DATE: April 22, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council receives a presentation and provides comments on results of the 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey conducted March 24, 2025, to April 9, 2025.
SUMMARY
The Resident Satisfaction Survey is a scientific public opinion poll scheduled to be carried out roughly every other year. It provides a point-in-time gauge of community views and attitudes about quality of life in Hayward, satisfaction with City services and service priorities.
Resident Satisfaction Survey results are intended to provide reliable data that can be drawn upon for priority setting and to understand trends in public opinion about life in Hayward and the performance of City government in meeting the needs and expectations of community members.
BACKGROUND
The Resident Satisfaction Survey is a research project with the objective of providing an accurate and unbiased snapshot of community attitudes. This is accomplished by compiling a random sample of residents that is both reflective of the overall adult population of Hayward and large enough so that statistically reliable inferences can be drawn from the survey responses of sample members.
The project is carried out for the City of Hayward by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), a leading San Francisco Bay Area public opinion research firm that was formed in 1981, was chosen through a competitive selection process and works at the direction of the Community and Media Relations Division of the Office of the City Manager.
DISCUSSION
At this work session, staff are seeking the City Council feedback and questions on the survey results. Attachment II is the Survey Results Toplines Report.
The 2025 edition of the Hayward Resident Satisfaction Survey is noteworthy because it is the first time the City will have conducted this research after adoption of district-based elections. In recognition of this milestone, staff directed FM3 to increase the overall number of residents to be surveyed to a total of 1200 with 200 to come from each of the six new Council districts.
In addition to expanding the sample size with direction to draw an equivalent number of responses by district, staff also worked with FM3 to update the survey itself to reflect current concerns and better understand attitudes about persistent issues while maintaining the ability to plot trends on certain questions over time.
The updating was warranted because the survey was last conducted in 2021, after taking a hiatus in 2023. Moreover, the 2025 edition of the Resident Satisfaction Survey would be the first since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and state of emergency.
To begin, FM3 compiled a random sample of residents using a list of residential address across the City of Hayward. The pollsters contacted respondents by telephone call, email invitations, text messages and postcards. To ensure those surveyed are a representative sample, the demographic and geographic characteristics of survey respondents were carefully monitored during the data collection phases of the project. In the initial phase of data collection, randomly selected subsets of the sample were sent email, text and postcard invitations and asked to take the survey online. In the second phase, randomly selected residents in the sample were contacted via telephone (landlines and cell phones) and asked to take the survey with a live interviewer. The telephone and online surveys were conducted in English and Spanish.
The survey was designed for the average person to complete in approximately 17 minutes by phone. The wording and structure were designed to generate statistically reliable results
about opinions and attitudes citywide and allow for comparisons by demographic group and by Council district.
Moreover, the wording, structure and methodology allow for comparisons of results across questions to understand issues about which residents feel strongly and satisfaction levels with a corresponding municipal service. The resulting analysis can pinpoint opportunities to improve community satisfaction on issues of greatest concern.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total cost of the 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey was $82,500. Funding for the project was included in the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Capital Improvement Budget and was augmented by the General Fund to allow for the increased sample size.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
Information and data collected in the biennial Resident Satisfaction Survey bears directly on the City’s understanding of resident views of quality of life in Hayward and supports prioritization of services and initiatives.
NEXT STEPS
After obtaining Council feedback, the results of the 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey will be shared with the City organization and will be drawn upon in future strategic planning and budgeting work sessions.
Prepared and recommended by: Chuck Finnie, Communications and Marketing Officer Recommended by: Assistant City Manager Regina Youngblood
Approved by:
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Dr . Ana M. Alvarez, City Manager