3/5/2019

CITIZEN OPINION SURVEY

C ONDUCTED FOR THE

C ITY OF L A PALMA

P RESENTED BY

T IMOTHY M CL ARNEY P H .D.

22

oMeasure community needs with respect to city services and facilities

oMeasure City’s performance in meeting residents’ needs

oAssess opinions on variety of topics such as economic development, funding priorities, and policy issues

oDetermine effectiveness of city-resident communication

PURPOSE OF STUDY

33

PHASE 1: Statistically Reliable Surveyo Conducted November 28 th to December 16 th, 2018

o Mixed Methodology

oRecruited via mail, email, and phone

oOnline and telephone data collection

oEnglish, Spanish & Korean

o Random sample of 336 residents

o Average interview length: 18 minutes

o Overall margin of error of ± 5.28%

PHASE 2: Supplemental Data Collectiono Postcards to all La Palma Households (not random selection)

o 492 additional completed surveys

METHODOLOGY OF STUDY

44

RATING LA PALMA

5.9

13.0

42.0

40.7

61.1

26.6

20.7

36.2

50.2

33.8

35.5

20.7

11.9

29.5

5

7.3

4

12.2

23.5

1

4

6.8

3

2

1

3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

La Palma as a place to shop

and dine

La Palma as a place to work

La Palma as a place to retire

The overall quality of life in

La Palma

La Palma as a place to raise

a family

% Respondents

Excellent Good Fair Poor Very poor Not sure

55

LIKE MOST ABOUT LA PALMA

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.3

1.4

1.9

3.1

3.8

4.6

9.5

9.5

14.0

15.3

16.0

24.3

12.8

5.3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Maintaining city budget, fiscal responsibility

Need to address homeless issues

Should reduce taxes

Restaurants, shopping opportunities, small business

Everything, keep it as it is

Public library

Infrastructure, streets, sidewalks

Open space areas, nature preserves

Community activities, events

Good schools

Parks, recreation areas, Central Park

Clean, well-maintained city, landscape, trees

Have own police, fire department

Small town atmosphere

Quiet, friendly, family oriented

Not sure / Cannot think of anything specific

Public safety, low crime rate

% Respondents

66

CHANGES TO IMPROVE LA PALMA

0.6

0.6

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.6

1.6

2.0

2.1

2.5

2.6

2.7

3.1

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.5

4.5

5.4

8.1

15.7

18.9

1.8

1.5

5.4

0 5 10 15 20

Address homeless issues

Add safer bike lanes, sidewalks

Add dog park

Improve, maintain infrastructure, roads, streets

Improve, add public transportation

Improve fiscal responsibility, better budgeting

Improve transparency, communication

Improve, add more libraries

Limit growth, manage development

Improve environmental efforts

Provide more street, park lighting

Address parking issues

Enforce traffic laws

Address water issues

Address diversity issues

Reduce taxes, fees

Provide more community events, programs

Provide entertainment options for all ages

Provide more affordable housing

Reduce traffic congestion

Enforce city ordinances, codes

Clean, maintain, beautify public areas

Maintain, add more park, recreation facilities

Improve public safety, reduce crime, more police presence

Improve economy, jobs, local businesses

Improve education, schools, adjust district boundaries

Provide better variety of restaurants, stores

No changes needed

Not sure / Cannot think of anything

% Respondents

77

OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH CITY SERVICES

Somewhat

satisfied

42.0

Very satisfied

43.6

Somewhat

dissatisfied

7.3

Very

dissatisfied

1.7

Not sure

5.4

88

SATISFACTION WITH SPECIFIC SERVICES

18.9

23.6

30.1

21.1

27.9

25.4

41.4

23.8

30.8

33.9

40.7

35.1

44.7

35.9

45.3

62.5

61.8

50.6

48.5

42.8

56.8

51.1

56.6

40.7

59.4

53.7

51.9

45.1

54.0

44.8

54.8

45.7

31.3

34.0

19.0

20.0

18.3

15.4

15.4

13.1

11.4

12.0

6.3

5.3

4

3

33

3

13.0

12.0

10.3

9.0

6.8

4.8

6.5

11.5

7.9

8.9

6.8

5.6

4.8

2

2

4

2

1

4

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Attract businesses and good-paying jobs to the City

