NEWS RELEASE
April 20, 2001

BURBANK CITIZEN SURVEY SAYS

CITY SERVICES EARN HIGH MARKS

The City of Burbank has completed a citizen satisfaction survey of its residents. The Citizen Survey was completed at the direction of the City Council to provide an opportunity for residents to communicate their level of satisfaction with existing City services and to identify any areas of concern. In fact, conducting this survey was also ranked as one of the Top Ten goals of the Council for the year. The last comprehensive citizen survey was completed in fiscal year 1994-95. A report will be given at next Tuesday night’s Council meeting (April 24, 2001) to make all the results public.

Burbank residents, overall, appeared to be very satisfied with the City’s efforts to provide programs and services in every aspect that the survey covered. Concerning overall satisfaction with City services, 95% of Burbank residents reported they were either ‘very satisfied’ (68%) or ‘somewhat satisfied’ (27%). Of the 3% of respondents that indicated dissatisfaction with the City’s performance, 2% were ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ and only 1% reported they were ‘very dissatisfied’.

"In a time when so many people are frustrated with Government in general, it was particularly encouraging to see the very high levels of citizen satisfaction regarding Burbank City services," remarked Mayor Bill Wiggins who initiated both this survey and the last survey seven years ago.

As directed by the City Council, it was decided not to have any results released prior to the April 2001 election, so the timeline for the project was established to achieve that goal. Through a competitive request for proposal process, the City selected the professional firm of Godbe Research & Analysis (GRA) to assist with the completion of this project. Among its qualifications, GRA has conducted approximately forty (40) municipal service opinion research projects in the last three years alone.

A random digit dial (RDD) telephone sampling of 400 registered voter residents was conducted between March 23 and March 27, 2001. This sample size allowed for a margin of error between 2.93% and 4.89%. In order to get a detailed "picture" of residents’ opinions on the various issues and needs, the interviews took approximately 15 to 20 minutes to administer. The survey questionnaire largely included questions pertaining to safety services, community planning and development services, public works services, utility services, recreation services, and library services. Throughout the questionnaire, questions dealt with the importance of a particular service as well as the satisfaction with the City efforts to provide that service. This was done specifically to allow for the City to determine the areas where the City has the greatest opportunity as well as the greatest need to improve its services. In this sense, the citizen survey serves as a consumer scorecard for the residents of Burbank.

Mayor Wiggins, who participated on the survey sub-committee, remarked, "Conducting this type of citizen satisfaction survey is a great opportunity to better communication and understanding between the City and its residents."

Two open-ended questions were asked. In the question, "what do you like most about the City of Burbank," City Services ranked the highest at 17% followed closely behind Safety/Low Crime (15%), Small town feel (12%), and Nice people (11%). In the other open-ended question, "what would you say is the most important issue facing the City of Burbank," the Airport received the most responses at 34% followed by Utilities (14%) and School Quality (11%). City services received extremely impressive marks throughout the rest of the survey.

A question-by-question summary of the data/results and a complete set of detailed cross-tabulations including age, gender, income group, home ownership, number of children, geographic breakdowns (zip code and general geographic regions), commuting information, and party affiliation will be prepared by GRA subsequent to the April 24, 2001 Council presentation. Only the executive summary will be available for the Council meeting; however, delivery of the final report is scheduled for May 7, 2001 and will be made available for public review.

All of the survey results will allow for an assessment and refinement of previously established goals as the City completes its new Ten (10) year Strategic Plan. As well, the data established will serve as benchmarks of performance to be maintained or exceeded in the future.

"These results are extremely impressive. I believe it is always important to get input like this and look at any potential areas in which we can do better. This survey will no doubt serve as a valuable tool in assessing any weaknesses and improving upon them," according to Mayor Wiggins.

If you have any questions on this matter, please call the project manager, Justin Hess, in the City Manager’s office at (818) 238-5820.

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