Owen Sound is conducting its first citizen satisfaction survey.
City Manager Tim Simmonds says it’s called Let’s Connect.
“We really want to reach out to those people living here in Owen Sound, find out their expectations, their levels of satisfaction with the City and the services we offer and just get some more insight. We want to really engage with the community out there,” says Simmonds.
Mayor Ian Boddy agrees, saying, “We’re (council) elected to represent people and sometimes you’ll get feedback maybe over the internet, maybe through social media and you’ll find out that that didn’t really represent the entire community.”
The City has hired Forum Research, to conduct a confidential phone survey of about 400 people on landlines and cell phones about quality of life, municipal services, communication tactics, and what they think of municipal spending.
Simmonds says the survey takes about 15 minutes. There is also an online survey.
The City says in a release, survey findings provide data-driven and performance-based reporting for Council, administration, and the public. The Citizen Satisfaction Survey is a critical tool to gather opinions on a number of key questions to help inform strategic decisions, and ensure that organizational priorities are aligned with citizen needs.
Phone calls will be conducted between July 12th and July 30th.
The calls will be made using random digit dialling (RDD) techniques to those 18 years of age and older.
Council and administration will use the input to guide decisions on a variety of initiatives and services.