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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-1105 Study Session PACKET CiTY OF = SHLAND CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION AGENDA Wednesday, November 5, 2003 at 12:00 p.m. Counciil Chambers, 1175 East Main Street 1. 2003 Citizen Attitude Survey. 2. Discussion regarding redesign of Council Chambers, with respect to seating, sound and web access (2003 Council goat). In cotnpliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if. you need special assistance to participate in this' meeting, please contact the Ci(y Administrator's off~ce at (541) 488-6002 (]TY phone number 1-800-735-2900). Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangementx to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title 1). CITY OF -ASHLAND Council Communication Title: Dept: Date: Submitted By: 2003 Citizen Attitude Survey-- Council Study Session Administration November 5, 2003 Ann Seltzer, Management Analyst ~ Synopsis: Lockwood Research recently completed the 2003 Citizen Attitude Survey. This is the third citizen survey conducted since 1998. Attached is a list of highlights from the survey. Tammy Lockwood will distribute the final report, present the results of the survey, and illustrate comparisons with the previous surveys conducted in 2000 and in 1998. The survey was conducted by phone to a random sample of 400 Ashland residents over a two-wcek period in October. The sample size allows a margin of error no greater than +5%. Recommendation: This session is for informational and discussion purposes only. Fiscal Impact: The survey cost $15,000, the same as in 1998 and 2000 and is included in the 2003-04 budget. Background: The city has conducted random sample phone surveys in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000. Thc objective of the survey is to gather information from Ashland residents, which reveal their attitudes about city and government issues, their understanding and awareness of city programs and satisfaction with these programs and city operations. The more current views and opinions are compared to those of respondents in 2000 and in 1998 when the baseline survey was conducted (the survey tool changed considerably from 1995 and 1996). in 1998 the City issued a Request for Proposals for research firms to conduct a series of three citizen surveys. The firm selected was Scudder and ~4ssociates from Eugene, now Lockwood Research. The questions were developed based on input from Council, staff and Scudder and Associates. The first of the three surveys was conducted in 1998 and the second in 2000. In July of this year, Tammy Lockwood of Lockwood Research met individually with four of the six councilors and the Mayor to discuss questions to be added to the 2003 survey. A total of six new questions were added. The following bulleted points summarize the research findings. Following this summary is a more detailed analysis of the data. · The sample is comprised of Ashland residents, who on average have lived there 15 years. Over three-fourths (78%) own their home and the majority are registered voters (90%). The sample is very similar demographically to the samples in 2000 and 1998. · The sample is middle aged with 41% between 45 - 64 years old, and 33% are 65 or older. Approximately six out of ten (57%) are employed, wifl~ the highest percent of the sample falling in the combined annual household income categories of $50,000 - $74,999 (19%) and $75,000 or higher (19%). Three out of ten households (28%) have children at home. · Thirty percent (30%) of those surveyed feel the quality of lift! in Ashland has gotten worse and 43% feel it has stayed the same over the past couple of years. There is a group of supporters who feel things have improved (20%), this is unchanged since 2000. · Overall, respondents consider the City just as responsive in 2003 as they did in 2000 and 1998 when addressing and working on the problems and needs of the community. On a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 - very responsive, the City scored a 3.4 now, compared to a 3.3 average mean in 2000 and 3.4 in 1998. Less than half (43%) considers the City responsive, with 28% saying somewhat responsive and 15% saying very responsive. · A lower percent of respondents feel growth and development in Ashland during the past several years has been too fast. Currently, 55% of the sample feels growth and development is too fast, compared to 62% in 2000 and 57% in 1998. One-third (33%) feel it's about right. · Roughly four out of ten respondents in the 2000 sample (39%) said investing in tourism is very important, compared to 44% in 1998. In the 2003 survey respondents were asked to rate the impact tourism has on the City of Ashland. Nine out of ten (89%) feel that tourism has a positive impact on the City. · In 2000, when asked to suggest a change that could make Ashland a better place to live, the most frequent response was limit growth and development, mentioned by 17%. While this question was not asked in 2003, a new survey question show that half of the sample (52%) feel the City of Ashland is negatively affected by growth and development. · In the 2000 survey the sample identified one of the biggest concerns facing Ashland over the next couple years to be the high cost of housing (22%). Affordable housing was the area that was mentioned most (by 46% of the 2000 sample) as having gotten much worse over the past couple of years. While these questions were not asked in 2003, a new survey question show that over half of the sample give the City a poor rating on the City's efforts regarding affordable housing. In fact, the current survey indicates seven out of ten respondents (71%) have experienced trouble themselves, or know someone who has had trouble finding housing in Ashland that is in their price range. · When asked to rate their overall level of satisfaction with the services the City provides 41% of the sample said somewhat satisfied, an additional 33% said very satisfied. On a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 - very satisfied, overall satisfaction with the level of services provided by the City scored a 3.9 average mean, compared to 3.6 in 2000 and 3.7 in the 1998 survey. On an individual basis the emergency services (fire and ambulance) continue to receive the highest mean scores in their performance. On a scale of 1 5, with 5 = excellent, fire protection and ambulance service scored a 4.4 average mean. Planning for growth and development saw the smallest increase in the mean score, from 2.8 in 2000 to 2.9 today. No