Agenda Item No. 13
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: January 22, 2024 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Kristin Eriksson, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: 2023 Community Survey Results
RECOMMENDATION
Receive the results of the 2023 community survey of Grover Beach residents on topics such as key community issues and importance and satisfaction of City services and provide input to staff.
BACKGROUND:
In fall 2017, the City conducted its first community survey to gauge resident perceptions on topics including key issues facing Grover Beach, importance and satisfaction with City services, customer service by City departments, accessing information about City services and events, and potential revenue measures. The survey was carried out by an outside survey research firm (Godbe Research) with both phone and online (from email and text invites) responses from a representative sample of 395 community members reflecting the population characteristics of residents. The survey results were used to inform policy, budgetary, and operational decisions such as updating Council Goals, prioritizing City services for funding, assessing service quality and customer service, expanding City communication, and placing increased Business Tax Certificate and transient occupancy tax measures on the November 2018 ballot. Similar surveys were conducted in 2019 and 2021 to again gauge resident perceptions and determine changes from the results of prior surveys. Conducting such surveys every 2-3 years is useful to assess changes in resident perceptions over time and identify pressing community issues.
Following a Request for Proposals process, staff contracted with Probolsky Research to conduct the 2023 community survey with phone, text, and email responses from a representative sample of 400 residents who are likely voters. The survey was conducted from October 11th through October 25th with a margin of error of +/- 5% and a confidence level of 95%. The survey was translated in Spanish for residents for whom Spanish was their preferred language. The survey results are again intended to inform policy, budgetary, and operational decisions such as updating Council Goals, prioritizing City services for funding, assessing service quality and customer service, improving City communication, and gauging sentiments on potential future tax measures.
The survey results will be presented by Probolsky Research along with overall demographics of survey respondents. Below is a summary of key results from the 2023 survey:
• 79% of respondents think the quality of life in Grover Beach is better or the same than it was five years ago, which is 10% higher than in 2021, compared with 18% who think it is worse than five years ago
• 75% of respondents indicated satisfaction with City services which is 5% higher than 2021 and 15% higher than the initial survey in 2017
Staff Report: 2023 Community Survey Results Page 2
January 22, 2024
• The top issues identified facing Grover Beach were “Homelessness” (21.3%) followed by “Transportation/Traffic/Roads” (17.5%) and “Public Safety/Drugs/Crime” (9.3%) • 54% of respondents of respondents were favorable of the City’s management of public funds compared with 32% who were unfavorable
• The most important City services indicated by respondents related to street repair and maintenance, repairing and maintaining sidewalks, public safety, and economic development
• Respondents indicated they are most satisfied by the City’s performance in rapidly responding to 9-1-1 emergency calls, maintaining fire and emergency medical services, providing festivals and community events, and maintaining police patrols and crime prevention services
• Regarding Major City Goals, respondents indicated varying, but generally positive rates of satisfaction with the City’s efforts:
o On Economic Development and Community Promotion, 73% of respondents indicated the City’s efforts are Good or Fair
o On Housing and Homelessness, 66% of respondents indicated the City’s efforts are Good or Fair
o On Public Safety, 87%, of respondents indicated the City’s efforts are Good or Fair o On Street Maintenance and Complete Streets, 70% of respondents indicated the City’s efforts are Good or Fair
• Respondents who have contacted the City in the past year were generally satisfied with the response particularly with the “courtesy of City staff” • Respondents were generally not in favor of a local tax measure at this time • Top sources of information about local activities and City government were local news channels, word of mouth, the City’s social media platforms and the City’s website The Council is encouraged to ask questions of Probolsky Research about the results and provide comments and input. Staff will review these results in further detail and integrate them into future Council goal-setting processes and future budget development processes. Staff will also work with City departments to determine how these results can continue to improve service delivery and operations. Staff recommends that a similar survey be conducted in 2025 to determine continued changes in perceptions and results from previous surveys.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact from this item. The survey cost was included in the City Manager’s Office operating budget.
ALTERNATIVES
The Council has the following alternatives to consider:
1. Receive the results of the 2023 Community Survey of Grover Beach residents on topics such as key community issues and importance and satisfaction of City services and provide input to staff; or
2. Provide alternative direction to staff
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.