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LTC 008-2007 Resident and Business Community Satisfaction Surveys lD MIAMI BEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER NO. LTC # 008-2007 LETTER TO COMMISSION DATE: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager~ ..--q-~ January 8, 2007 0 0 Resident and Business Community Satisfaction Surveys TO: FROM: SUBJECT: The purpose of this LTC is inform you that the Hay Group began administration of the Resident and Business Community Satisfaction Surveys today, January 8,2007. In case your offices receive inquiries regarding the surveys, a set of responses to Frequently Asked Questions prepared by the Hay Group is attached for your information and use. I should remind you that the intended purpose of both of these surveys is to gather general feedback and input from our residents and businesses on their level of satisfaction with the services we provide. This data will be used to continue to prioritize areas for improvement in the City of Miami Beach. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me. JMG\KGB\pc F:\obpi\$STRA T PLAN\2007 SURVEYS\Community Surveys\L TC - resident and business surveys.doc n r-.,) c::> ~ c::> -< -.J :::u c.... (J > m r :z: 0 fTl I :::0 co m :A - (/) -0 < 0 :x m ""Tl ca .." 0 n N rr1 \0 Answers to Common Questions Typical questions which may be asked by the community regarding the Resident and Business survey - and suggested answers - are: 1. Why is the City doing this survey? The City of Miami Beach is continually striving to ensure delivery of outstanding services to its residents, businesses and visitors. The community satisfaction survey lets the City know what is being done well (that is, where the City is meeting community needs) and where to develop recommendations for improving satisfaction and overall quality of life. 2. Is this survey being conducted due to a specific problem in the City? No. In fact, most government entities conduct satisfaction surveys across their communities on a regular basis. The survey is being incorporated into the City's strategic plan as an ongoing process to drive improvement and to assess performance on key initiatives. 3. Did the City conduct a survey like this before OR what happened with the results of the last survey? A community survey was conducted in 2005 across the City of Miami ,Beach. The survey provided insight into areas the City should focus on and improve further. The information was used to develop the City's strategic plan that sets measurable outcomes for the City to achieve over the next few years. Previous issues of MB Magazine have detailed progress on key survey issues. Visit the City's website at www.miamibeachfl.aov for more information. 4. Who is conducting this survey for the City OR who is the Hay Group? The Hay Group is an internationally recognized survey research firm that has conducted surveys for over 30 years. Hay Group specializes in community survey research for City government entities. For more on Hay Group, visit their website: havarouP.com 5. What types of questions does the survey ask? The survey includes questions regarding a number of different topic areas such as your satisfaction with overall quality of life in the City, the services provided (like sanitation), what it's like getting around the City, your feelings about safety, culture, entertainment and tourism, among other topics. The questionnaire has been designed to cover areas that are relevant to the City's strategic plan, for the purpose of identifying and taking action on issues important to the community. Most of the questions are multiple-choice and you also have the opportunity to provide free-form answers to a few questions. 6. When is the survey being conducted? The survey will be conducted for 3 weeks beginning January Sth and ending on January 26th. The survey is being conducted by phone and calling times are scheduled from 10am - Spm on weekdays (except for Friday when calls stop at 5pm); Saturdays 12pm - 6pm and Sundays 10am - 2pm. [NOTE TO KATHIE: I SUGGEST NOT MENTIONING CALLING TIMES UNLESS PUSHED BY THE CALLER, AS THESE MAY CHANGE, ESP THE WEEKEND TIMES, DEPENDING ON RESPONSE.] 7. I won't be around the time the survey is being conducted. Can I still participate? If you are contacted to complete the survey and will be available, then we strongly encourage you to participate. Otherwise, if you will not be available during the 3 weeks that the survey will be conducted, you may still contact the Answer Center at 305-604-CITY to express your views about what is going on in the City or visit the City's website at www.miamibeachfl.Qov. Keep in mind also that you may be selected for future surveys or to be part of follow-up focus groups that may occur later in the year. S. How is the survey being conducted OR how will the City gather community opinions? The survey is being conducted over the telephone to a sample of residents and businesses. Selected residents and businesses will be contacted directly to complete the survey. In addition, a small number of residents will receive a paper survey in the mail. These paper surveys are sent to residents who do not have a landline telephone. If contacted, we strongly encourage you to participate! 9. Why isn't the survey being done on the Internet/Web? For a survey of this type, the Internet/Web is not a good way to obtain a truly random sample of community opinions, which is critical to ensure the results obtained are statistically reliable and valid. 10. How long will it take to answer the survey? It will take about 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. We assure you that this is time well-spent to let City government know your opinion on how well they are doing. . 11 . What do I get for participating? In addition to the satisfaction you receive by knowing your input will be used to help City government understand the issues most important to the community, if contacted and you participate in the survey, you may also choose to be included in a drawing for free tickets to an upcoming event in the City of Miami Beach. This is our way of saying "thanks for participating"! 