December 20, 2022
Library and Community Services
DATE: December 20, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
LaShonda White, Interim Director of Community Services
Patrick Seals, Senior Management Analyst
Subject:
2023 and 2025 Richmond Community Surveys
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The total cost to enter into a 36-month agreement for the survey will not exceed $78,000.
$31,525 – 2023 Community Survey
$7,500 – Ongoing access to Richmond’s profile on
Polco in 2024
$32,500 – 2025 Community Survey
$6,475 – Contingency for additional survey
services (2023-2025)
The funds to cover the cost of the 2023 will be allocated from the Internal Services and City Manager’s Office
budgets (01371118-400201 and 01131013-400201,
respectively). Costs for future services will be budgeted appropriately in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 and FY
2024-2025.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
March 2, 2021
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Every two (2) years since 2007, the City of Richmond has enrolled in the National Research Center’s National
Citizen Survey Program to conduct a community survey
to help the City Council set spending priorities and for city service delivery improvement. City Council decided that the survey should be conducted biennially; therefore, the City Manager’s Office would like to enroll in the survey program for 2023 and 2025, and ongoing profile and
subscriber access during the 2024.
AGENDA
REPORT
December 20, 2022
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
AUTHORIZE the city manager or their designee to enter
into a 36-month agreement with Polco/National Research
Center’s National Citizen Survey Program to facilitate
and conduct the 2023 ($31,525) and 2025 ($32,500)
Richmond Community Surveys, and provide ongoing
subscriber outreach and profile management in 2024
($7,500), for a total contract payment limit of $78,000, including a $6,475 contingency to support additional
survey-related services – Library and Community
Services (LaShonda White/Patrick Seals 510-620-6512).
DISCUSSION:
The City of Richmond has enrolled in the National Research Center’s (NRC) National Citizen Survey (NCS) biennially since 2007. The NCS is a collaborative effort between the NRC, a public research firm focused on public sector information needs, and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). NRC has a benchmark database that holds hundreds of thousands of resident opinions – making it the largest of its kind in the United States. A few years ago, NRC merged with Polco, an online community engagement polling platform, to give public sector organizations the data they need to make more informed decisions. To allow for continuity and comparison of results, City staff recommends allowing NRC/Polco to conduct Richmond’s 2023 and 2025 Community Survey (Attachment 1). Additional information regarding Polco/NRC can be found at https://info.polco.us/about-nrc
The City Manager’s Office would like to enter into an agreement (Attachment 2) and enroll in the program for 2023 in order to:
Assess the quality of community life and services provided to residents; Track residents’ perceptions of service quality, community amenities, and public safety over time;
Help make informed decisions about how to allocate resources; Assess support for local policies;
Gather information on residents’ use of services; and Compare results from previous years to measure changes over time
The results from surveys conducted between 2007 and 2021 can be found on the City’s website at http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1871. Survey results are utilized in various documents and city reports such as the Department of Children and Youth Community Needs Assessment, Health in All Policies report, and grant applications.
2023 Survey
The quote for Richmond’s 2023 iteration of The NCS totals $31,525 (Attachment 3). The City Council needs to approve enrollment in the program in order to officially signup to
December 20, 2022
conduct the 2023 and 2025 survey. No other documents or forms are needed. The 2023 and 2025 survey instruments will closely resemble the past surveys in format and content which will enable Polco/NRC to compare survey results from multiple years (Attachment 4). In 2020, Polco/NRC refreshed the NCS survey template; however, overall, most of Richmond’s trends will be preserved as the vast majority of survey questions have remained.
The Polco/NRC will mail out surveys to randomly selected and geographically dispersed Richmond households. The selected households will initially receive a postcard informing them that they have been selected to participate in the survey and that the survey is also available online and in Spanish. The households will then receive the survey in the mail and reminders within a two- or three-week period. In an effort to receive the maximum amount of participation from those selected to complete the survey, City staff will publicize the survey via social media, connections with community- based organizations, the City’s internet site, KCRT, and other venues. Polco/NRC will process the surveys, perform the data analysis, and produce and draft a report for the City’s review. The main report will contain graphs and tables of the results, a description of the methodology, information on understanding the results, and comparisons of the results to other jurisdictions that completed the Polco/NRC’s survey.
Next Steps
If City Council approves the agreement and enrollment in the NCS program, it is anticipated that the survey will be released in late January 2023 and a presentation on the survey findings will be presented to City Council in April or May 2023 (Attachment 5). Based on the NRC’s relationship with Polco, the City has unlimited access to posting questions on the Polco platform, as part of the new pricing structure, so staff will also be able to provide survey results on specific and relevant questions to Council and the community.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Sole Source
Attachment 2 – Draft Polco Services Agreement
Attachment 3 – Polco NRC Quote
Attachment 4 – Sample 2023 Survey Instrument
Attachment 5 – Proposed Timeline