As you may have seen, the results of the 2009 Citizen Satisfaction Survey have been posted to the city's website (www.sacomaine.org). I am pleased to report the survey responses indicate overall satisfaction with city services and on measures of quality of life in the city, as well as continuing trends upward in satisfaction levels.

This is the fourth annual survey (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009), so, as noted, we can see how or if attitudes have changed over time, especially important in the current economic climate, as we look at the results. Results do indicate growing satisfaction (on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 means very satisfied) with the city, including overall image of Saco, overall feelings of safety in the city, overall quality of life in Saco, and the city as a place in which to raise a family. For service delivery, the results also indicate growing satisfaction with almost all areas of the city, such as emergency response times, customer service from employees and ease of voting.

The purpose of the survey is to get feedback from residents on how satisfied they are with city services, and to understand how residents feel about key issues such as growth of the community. One important aspect of conducting such a survey is that we can get feedback from citizens who we might not otherwise hear from. The survey was conducted by an independent professional research team. Over 400 residents completed the 20 minute telephone interview!

Based on the city's population, having responses from 400 residents means the survey results are considered "statistically significant." That is, if the survey was done again now, we are confident that the results would be about the same. Therefore, we can use this information to cautiously generalize about how most people feel about the city's performance and services.

Results from the survey are used to guide city staff and the City Council as we set annual objectives, evaluate our service delivery performance, consider budget decisions and allocate resources. For instance, in 2004, the survey indicated residents were not particularly satisfied with certain aspects of the Parks & Recreation operations, such as program offerings, facilities and fees. This feedback led to increased allocation of resources by the City Council and city staff to this area. As you can see, citizen satisfaction has been trending upward every year since as those investments provide the services residents told us were desirable.

If you are interested in a complete summary of the results, please follow this link and proceed to the Executive Summary on page 3. For those of you who would like to see the entire survey, the table of contents lists information by service area and by issue for your consideration. The city conducts the citizen satisfaction survey because your opinions matter. Please let us know what you think! You can contact Kate in my office at 282 4191, or email the project manager Stephanie at sweaver@sacomaine.org, or send your comments to either by regular mail to 300 Main St, Saco, 04072.

Richard A Michaud