Let’s Talk, Santa Rosa
Survey Analysis & Strategic Insights
June 2nd, 2026
Misti D. Wood, CIRO Director
Luke Faser, Administrative Analyst for CMO
History
June 2, 2026
1 • In Fiscal Year 25/26, the City made significant cuts to address a $15.2 million structural deficit – including cutting 54 positions. • The City conducted a resident survey in January 2026 to initially understand resident service priorities.
• On March 24, 2026, CIRO initiated a robust, bilingual community engagement survey to hear from more community members.
• This feedback helps shape priorities as the City addresses a $17.5 million structural deficit in Fiscal Year 26/27.
June 2, 2026
2 January 2026 Resident Survey
Public Safety and Maintaining Streets &
Public Areas Were Top Priorities
June 2, 2026
3 June 2, 2026
4 Let's Talk, Santa Rosa Survey
Background & Outreach
June 2, 2026
5 A bilingual survey launched March 24th, 2026, designed to better understand community members’ service priorities as the City conducts budget planning.
Promotion: social media, e-newsletter, City Connections, website, events, City facilities, email, presentations, Plaza Mall posters, and City Council.
Direct mail to ~58,000 households with a tearoff survey to understand household priorities.
Broad and inclusive outreach that included direct email to ~275 people and follow-up with ~62 groups and individuals.
Received over 2,000 responses.
Respondent Demographics
June 2, 2026
6 69%
21%
7%
21%
20%
18%
16%
15%
7%
Ranking Results (Scale of 1 - 5)
June 2, 2026
7 Keeping public places,
including recreation centers,
and infrastructure such as
sidewalks, medians and
landscaping safe, and clean
Maintaining 911
emergency medical and
fire response services
Maintaining 911 police
response times/police
response to violent crimes
Maintaining fire
protection
services/wildfire
prevention and
preparedness programs
Preventing streets from
deteriorating – fixing streets
and repairing potholes
June 2, 2026
8 Overall Service Ranking
Maintaining core services is a top priority, with varied consensus. 40%
Respondents
ranked 911
emergency
medical/fire
as top
priority
1.5 Variance
score
indicating
consistent
priority
0.13 Kendall’s
coefficient of
concordance,
indicating
respondents tend
to agree on the top
choice, while
rankings #2 - #5 are
less consistent.
Analysis
9 Qualitative
Analysis
Framework
Category & Subcategory:
Identifying the public service topics
Experience Domain:
Where the issue is encountered
Sentiment:
Emotional tone of the comment
Stance:
Support or oppose the category
Actionability:
Ability to assign follow-up
June 2, 2026
Key Themes in Open-Ended Feedback
10 “Making the city nice and
inviting again would go a long
way in attracting tourism and
business.”
Public Safety & Transportation: 35% mentioned these, often citing traffic law concerns like speeding or pedestrian safety Homelessness & Affordability: 2nd most frequent
topic, indicating significant emotional and social weight Maintenance: 15% of comments, with 44% on street repair and 25% on parks/public spaces.
Bike Lanes and Multimodal Transportation: Highly
controversial, with 47% support and 40% oppose.
June 2, 2026
Community Voices
11 June 2, 2026
"Continue to support parks and park
programming, (it is) so important
for our youth, adults, and elders to
have safe access to outdoor spaces.
Continue to be good stewards of
taxpayer dollars."
"When you look good, you
feel good. And when you
feel good, you treat yourself
and your community
better."
"T o be honest, all
priorities we've been
asked to rank are 100%
#1 priorities."
"I am actually quite appalled at the
condition or our roads. But because
each type of emergency service is
numbered as a separate priority, this
survey forced me to list repairing and
repaving roads as my 4th priority and
cleanliness as my 5th."
"I live in Roseland. Families walk
their dogs and push strollers a lot
around here and it's dangerous
for people, because people drive
too fast. Please bring a lot more
sidewalks to Roseland."
Discrepancies & Perceived Gaps
12 Ranking alone does not capture the full importance residents place on certain services, as qualitative feedback reveals nuances.
Despite high ranking of 911 emergency services, suggestions for improvement often focused on road conditions, park
maintenance, and traffic safety.
Some residents question budget allocation, suggesting re- evaluation of public safety spending vs public works for improved efficiency.
June 2, 2026
June 2, 2026
13 Strong Public Safety Performance
While violent crime is on the rise, Santa Rosa Police and Fire Department 2024 Annual Reports show consistent improvement and adaptation. -80%
Decrease in
homicides
(Police Dept. 2024)
-27%
Decrease in
burglary
(Police Dept. 2024)
+10%
Increase in
emergency
medical calls,
effectively
managed
(Fire Dept. 2024)
1,700+
EMS/Fire
responses
diverted by
mental health
support team.
(Fire Dept. 2024)
Investments in Key Homelessness Programs
Show Positive Trends
14 June 2, 2026
County of Sonoma 2025 Point -
In-Time Count Results
June 2, 2026
15 Survey Limitations and
Acknowledgements
Detailed demographic data was intentionally omitted to increase participation. This omission risks disproportionately magnifying/suppressing certain viewpoints Paper survey confusion led to ~12% exclusion due to errors Anonymous dual-mode submission risked duplicate responses, potentially affecting results.
Strategic Implications 16
Maintain strong public safety performance to sustain
community confidence, as community members fear losing
these core services.
Avoid literal interpretation of survey rankings; balance with qualitative feedback and objective performance
data.
Prioritizing investments in infrastructure maintenance, housing stability, traffic engineering, and recreation may address daily, visible impacts on quality of life.
June 2, 2026
Conclusions 17
Lived experience shapes priorities
• Priorities are influenced by daily experience and perceived vulnerabilities, not solely on objective metrics. • Concerns like crime, pedestrian safety, and road quality consistently appear, even when performance data is strong.
Everyone wants to feel safe. Safety looks and feels different to each person.
Thoughts from the City Manager.
Recommendation
The Communications & Intergovernmental Relations Office recommends the City Council receive the Let's Talk, Santa Rosa report.
June 2, 2026
18 Questions?