CITIZEN SURVEY TO BEGIN

Sarasota, FL: Randomly selected households within the City of Sarasota will be notified soon they have been selected to participate in a citizen survey. The survey will gather residents’ opinions on a variety of issues within the City of Sarasota, from public safety and public trust to community inclusiveness and civic engagement.

In early August, 3,000 randomly selected households will be notified via postcard they have been selected for the survey. Over the next several weeks, those households will receive the survey. Residents are asked to complete and return it to the National Research Center, which is conducting the survey on behalf of the City of Sarasota.

The survey consists of dozens of questions, many of which ask residents to rate their experience with City services, such as police, garbage collection and drinking water. Most questions ask the respondent to select an answer from a scale sliding from “excellent” to “don’t know”. All responses are anonymous.

The final survey results are expected in October and will be posted on the City’s website: www.sarasotagov.comwww.sarasotagov.com.

The National Research Center, based in Boulder, Colorado, specializes in performance measurement and evaluation. NRC is used by local governments throughout the country to produce a statistically valid survey of residents’ opinions. NRC conducted Sarasota’s last two citizen surveys in 2005 and 2006.

For more information, please contact:
Jan Thornburg, Public Information Officer (941) 954-2613
jan.thornburg@sarasotagov.com