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2022/10/06 - Walter's Blog: Citizen Survey

Democracy on the Front Lines 
City Administrator’s Blog 
Walter Denton 
 

What do you think about the City of O'Fallon? Do you think we are doing a good job? Do you feel safe in O’Fallon? Are you satisfied with the quality of life in O’Fallon? These are the kinds of questions we asked in our recent Citizen Survey. Every two years, we conduct a Citizen Survey to learn resident opinions about City services and to find out how we are doing. 

The results of the 2022 National Citizen Survey are posted on our website. Drawing on the results of the survey, I am pleased to report the following conclusions: 

  • O’Fallon residents enjoy a high quality of life. 
  • O’Fallon is a good place to live and raise a family. 
  • O’Fallon residents value and appreciate a high level of safety. 
  • Most City services were rated higher than in previous years and were either similar to or higher than benchmarks compared to other cities. 
  • O’Fallon residents support the overall direction of O’Fallon. 

The results are very similar to our previous surveys and indicate that citizens rate City services the same or higher than most other cities that have taken the survey. I believe this is the result of strong leadership by Mayor Roach and the City Council, and hard work by City employees to provide quality services to our residents. 

Here are some highlights for City services and customer service: 

  • Overall customer service by City employees: 90% (excellent or good) 
  • Overall image or reputation of O’Fallon: 86% 
  • Quality of City services: 82% 
  • Overall direction of the City: 71% 

These are very good ratings, and I am pleased that residents have such a high opinion of O’Fallon and city government. Ratings also were high in specific service areas: 

  • 89% are pleased with the Police Department. 
  • 91% are pleased with EMS. 
  • 92% are pleased with the Fire Department. 
  • 91% are pleased with the Parks and Recreation Department. 
  • 94% are pleased with the O’Fallon Public Library. 

Why do a survey in the first place? For one thing, it is difficult to know how citizens feel about City services. A small number of citizens attend public meetings, but they are normally issue-specific. We receive emails and phone calls from residents, but they are usually to ask questions or complain about a service. We rarely hear from people who are satisfied with City services. Good reasons to survey include: to measure service performance, to assess community needs, and to evaluate potential policies or community characteristics. 

This was our eighth survey since 2005. The National Research Center compares our survey results with the responses from more than 500 other cities that used the same survey. The advantage of using a national survey is we now have trend data comparing responses over time with other communities throughout the country. We also can compare responses internally through demographics and geographic location of the respondents. We feel it is critical to know resident opinions of City services and what their priorities are. 

So what do we do with this information? First of all, it is helpful to know that O’Fallon residents are pleased with City services and enjoy living here. The survey results indicate we are doing something right and we need to continue to provide excellent services to our citizens. It also is helpful to know why people live in O’Fallon and we need to keep those things in mind when we are making decisions for O’Fallon’s future. We will continue to work to provide outstanding services to our residents.