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City Council Strategic Planning Meeting Monday,January 30,2012 Page 5 6. Cobalt Presentation of Survey Data Councilmember McGehee stated her need for confirmation with Cobalt representatives on whether the survey results were averaged among twelve (12) cities in the Midwest or nationwide. Councilmember McGehee further noted that the City didn't score very well for Local Government Management; and opined that the survey needed a better design and possible alternative method of distribution to make the results more accurate. Mayor Roe noted that the City's score for Local Government Management was just under 76%; and questioned how to design a survey to get more specifics. Councilmember Pust asked that City Manager Malinen lay the groundwork for the survey and provide some background information. City Manager Malinen advised that the 2011 community survey had been performed by Cobalt Community Research; and tonight's phone discussion would provide further detail on specific data for long-term drivers on the lower impact and lower satisfaction items identified from those random sampled participants in the survey; and identify how to work with the community to validate those items. William St.Amour,Executive Director, Cobalt Community Research/Midwest Area Mr. St. Amour, via phone with City Manager Malinen providing assistance with slide presentations, provided a quick refresher of data for the purposes of tonight's strategic planning process. Mr. St. Amour addressed perception versus reality of the data, and how to minimize distortion or misconceptions of the data, or to fix real or actual perfor- mance issues. Mr. St. Amour reviewed why the City scored as they did based in part on their communication efforts, public outreach strategies and ability to educate the public; as well as those items given a high level of value by citizens for what they pay; and the need for the City to continue reminding its residents of the services they received and comparables of other communities, and what their tax bill encompasses. Mr. St. Amour noted that there were some reality gaps that could improve scores, such as a high police presence in areas where public safety issues were perceived to be lacking even if they were not. Mr. St. Amour addressed ways to improve performance to improve outcomes by estab- lishing a framework for following up on the survey and why people responded as they did; and how to develop potential response actions. Mr. St. Amour addressed how to val- idate those ideas and potential action items through conversations with residents and staff; and to determine whether the ideas and actions make sense, suggesting focus groups to address short, specific topics from the survey data and benchmarking that data. Mr. St. Amour further addressed how staff could be provided with skills and tools to ef- fectively implement action steps, through a project management phase, and step by step, with documentation of those steps to increase visibility and then once again measure any changes to original public perceptions.