City service saw a decline in mean scores when compared to the 2000 sample. When asked how safe the respondent feels their neighborhood is only 3% of the sample said unsafe. In 2000, when asked if there are any services the City provides, but could eliminate, most mentioned the Ashland Fiber Optic Network. In the 2003 survey, using a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 - excellent, AFN scored an average mean of 3.5 for both TV cable service and Internet service. One-half of the sample (52%) is satisfied with the opportunities provided to the citizens of Ashland to give input on City decisions. On a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 - very satisfied the mean score given is 3.5, up from 3.4 in 2000 and 3.3 in 1998. There is a relationship between how informed respondents feel about what is happening in Ashland City government, and how good of a job they perceive the City is doing keeping them informed. Over half (56%) feel the City is doing a good to excellent job keeping them informed, and 46% feel they are somezohat to very informed about what is happening in City government. Utility bill inserts, the Ashland Daily Tidings and friends/co-workers/neighbors are the most frequently used sources for obtaining information about Ashland. There is a shift in perception of trust in the local government towards more trust. Currently, 39% feel there is some level of trust, compared to 32% in 2000. Six out of ten respondents (61%) have had contact with someone at the City within the past 12 months. Community Development is the department most frequently contacted (43%) - and there were multiple visits for some respondents, followed by Public Works (30%). One-half (50%) of those who have contacted the City rate the staff excellent in courteousness, down from 57% in 2000 and 54% in 1998. A higher percent feel the City money is being effectively used in the 2003 study (27%) compared to 2000 (22%), and slightly less than in 1998 (31%). Roughly the same percent feel the overall quality of the work performed by City employees is good to excellent (69% in 2003, 68% in 2000). On a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 = excellent, overall quality of the work performed scored a 4.0 today compared to 3.9 in 2000 and 4.0 in 1998. The 2000 sample identified tnore public transportation options as a service they wanted the City to provide. Since that time there has been an obvious increase in RVTD bus ridership. While approximately seven out of ten respondents (69%) said they, or family member(s) do not ride an RVTD bus at any time during an average month, this is down from 85% in the 2000 Tracking study. Ten percent (10%) of the sample say they, and/or a family member (s), ride the bus 6 times or more per month. Some respondents would be encouraged to ride the bus (or ride more often) if there were a bus stop closer to the home, and/or raore frequent service. Over one-half (58%) of the households with children drive children to school in an average week. Nearly one-third (31%) drive them to school every day (5 times per week). When asked their reason(s) for driving children to school, 33% mention no school bus is available, and 22% cited security/safety concerns. CITY OF -ASHLAND Council Communication Title: Dept: Date: Submitted By: Council Goal "Update and improve Council chambers in respect to seating, sound and web access." -- Council Study Session Administration November 5, 2003 Ann Seltzer, Management Analyst ~ Synopsis: One of the council goals for FY 2003-04 is to "update and improve council chambers in respect to seating, sound and web access". The attached list (Attachment I) reflects input received from council over the past few months. Additional input is being sought at this time. A second council goal is to "evaluate space needs for Municipal Court, Police, City Council and others at the Civic Center". It is possible that the space needs evaluation may reveal needed changes to council chambers. It is likely that a professional architect/designer will be needed to provide a list of options depending on the outcome of the space needs evaluation and identified improvements to council chambers. Recommendation: Staff asks that Council use this time to identify specific problems in the space and discuss what they would like the improved space to accomplish. Fiscal Impact: There is no fiscal impact at this time. Background: The room was designed as an all purpose room and serves as a meeting room for the City Council as well as the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Ashland School Board, Municipal Court, various city commissions and a few other organizations. It also serves as the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and as a training room when needed. hnprovements have been made to the space in regards to web access. A wireless access point has been installed in council chambers. It is an open access point and anyone with a computer with wireless capabilities can access the Intemet. Rogue Valley Community Television (RVTV) has reviewed the existing sound equipment in council chambers and recommends updating the microphones to clip-on style microphones. In addition, RVTV recommends updating the lighting, rebuilding the control room and more. Funding for these improvements is begin sought through the re-negotiation of the cable television franchise agreement with Charter Communications. ATTACHMENT I Input from Council The following list reflects input gathered from Council over the past few months. Seating and layout: · Council chairs are uncomfortable, too large, too "tippy". People lean back and don't appear attentive. · Large desks in front of council and speakers' table appear as barriers between audience, speakers and council. · Speakers have their backs towards the audience. · Difficult for audience to see items projected on the screen. · Overall layout of the room seems awkward. · Table height is important. Small and medium height people have their feet off the floor in order to be level with the table. · Tables should be moveable and sectional so that the arrangement can be changed. · Council and commissions etc. are the audience. · Be careful that layout does not disperse the focus of the meeting. · Knock out the northeast wall and square the room. That would be an improvement. · We need a professional, public space interior designer. · Current layout must be improved. What about a U-shaped desk layout rather than the current L- shaped layout.] · Power for microphones is accessible only by entering the sound booth. · Lights shine in councilors' faces.