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ALBANY — Albany officials want to know what you think ofthe job the city's employees are doing. Some 3,000 citizens in the city were randornly selected by the National Research Cienter Inc. of Boulder, Col., to recel,ive a City of Albany 2.008 Citizen Surviey that asks respondents to rate such factors as quality- i of-life,. crime, sery I ice and economic issues in the c-Ity. Those answers, according to Assistant City Manager Wes Smith, will help dete-rmine ,are-as ofneed in city services. "We"rie ia�bsolutely doing this for the right reasons," Smith said after all 3 ,,0100 of" the surveys, had been mailed to some 500 citizens in each of i the city"s six wards. 'Ve. wa g nt to know wh�at we're doin well and in wha�t areas we need to improve. it's all about customer service. "Once, we receive the data from the survey, I envision us using this tool again in three years or so to see, if we've improved our services.." The citi in survey has been used by National Research Center since 2001, and more than 200 jurisdictioln�s, have, employed it as a means of improving services, according to NRC Dirlector Heather Locke, wie-11 do for Albany is provide the overall results from the 3,000 surveys, but we'll also separate the data geographically by ward," Loickle said. "What we'll be looking for 'is �resu�lts that might differ from 9 ward to ward to see if citizens in on�el, area feel certain services might need more attention than In others. "''we'll create benchmarks that we can com�plare to other jurisdictions alcross the country." Locke said that while the surveys are corrip[etelly confidential and' cann�olt be traced to individual responden�ts, the forms have been numbered by ward to allow for the citywildle breakdown. Albany Information Technology Project Manager Cindy Tiernan said compliet'ing the survey should benefit everyone in the cityi "'First of all, any attempt by any city government to get feedback from its citizens i s a step in the right direction,'* Tiernan, who 'i's completing the survey, said,, "Arid after looking over this survey, I think it's very important (for everyone. who receives one) to fill it in and return 'It. "If, say the police, department, gets a different score in one area of the city, then the chief will' have an idea of what area he needs to direct more attention. This is Just an excelle-rit way for department heads in hft,pl-,//Nvww,.alban sal d.icom/stories/20080519n3.,htni 5/19/2008