Abstract’s intuitive features and sleek reporting has elevated our profile with our city council and stakeholders, and has become the standard not only in our office but with City Directors and City Council.” - City of Pico Rivera Staff. With Abstract’s reports, the city was able to brief city staff and council on emerging legislative issues, enabling them to reach out to legislative staff to express their opposition, support, or proposed amendment language while positioning themselves as experts.

Delivering for Pico Rivera

“Abstract stood out because it offered a powerful, seamless solution to track and sort hundreds of bills and generate sleek reports rather instantaneously. What excited us was also the willingness and accessibility of the Abstract team to teach us the platform and utilize it to its full potential. Additionally, the fact that Abstract continues to improve and update its features provides incredible value. Abstract has been a game changer for the City of Pico Rivera!” - City of Pico Rivera staff