Phase two of the 2012 Yakima Citizen Survey, which provides everyone in the community the opportunity to fill out an online version of the questionnaire, is underway.  The survey is designed to gauge public opinion about City services and priorities as well as quality of life issues in Yakima.  The survey is available on line in both English and Spanish.  The Spanish version link is http://www.n-rc.com/survey/yakimaencuesta2012.htm.  The link to the English version of the survey is http://www.n-rc.com/survey/yakima2012survey.htm.

Links to both the English and Spanish versions of the survey are also available in the Notable section of the City website front page.

Community members have until Friday, August 31st to fill out the online survey, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

Phase one of the 2012 Yakima Citizen Survey, which involved mailing the questionnaire to 3000 randomly-selected Yakima households, was completed July 27th.  Results from that phase of the survey will be presented to the City Council later this month.

“It’s important that as many people as possible get the chance to be part of the survey process,” said City Manager Tony O’Rourke.  “That’s exactly what the online survey offers – the opportunity for many voices to be heard.”

O’Rourke first suggested the City conduct a citizen survey when he was interviewed for the city manager job in April.  After being chosen by the City Council for the position, O’Rourke included completing a citizen survey as a key element in meeting the needs and expectations of the City’s residential and business customers.  O’Rourke plans on the City conducting surveys on an annual basis.

“What we learn from the community through this first survey will give us a benchmark to measure improvements that are made to align our services with the expectations and priorities of our customers,” said O’Rourke.  “Regular surveying will be extremely helpful because we’ll able to track our progress as the City continues to refine its operations to best meet the needs of the community.”

The 2012 Yakima Citizen Survey is being conducted by National Research Center, Inc. (“NRC”), a research firm specializing in performance measurement and evaluations.  NRC partnered with the International City/County Management Association (“ICMA”) about ten years ago to create a uniform survey tool called the National Citizen Survey, which the 2012 Yakima survey was developed from.  NRC has administered surveys like the 2012 Yakima Citizen Survey more than 500 times in nearly every state in the country.

Results from Phase two of the 2012 Yakima survey are expected to be compiled by late September.

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