SAN DIEGO – The California Association of Public Information Officers (CAPIO) awarded the City of San Diego and Cook + Schmid (C+S) the 2025 Excellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) Award for Community Relations/Participation for their public engagement work on the Ocean Beach Pier Renewal project.
The CAPIO annually presents the EPIC Awards to honor outstanding achievements in public sector communications. These awards recognize exceptional efforts across a range of categories. The EPIC Awards celebrate work that goes beyond innovation and craftsmanship to create a meaningful impact on communities.
An engineering study determined the 58-year-old Ocean Beach (OB) Pier, the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, had reached the end of its service life. Facing public and media scrutiny, the City of San Diego partnered with C+S to lead a public engagement effort to assess whether residents supported replacing the pier. Once public input confirmed broad support for rebuilding, the campaign shifted to gathering input that would shape the design of a new pier.
C+S designed and led a two-year regional outreach process aimed at engaging a representative cross-section of San Diego residents. The strategy included multilingual outreach, collaboration with community-based organizations, and multiple ways for residents to participate. Tactics included public meetings, pop-up events, in-language surveys, flyers, a project website, and social media outreach. More than 5,000 residents completed surveys, and over 1,100 attended public meetings.
The campaign emphasized reaching communities that historically have not been included in public planning—particularly residents from low-income Asian and Latino neighborhoods who regularly used the pier for recreation and subsistence fishing.
Community feedback helped develop guiding principles for the project and informed three design options, which were refined based on continued public input. Civitas Inc. and RNT Architects led five workshops to test and fine tune the designs. The firms completed a final design concept, reflecting the values and needs of the community, in fall 2024.
C+S shares the CAPIO EPIC award with the City of San Diego and project partners Moffatt & Nichol, the prime consultant, and Civitas, and RNT Architects.
About CAPIO
CAPIO is the leading statewide organization dedicated to advancing public sector communicators across all levels of government. Our members represent public sector agencies and engage communities through honest and transparent communication. CAPIO provides education and networking that helps our members, and their agencies develop and advance. For more information, visit here.
About Cook + Schmid
Cook + Schmid is a public relations marketing firm with more than 22 years of experience in community engagement, public outreach, marketing, and public relations. The firm helps organizations build strong relationships with stakeholders and ensure successful project outcomes. For more information, visit here.
