--- title: Building Local Support Before a Texas Decision | JD Key Consulting description: James Dickey and Blake Sbrocco build local support before a Texas filing or hearing by listening first and helping willing residents speak. service_type: Local Public Affairs canonical_url: "https://jdkey.com/services/building-local-support" source: JD Key Consulting --- # Building Local Support Before a decision becomes a fight. ## Start before the hearing Local support is built before an application is filed and before the first public meeting. [James Dickey](https://jdkey.com/about/james-dickey) and [Blake Sbrocco](https://jdkey.com/about/blake-sbrocco) work beside the company's own team to learn the concerns neighbors already have, identify the officials who will vote, and help residents who are willing to speak reach their own representatives. This work can support a proposed project, a new technology deployment, or an ongoing business facing local concerns. Your team gets another way to hear those concerns and explain its case. ## What the work includes ### Listen before you file Start while the site plan can still change. Talk with nearby residents, neighborhood groups, and city or county staff, and write down what they say. Traffic at school release, light over a fence, water, and a broken promise from an earlier project are common. Write each concern in the neighbor's words. A real concern can change the application before it is filed. JD Key brings that record to the company team so the public papers match what the company will actually do. ### Name who decides We identify the body or official responsible for the decision, the relevant staff, the likely timetable, and the concerns already raised. Each city, county, and district has its own process. Your team gets a clear account of the conversations and questions that matter before preparing for the next meeting. ### Ask people who live there We identify people who support the proposal and are willing to say why. Local constituents can contact their own council members or commissioners; business owners and other community voices may also contribute. JD Key helps willing supporters prepare and follows up on the contacts so your team knows what has happened. ### Make the public case James Dickey and Blake Sbrocco make the public case through interviews, op-eds, testimony, and direct conversations. We work from facts your team can support, answer the questions people raise, and help explain complex business or technology issues in terms that matter locally. The assignment can also include state or federal assistance when the issue calls for it. ## What stays with the company team The company keeps the project. Its engineers, lawyers, and local land team remain the authority on the plan. [JD Key](https://jdkey.com/about) does not replace them. The firm reports who was contacted, which concerns are widespread, and which ones one person raised. Promises made in a living room are written down so the filing does not contradict them later. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### When should local support work begin? Start while there is time to understand local concerns and act on them. That may be before an application, a technology deployment, or a public meeting. Early conversations give your team more room to respond. ### Can neighbor concerns change the proposal? Yes, when the concern is real and the company can address it. The company team decides what changes. JD Key reports what it heard, in time to revise the plan. ### How do you find local supporters? We listen to residents and community stakeholders, learn who supports the proposal and why, and help willing constituents contact their own representatives. People speak in their own words. James and Blake speak in their professional role on the client's behalf. ### Who gives interviews and testimony? James Dickey and Blake Sbrocco do it personally, with the company team. They speak as the company's public affairs advisers. Residents who join them speak for themselves. ## Related - [After a rejection or delay](https://jdkey.com/services/local-proposal-opposition) - [Several jurisdictions](https://jdkey.com/services/multi-jurisdiction-public-affairs) - [Government affairs](https://jdkey.com/services/government-affairs) - [About the firm](https://jdkey.com/about) ## Contact Tell us the city or county, what you are trying to accomplish, when the decision is, and what concerns you have heard. - Phone: 512.543.4971 - Email: info@jdkey.com - [Contact JD Key](https://jdkey.com/contact) --- *[JD Key Consulting](https://jdkey.com) helps companies earn a fair hearing in Texas cities and counties. James Dickey leads strategy. Blake Sbrocco is Vice President.*