Commission reviews community survey draft

By Grace Lovins

The city of Birmingham is preparing to launch a comprehensive community survey aimed at gathering residents’ input on city services, infrastructure and further priorities to help shape policy and budget decisions in the coming years.

City commissioners reviewed the draft of the “Birmingham Engagement and Priority Assessment” survey during the Monday, January 26, meeting, following months of brainstorming and reviewing with city staff and community members. Assistant city manager Melissa Fairbairn said the work group was composed of two residents, two city commissioners and six city staff members, along with the firm Cobalt Community Research.

Fairbairn explained in the agenda packet memorandum that the survey questions are designed to measure residents’ satisfaction with city services, amenities and infrastructure, as well as learn more about their views on potential future projects and investments the commission might consider.

Topics covered in the survey include police and fire services, transportation and parking, utilities, parks and recreation, sustainability initiatives, city leadership and overall satisfaction with municipal operations, Fairbairn wrote.

Once the survey questions have been approved, Fairbairn said that Cobalt Community Research can produce the printed survey in about two weeks and mail them out to a sample size of 2,000 residents. She said they would also have the survey posted online for all residents that want to participate.

During commission discussion, several commissioners praised the work that went into the draft, but they raised concerns about the length of the survey and whether some of the questions would provide data the commission could act on. Some offered suggestions to refine the wording of certain questions, reduce the length of the survey and provide additional context for some of the more complex policy issues to ensure residents fully understand what they are being asked.

No formal action was taken during the meeting to approve the survey draft, but the commission provided feedback for Cobalt and the survey work group to fine tune the survey, which is expected to be conducted in coming months