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<br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />DATE: <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />September 17,2007 <br />Mayor and City Council <br />Michelle Wolfe, City Administrator ~~ <br />Community Survey <br /> <br />AGENDA ITEM: 2A <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />On March 26, 2007, City Council awarded a contract to Decision Resources for the <br />implementation of a community survey. The 2007 budget includes $10,500 for this project. In <br />their proposal, Decision Resources indicated that a 50-question survey could be completed for a <br />cost of $1 0,500. <br /> <br />DISCUSSION <br /> <br />Mr. Peter Leatherman of Decision Resources met with the Council at the April 16 work session. <br />He received input from the Council regarding questions to be included in the survey, as well as <br />other general categories of questions Council would be interested in seeing. Since that time, <br />Decision Resources and staff have reviewed some drafts of survey questions. Most recently, at <br />the direction of Council following a work session with the PTRC, an additional series of <br />questions was developed (see questions 32-36). <br /> <br />At this time there are over 100 questions in the draft survey, although staff is indicating that two <br />can be deleted (shown with strikeout on the draft). The estimated cost for conducting a survey <br />with approximately 100 questions is approximately $16,000. It is not unusual to have <br />community surveys of this length (most cities average 135 questions), and Decision Resources <br />does not anticipate having difficulty obtaining enough responses for valid and reliable survey <br />results. (Note: The Pay Equity Study came in approximately $4,300 under budget.) <br /> <br />At this time, staff is looking for feed back from Council. A current draft of survey questions is <br />attached for your review. Are there questions you would like to see deleted? Are there areas we <br />have not addressed? Would you like staff to work back to a 50 question survey, or some number <br />lower than the current number of questions? <br /> <br />I believe there are many benefits from conducting a community survey. Two major benefits are <br />(1) to provide information for Council (and staff) from our residents that can help guide future <br />decisions and strategic planning for the City; and (2) to provide a basis for performance <br />measurement as it relates to service provision. <br />