What do you think of the city of Davenport? The city recently found out the answer through a community survey, but not a lot of you responded. The survey was mailed out to 1200 Davenport households. The survey was 7 pages long and took about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. However, only 411 residents completed the survey.
"Is there anything we can do to get more respondents? 411 out of the 1200 is less than half of the respondents," says Davenport Alderman Mike Matson.
The 3rd party company, ETC Institute, hired to conduct the survey says 411 is an average response and is enough to make a thorough assessment.
"Many budgeting issues come into play when you set your budgeting priorities, but this will give you your resident's perspective on those issues," says ETC Institute Vice President Karen Falk.
Overall, the city received a good report. Since the last survey in 2010 there were increases in 75 of the 101 items rated.
"You were affected by the economy just like the rest of the county," adds Falk, "Your responses are very positive based on where most communities are standing right now."
The highest ratings were given for fire and paramedic services, libraries, garbage and recycling, and parks and recreation.
"The responses happened with decreasing department budgets and with decreasing numbers of employees on staff," says Alderman Jason Gordon, "We've unfortunately let employees go through retirement or elimination of positions."
According to the survey, Davenport citizens would like the city to work on streets and infrastructure, attracting and retaining business, public involvement in decision making, and the city's effort to prevent crime.
"We're fighting the trends, but now the customers are expecting more and that's good," says Alderman Bill Boom.
The survey also includes a tracking system, so the city can figure out why people might have differing opinions.
"What it does is it allows us to identify areas of Davenport where there are differences of opinion on the services provided," says Interim Finance Director Brandon Wright.
All of the results will be taken into account when city leaders start working on the budget.
