THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601240165
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
If you get a call from a telemarketer early next month, you might want to take it.
The city is about to launch its sixth annual telephone survey of Chesapeake citizens. The survey queries residents about whether they're satisfied with the government services their tax dollars buy.
Citizens will be asked to rate everything from fire protection to the city's water system. They'll also be asked whether city officials keep the public well-informed, and whether Chesapeake is a good place in which to live and run a business.
Another key survey question is whether residents believe that the city's tremendous growth has been good or bad for the city.
``A company does market research to sell products,'' said Mark S. Cox, the city's director of public affairs. ``We're really doing it because we want to have two-way communication with our constituents or residents.
``We hear from some people at (City) Council meetings, but we often don't hear from the silent majority. This gives us a chance to do that.''
Continental Research Inc., a Norfolk-based consulting firm, will conduct the survey of 300 Chesapeake households.
That's a tiny percentage of the city's population, but survey participants will be randomly selected by a computer. So the results will be considered scientifically valid, Cox said.
``Everyone who lives in Chesapeake has an equal chance of being surveyed,'' he said.
Each survey will take 10-12 minutes, Cox said. Calls will be made at all times of the day, not just at the dinner hour, he said.
``We want to make sure we don't miss people who work at night,'' he said.
The results will be presented to City Council around mid-March, Cox said.
Generally, citizens have rated city services pretty high in past years, Cox said.
``The satisfaction in Chesapeake is higher than in other cities nationwide,'' he said.
``Unfortunately, the city's communication effort has not been rated very high, although it's been getting better each of the last five years,'' he said.
Council has tried to put more money into public relations, and officials are making better use of WCTV, channel 23, the city's cable channel, Cox said.
The survey results will help council make such future decisions.
``It's probably first and foremost a tool for the City Council and city manager, when they're looking at the budget and trying to have a better understanding of what the community's needs are,'' Cox said. by CNB