Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
June 30, 2017 1:00 a.m.

A frequent lament of residents in many communities is that their local elected leaders are not listening to or representing the will of the people. The challenge for those leaders, however, is how to determine who speaks for the community.

Are community attitudes fully reflected by those who speak to the City Commission as part of the regular City Commission meetings? With the pervasiveness and ease of social media sites, which such sites, if any, appropriately convey the attitudes of city residents? At which event, shop, or restaurant could a City Commissioner discover the most representative cross-section of residents? Which media source can claim to be the voice of the people?

It is simply not possible to have a single source reflect community sentiments. It is the diverse and valued perspective of many sources that factor into the leadership provided by the City Commission. I expect that each City Commission has her or his own network of sources from which to solicit comments regarding issues confronting the City. Despite those well-intended efforts, though, how can the City Commissioners be enlightened as to what is the will of the community.

We are about to find out.

Over the course of the next few weeks, 1500 randomly selected residents will receive a copy of the National Citizen Survey (NCS). The survey has been developed by the National Research Center and has been completed in communities throughout the country. According to the NCS web site, “The NCS gathers resident opinion across a range of community issues. Communities using The NCS have reported that the tool improved service delivery, strengthened communications with community stakeholders and helped leaders identify clear priorities for use in strategic planning and budget setting. The NCS is the only citizen survey endorsed by the International City/County Management Association and the National League of Cities.”

The intent of the survey is to solicit statistically reliable information regarding City services, projects, and issues. The National Research Center offers four other reasons to conduct the survey: monitor trends when subsequent surveys are conducted, reveal areas of success and needs for improvement, support strategic planning and goal setting, and provide credible independent data.

The survey includes approximately twenty questions related to the City, encompassing such topics as community activities, local government participation, and City services. In addition to the standard questions (which will enable the City to explore some benchmarking measures in relation to other communities), the City had the opportunity to develop custom questions to receive feedback on issues of local interest. The Fernandina Beach specific questions ask about strategic planning, quality of life, dedicated funding, sources of local government information, and the Amelia River waterfront.

According to the tentative timeline provided by National Research Center staff, pre-notification announcements will be mailed to the randomly selected residents about one week after the Fourth of July holiday. The first wave of actual surveys will likely be mailed by the middle of the month, followed by a second wave of surveys near the end of the month.

As surveys are completed and returned, National Research Center staff will process the surveys, perform the data analysis, and produce a draft report. The draft report is expected to be provided to the City near the end of September, and a final report, including data files, provided in early October. We will then have a better understanding of community perspective.

The City Commission and City staff will be able to use the information gleaned from the survey for longer term planning. The survey will provide direction as to what new services or projects are of interest to residents, enabling the City to prepare and meet those demands. We should learn how residents perceive several city services: what are we doing well and where can we improve. Instead of simply reacting, we will, for perhaps the first time, have data upon which decisions can be more reliable based.

I hope that if you are one of the randomly selected recipients of the survey that you take the time to thoughtfully complete the survey. The information gathered will directly impact future decisions of the City Commission and direction to City staff. Thank you in advance for your participation.