Loading...
CC 2024-04-23_12b Results of Community Survey_Potential Future Revenue MeasureItem 12.b. MEMORANDUM TO: City Council FROM: Matthew Downing, City Manager BY: Jessica Matson, Legislative & Information Services Director/City Clerk Nicole Valentine, Administrative Services Director SUBJECT: Consider Results of Community Survey for a Potential Future Revenue Measure DATE: April 23, 2024 SUMMARY OF ACTION: Review of the results of the community survey, which took place March-April 2024. IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES: Approximately $26,700 was spent on design, printing, postage of the mailer; video and still ad design and editing; and digital ad buys. RECOMMENDATION: Review and file the Community Survey Results Summary. BACKGROUND: On June 13, 2023, the City Council authorized the publishing of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Voter Opinion Polling and Public Education and Outreach Service s. On August 22, 2023, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Clifford Moss and True North Research for these services. On January 9, 2024, the City Council reviewed the polling results summary report from True North Research and directed staff to continue working with the consultant on a potential future revenue measure. As part of the City’s efforts to listen to the community regarding their priorities for Arroyo Grande, a Community Survey (Attachment 1) was mailed to all Arroyo Grande residents on February 22, 2024. The mailer included a tear-off response option as well as an online option for completing the survey. To encourage residents’ participation, video and still ads were developed and placed on various online platforms driving viewers to the online version of the survey. Additionally, the survey was, and continues to be, available on the City’s website. Item 12.b. City Council Consider Results of Community Survey for a Potential Future Revenue Measure April 23, 2024 Page 2 ANALYSIS OF ISSUES: In addition to the dozens of direct face-to-face conversations with Arroyo Grande stakeholders, the City received a large response to the survey. As of the date of this report the City has received 1,444 responses to the Community Survey – 477 written and 967 online. Over 400 personal comments were also provided with the responses. The City’s consultant has prepared a summary of the survey results, including a ranked average, priorities receiving the most number 1-9 rankings (1 = most important and 9 = less important), and a word cloud of the most commonly used words in the “other priorities” section of the survey (Attachment 2). On average, the top 3 priorities, as ranked by Arroyo Grande residents responding to the survey, were as follows: 1. “Maintain lifesaving fire protection and paramedic services;” 2. “Maintain 911 rapid-response and emergency police services;” and 3. “Repair/Pave and maintain Arroyo Grande’s 73 miles of roads; fix potholes and damaged sidewalks.” This was calculated by taking the sum of each section and dividing it by the number of responses received for that category. Categories with the lowest averages reflect the more important issues to the community members who responded. The top three “1st place” priorities, by a significant margin, were as follows: 1. “Repair/Pave and maintain Arroyo Grande’s 73 miles of roads; fix potholes and damaged sidewalks;” 2. “Maintain 911 rapid-response and emergency police services;” and 3. “Maintain lifesaving fire protection and paramedic services.” This was calculated by adding up how many rankings of “1” each category received. Additional findings are outlined in the attached summary report. Next Steps To continue the efforts of listening to residents and their priorities, the following activities will take place over the next several weeks: 1. A follow-up mailer will be sent to all Arroyo Grande residents with results of the survey and information regarding the City’s ongoing efforts to listen to residents; 2. Continued public outreach on the City’s needs and results of the community survey including presentations to service organizations and conversations with community stakeholders will continue to occur throughout April and early May; and Item 12.b. City Council Consider Results of Community Survey for a Potential Future Revenue Measure April 23, 2024 Page 3 3. Staff will return an item for the City Council’s consideration of funding options for City services and a potential revenue ballot measure. The online survey will remain open until late May to capture any additional resident responses. ALTERNATIVES: The following alternatives are provided for the City Council’s consideration: 1. Review and file the Community Survey results summary; or 2. Provide other direction to staff. ADVANTAGES: Receiving results of the community survey will inform the City Council and public on what a sample of the community deems a priority for the City to address. DISADVANTAGES: No disadvantages to receiving the results summary have been identified. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: No environmental review is required for this item. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS: The Agenda was posted at City Hall and on the City’s website in accordance with Government Code Section 54954.2. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Community Survey Mailer 2. Community Survey Results Summary PLACE 1st CLASS STAMP HERECITY OF ARROYO GRANDE 300 E Branch Street Arroyo Grande, CA 93420ATTN: City Manager Matthew Downing300 E Branch Street Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 www.arroyogrande.org AGListens@arroyogrande.org (805)473-5400 Proud of our Past— Planning for our Future. Provided as a public service by the City of Arroyo Grande. Arroyo Grande Residents and Property Owners We want your input! TAKE OUR SURVEY ATTACHMENT 1 Essential Services for Our Residents E ROAD REPAIR & MAINTENANCE: Repair, pave and maintain Arroyo Grande’s 73 miles of roads; fix potholes and damaged sidewalks. E AGING INFRASTRUCTURE: Upgrade aging storm drains, public facilities and community centers. E CLEAN, WELL MAINTAINED PUBLIC SPACES: Clean and maintain City parks, sports fields, and facilities; clean up trash and litter dumped along streets, sidewalks and public areas. E PUBLIC SAFETY: Maintain 911 lifesaving rapid response services—fire protection, paramedics, police and crime prevention. E QUALITY PARKS & RECREATION PROGRAMS: Maintain high quality parks and recreation programs. E ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS: Continue homeless outreach and intervention programs. Take this survey online. Scan the QR code or go to: www.arroyogrande.org Please rank these City of Arroyo Grande priorities in order of their importance to you (1 = most important, 9 = least important). What Do You Think? ARROYO GRANDE RESIDENTS: Your feedback is important. Please respond by March 31, 2024. For more information, please visit: www.arroyogrande.org or contact City Manager Matthew Downing: (805) 473-5400 AGListens@arroyogrande.org E REPAIR/PAVE and maintain Arroyo Grande’s 73 miles of roads; fix potholes and damaged sidewalks.  