Cape Coral citizen survey available to residents who want to take part
The city of Cape Coral is asking for input from the people who live here.
For years, the city has conducted a citizen survey to solicit public opinion on a myriad of city issues and services. and now the city is again using the services of the National Research Center to conduct its biennial citizen survey.
About 1,500 residents were invited by mail earlier this year to participate in the National Citizen Survey. An online version of the survey is now available and all residents have the opportunity to participate.
“We’ve done this since 2005 to gather public opinion about community livability and other key areas that have been identified by the NRC,” said Maureen Buice, city spokesperson. “The survey measures quality of city provided services, community life and engagement.”
The NRC has conducted the past eight Cape Coral surveys, using a survey template that many municipalities use to solicit public opinion on a broad range of city services.
The survey, which takes around 10 minutes to complete, asks about local issues such as traffic, safety, government, recreation, and city services.
“The survey will help the city determine areas where we need to focus our energy to make sure the city is moving in the right direction,” Buice said.
The Center is associated with International City/County Management Association (ICMA), and staff members employ scientific methods in conducting the research for the city.
Once the survey is complete, the findings will be presented to City Council to compare results with established benchmarks in a final report from the NRC anticipated this summer.
The results will be split into two groups, Buice said: those who did the mail survey and those who did the survey online. The mailed surveys are considered statistically valid because they were randomly selected by the NRC, all of whom are verified residents.
Participation in the mail-in survey has dropped over time.
“The online component is another way of surveying residents. It doesn’t produce statistically valid result because we can’t verify the source,” Buice said. “There will be two reports.”
The survey can be accessed via http://bit.ly/capecoral2019.