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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-10-001 - Compass Kitchener Public SurveyREPORT REPORT TO: Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Chair, and Members of Finance and Corporate Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: 2010-01-11 SUBMITTED BY: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning Ext 2476 PREPARED BY: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning Ext 2476 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: January 4, 2010 REPORT NO.: CAO-10-001 SUBJECT: COMPASS KITCHENER Public Survey RECOMMENDATION: For information only. BACKGROUND: Compass Kitchener, a citizen advisory committee to Mayor and Council, validates the Compass Kitchener vision (2000), guiding principles, values and strategic priorities on a regular basis, with the community’s input and participation. The committee creates and leads public processes to determine community concerns, to identify priorities for action, and to monitor progress toward achieving the community’s vision. The Compass Kitchener vision, values and inaugural strategic directions were adopted by Kitchener City Council in June 2000. They were incorporated into the City’s “Foundations” document, which set Council’s direction for the future of the Corporation and the City. Repeated again in 2003 and 2006, via similarly substantive community engagement processes, a term-by- term public survey is now a central feature of regular measuring, monitoring and reporting to the community in their priorities. The results – the community’s priorities – comprise an integral component of the City of Kitchener’s Strategic Plan, the operating departments’ business plans, and the City’s financial planning. REPORT: In the Fall of 2009, under the stewardship of Compass Kitchener, the City contracted with Environics Research Group Ltd., Toronto, to prepare, conduct and analyze a survey of Kitchener residents that: Revisited and confirmed or suggested changes to the community’s strategic area of focus, Identified critical issues and goals to address same, and, é ó ï Reported on community satisfaction with the Municipality’s efforts in priority areas. This current survey was conducted in accord with the best practices of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association of which Environics Research is a Gold Seal Audited member. The data were collected over the months of November and December, 2009, by mail and through the internet using the highest quality lists of households available. A total 896 survey were returned for a response rate of 19%. A survey of 896 Kitchener residents has an approximate margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent at the standard 95 percent confidence level.The sample for this survey matches the Statistics Canada profile on key variables and can be considered representative of the population of the City of Kitchener. We are very pleased with the picture that is beginning to emerge from the results of the 2009 Environics Survey. Citizen satisfaction with government is strong and steady as is satisfaction with city staff and city services. Highlights include: Most residents (80%) feel that the city is heading in the right direction. Residents are largely satisfied with city government – 84 per cent are very or somewhat satisfied with city government in 2009 compared with 80 per cent in 2005. Most residents are satisfied with municipal services overall – 88 per cent are very or somewhat satisfied in 2009 compared with 85 per cent in 2005. The number of citizens who prefer to contact the city through email or Internet is growing – 31 per cent in 2009 compared to 26 per cent in 2005 – while the number of citizens who prefer to personally visit or contact by phone has decreased slightly. Citizens’ perception of the customer service that staff provide to them is as good or better (in most cases) than in 2005. Residents continue to be supportive of the same six community priorities identified in 2006 – with managing growth, improving quality of life and protecting the environment being the top three. Both the Kitchener Market and The Aud experienced modest decreases in citizen satisfaction levels – which will be explored further during the Who-are- you-Kitchener? 2 campaign. A modest (7 per cent) increase in citizens who say they feel very or somewhat safe in the downtown, however this remains an area for further improvement. Parks rank first overall for citizen satisfaction with 91 per cent very or somewhat satisfied compared to 87 per cent in 2005. Satisfaction with outdoor facilities also increased by 5 per cent since 2005. These results provide the foundation for the next phase of work for Compass Kitchener, namely; Who-Are-You-Kitchener? 2 (WAYK2), an extensive community engagement process that will invite citizens – in person and via the internet – to join in conversations regarding their priority’s, and their ideas on addressing them. Compiling the information from the survey and the consultations with a view to updating our “Our Community Priorities” section of the City of Kitchener Strategic Plan, and, Reporting to Council and citizens on the results by mid June, 2010. é ó î FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Financial and staff resources are available as part of ongoing operating budgets associated with the activities of Compass Kitchener and Communications and Marketing divisions. In addition, the City has the added resource of a Masters of Social Work intern to help design and deliver the community conversations and the analysis of initiative’s results. COMMUNICATIONS: Communications form an integral component in this citizen engagement process, as a methodology and as a way to share information with the public. As was done following the 2005 Environics Survey, the results of the 2009 survey will be used as a spring board for further dialogue with citizens about their shared priorities for the future of the city. An extensive follow-up Who-are-you-Kitchener? campaign (WAYK2) is currently being developed which will enable Compass Kitchener to ask further questions of citizens, clarify survey results and probe deeper into future work on priorities that citizens see as most important. The new WAYK campaign will be similar to the comprehensive and successful campaign carried out in 2006 – and which included a wide variety of methods to reach out to citizens from each WAYK population segment. Additionally, the campaign will include a media/advertising/promotional component to ensure public awareness of the campaign and the many opportunities for citizens to participate in it. It is anticipated that this new campaign will run between February and May of 2010 with results reported back to both citizens and Council in June 2010. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Carla Ladd, Chief Administrative Officer é ó í é ó ì é ó ë é ó ê é ó é é ó è é ó ç é ó ïð é ó ïï é ó ïî é ó ïí é ó ïì é ó ïë é ó ïê é ó ïé é ó ïè é ó ïç é ó îð é ó îï é ó îî é ó îí é ó îì é ó îë é ó îê