12. In what languages will the survey be conducted OR will the survey be conducted in language(s) other than English? The survey will be conducted in English and Spanish. Trained bi-lingual interviewers will be contacting a sample of residents and businesses by phone. Each interviewer speaks both English and Spanish, and has the ability to conduct the survey in either language. 13. Who is eligible to answer this survey? Any resident or business owner within the City of Miami Beach (that is, any resident who lives or any business located in the area of 33139, 33140 or 33141) is eligible to participate in the survey. However, only a sample of residents and businesses are selected to participate. '14. How do you determine who participates in the survey? Since we cannot interview everyone who lives or owns a business in the City, a sample of 1,000 residents and 500 businesses will be interviewed. This will provide a reliable and valid sample of City-wide opinions, as well as, opinions for the different areas in the City (North, Mid and South Beaches). These residents and businesses are randomly selected across the entire City, so if you are contacted, we strongly encourage you to participate! 15. I want to be part of this survey - can you call me to be interviewed? We cannot pre-select you (or anyone for that matter) to be contacted to complete the survey. In order to ensure a statistically reliable and valid sample, residents and businesses across the City must be contacted at random. This ensures that we receive a diverse representation across the community within our sample. If you are contacted, we strongly encourage you to participate! 16. I don't want to participate in this survey so can you make sure I don't get a call? We strongly encourage you to participate in the survey if contacted as this is an excellent opportunity to share your views about the City and it is important for the City to hear from a wide range of residents and businesses. Since the community is contacted at random to participate in this survey, the City does not have a list of the residents and businesses that will be contacted. However, should you wish not to be interviewed if contacted, simply tell the interviewer that you do not wish to participate. 17. Is this survey confidential/anonymous? Your answers to the survey questions are confidential. No one in the City will ever see or know your individual answers to the survey questions, or even that you completed a survey. So if you are contacted, please answer the questions as openly and honestly as possible. This is the only way to ensure that your answers to the survey represent your true opinion. 18. I'm new to the City (only lived here a few weeks or months / only been doing business here a few weeks or months) - should I answer the survey if I'm contacted? Even though you may not have lived I done business in the City for an extended period of time, your opinion is still important and we encourage you to participate. Simply answer the survey with the experiences you have had and do the best you can. If you cannot answer a question for whatever reason, tell the interviewer you don't know or cannot answer that question. 19. What happens if I cannot answer some of the questions? If you cannot or do not want to answer a question, tell the interviewer you don't know or cannot answer that questions. However, you should try to answer all questions; this is your chance to make your views about the City known. 20. If I am not contacted for this survey but wish to share my opinions with City government, what do I do? If you are not contacted to be interviewed for the survey, you may still contact the Answer Center at 305-604-CITY to express your views about what is going on in the City or visit the City's website at www.miamibeachfl.Qov. Keep in mind also that you may be selected for future surveys or to be part of follow-up focus groups that may occur later in the year. 21. How much did this survey cost? I don't know the answer to that question. More important than the cost, however, is the fact that this survey is an opportunity for the community to contribute their opinions in order to make the City a better place to live and do business. 22. Willi hear about the results of the survey? You can expect to hear about the survey findings later in 2007. Keep reading MB Magazine regularly for details. 23. Will the City take action on the survey findings? You can expect that some perceived opportunities for improvement will be agreed with and action will be taken on them. There may be agreement with other perceived opportunities for improvement, but action will be deferred because other issues take precedence, resources are inadequate or more exploratory work is required. There may also be disagreement with the perception of some problems. In any case, you can expect to see communications regarding actions taken (or not taken) in response to the survey results. 24. I completed the survey in 2005 and was just contacted to complete it this year - why is that? While this is a rare occurrence, since the Miami Beach community at large is contacted at random to participate in this survey, any resident or business in the City may be contacted to complete the survey, regardless of whether you have done so in the past. We strongly encourage you to participate in the survey as it will also help us understand whether perceptions have changed over time. 25. I just completed the survey and was asked a number of questions about who I am, for example, my gender, income, etc. Won't you be able to identify me and know my answers? No. The demographic questions are designed to allow us to make the data analysis more meaningful, not to identify any individual respondent. We guarantee that no data will be released which in any way will reveal the identity of the respondent. If the number of people from any grouping is too small to guarantee confidentiality, their responses will be combined with another similar group.