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,
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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.
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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
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