Promote economic development for a healthy business community

Address homelessness

Manage growth and development

Manage the City’s finances

Provide cultural and performing arts

Provide quality drinking water

Provide senior services

Provide recreation programs for all ages

Provide special community events

Manage traffic congestion in the City

Maintain public buildings and facilities

Maintain parks and recreation areas

Provide school safety programs

Maintain city streets and roads

Provide police services

Provide fire protection and emergency medical services

% Respondents Who Provided Opinion

Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

99

CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDED BY STAFF

61.9

70.366.0

34.824.2

27.8

6.32.84.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Accessible Professional Helpful

Q9 Perception of city staff . . .

% R

espondents W

ith Staff

Interactio

n in

Past 1

2 M

onths

Not sure /

Prefer not

to answer

Not at all

Somewhat

Very

1010

CURRENT AMOUNT OF BUSINESS TYPES

28.6

35.0

41.6

49.1

50.5

52.2

57.5

60.8

64.6

67.7

57.9

53.3

48.0

48.2

43.3

40.4

36.0

32.5

7.1

5.1

4

1

3

2

4.5

3

3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Hotels

Automobile showrooms

Big box retail stores

Venues for performing arts,

concerts, and events

Entertainment options for

children

Smaller, boutique retail stores

Entertainment options for

adults

Restaurants

Movie theaters

% Respondents

Too little About right / Not sure Too much

1111

13.4

14.4

17.4

13.9

21.1

27.4

38.7

21.6

29.5

33.8

42.2

42.1

37.9

39.1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Create an off-leash dog park

Replace aging street banners

Providing outdoor exercise equipment at Central Park

Offer more community events and festivals

Expand the services and programs offered to seniors

Improve street medians by installing drought-tolerant

landscaping

Work with property owners to revitalize older, outdated

commercial centers

% Respondents

High priority Medium priority

FUNDING PRIORITIES

1212

SATISFACTION WITH CITY-RESIDENT COMMUNICATION

Somewhat

satisfied

40.3

Very satisfied

46.3

Somewhat

dissatisfied

7.3

Very

dissatisfied

2.7 Not sure

3.4

1313

7.7

18.5

15.5

41.5

44.4

45.4

56.1

40.8

58.4

32.3

28.9

48.6

32.9

36.8

39.6

29.8

46.8

30.6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Advertisements in local papers

Nextdoor

Town-hall style meetings

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Text messages

Materials mailed directly to your house

Smart phone application that would allow you to communicate

with the City, report issues, receive updates

City website

Email & electronic newsletters

% Respondents

Very effective Somewhat effective

EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION METHODS

1414

CITY MOVING IN RIGHT DIRECTION

Prefer not to

answer

1.6

Not sure

33.6

Moving in right

direction

57.3

Not moving in

right direction

7.6

1515

Oppose

continued

funding

15.9

Support

continued

funding

57.0

Not sure

26.2

Prefer not to

answer

0.9

CONTINUE FUNDING SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS

1616

Prefer not to

answer

0.7Not sure

11.7

Citywide

69.7

Within 5

Districts

17.9

PREFERRED METHOD OF ELECTING COUNCIL

1717

oHigh levels of satisfaction with La Palma and the City’s performanceoOverall quality of life

oOverall performance in providing municipal services

oSpecific service areas

oCity-resident communication

oCustomer service provided by staff

oOpportunity AreasoPromoting economic development

oAddressing homelessness

o Improving public safety

oManaging growth and development

KEY CONCLUSIONS