E UPGRADE aging infrastructure—storm drains, public facilities and community centers.  E CLEAN & MAINTAIN public spaces, including City parks, sports fields, and facilities.  E MAINTAIN lifesaving fire protection and paramedic services.  E MAINTAIN 911 rapid-response and emergency police services.  E CLEAN UP trash and litter dumped along streets, sidewalks, and public areas.  E PROVIDE crime prevention and police investigation services.  E ADDRESS homelessness.  E OTHER ____________________ _______________________  Comments/questions: Contact information is optional: name address city state zip phone e-mail February 2024 Dear Arroyo Grande Neighbor: Your input is needed! As your new city manager, I believe it’s the City’s duty to provide public services that our community truly needs and values. Mindful of both financial stability and excellent service, I am pleased to report that the City is in a stable financial position with nearly 90% of our community ranking “quality of life” as excellent or good in Arroyo Grande, and many infrastructure improvement projects now underway. However, as we plan for the future, we see that much of the City’s infrastructure supporting our community has grown old and is now deteriorating. Built decades ago, these community assets are nearing the end of their useful lifespans after years of constant use. Operating costs and other financial pressures continue to rise as well. The result: maintaining needed services and a balanced budget has become a growing burden. We are discussing options to address City needs responsibly and with community support. One option we’re currently studying is asking voters to support a modest increase to Arroyo Grande’s local city sales tax to help close the budget gap. No decisions have been made yet—we are simply exploring all options. What do YOU think? We want to hear from YOU before the City Council makes important decisions. Please complete our survey via the tear-off response card attached, scan the QR code or visit our website and take the survey online, or email us at: AGListens@arroyogrande.org Please respond by March 31, 2024. Your opinions matter and we are listening! Thank you. Sincerely, Matthew Downing Arroyo Grande City Manager Matthew Downing Protect Arroyo Grande’s high quality of life and keep our city moving forward. Take our CITY SURVEY! Scan the QR code or go to: www.arroyogrande.org CITY SURVEY Your input is important to us. Earlier this year, the City of Arroyo Grande asked our community for input on their priorities for Arroyo Grande. Not surprisingly, the community response was tremendous. Altogether, City Hall received nearly 1,500 completed surveys (so far, we’ve recorded 967 online surveys and 477 via US mail, including over 400 personal comments from community members). Additional stakeholder conversations and presentations were also conducted and recorded by team members here at City Hall. While the input we received varied widely, one thing was clear: community members really care about Arroyo Grande and appreciated the opportunity to weigh in. Here are a few examples: “Thank you for making the survey easy to answer and giving us the opportunity to influence the priorities.” – John “I think you are doing a great job! Thank you!” – Stacey “We’re proud residents of Arroyo Grande and have lived here since 2010. We want to maintain the high standards that AG has and we’re thankful for the opportunity to give our input.” – Melissa “Thank you for listening!!!” – Stewart Accordingly, Arroyo Grande residents ranked their top priorities as follows (by average ranking): 1 - MAINTAIN lifesaving fire protection and paramedic services. 2 - MAINTAIN 911 rapid-response and emergency police services. 3 - REPAIR/PAVE and maintain Arroyo Grande’s 73 miles of roads; fix potholes and damaged sidewalks. 4 - PROVIDE crime prevention and police investigation services. 5 - UPGRADE aging infrastructure - storm drains, public facilities and community centers. 6 - ADDRESS homelessness. 7 – CLEAN & MAINTAIN public spaces, including City parks, sports fields, and facilities. 8 – Other – 418 respondents entered their own “other” City Services Priority. There was overlap with the other listed services, but the most common themes included addressing the flow of traffic, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and increasing recreation programs. 9 - CLEAN UP trash and litter dumped along streets, sidewalks, and public areas. City of Arroyo Grande Ballot Measure Feasibility Project Public Engagement Process - LISTENING Results Response Type # Online Responses 967 Hard-Copy Responses 477 TOTAL Responses 1,444 Individual Comments 400+ ATTACHMENT 2 The word cloud below represents in aggregate what community members share in the “other priorities” category of our mail/online survey. The largest words appeared most frequently. Responses can also be organized by looking at which priorities received the most first place votes illustrated in the chart below. As you can see, the top three “1st place” priorities, by a significant margin, were: 1) road repair/maintenance and paving; 2) maintain 911 rapid- response and emergency police services; and 3) maintain lifesaving fire protection and paramedic services. In Conclusion: The City’s spring 2024 public engagement and LISTENING process, including direct face-to-face conversations with dozens of Arroyo Grande stakeholders, has informed our efforts to develop a prudent, community-responsive package that can maintain and improve Arroyo Grande’s services, facilities, and infrastructure secured by passage of a potential local revenue measure on the November 2024 ballot. If the City Council takes action to call for such an election, Arroyo Grande voters will be the ultimate decision makers. As each voter casts his or her vote, they will be taking a step to shape our city’s future for years to come.