Survey says

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

Results from a Léger Marketing poll commissioned by the City of Beaconsfield recently showed that, although citizens are generally satisfied with municipal services, decisions made by council are not as popular.

Léger Marketing agents phoned 1,002 Beaconsfield residents between Nov. 13 and 28, 2007 and asked them questions about how satisfied they were with such services as public safety, leisure and culture, and public works.

“They are totally open-ended questions. We don’t suggest any answers,” said Christian Bourque of Léger Marketing during a news conference last Thursday.

The city signed up for the $15,000 service last October to find out how the current administration fared with Beaconsfielders.

“It’s a whole new animal, a whole new environment we live in,” said Mayor Bob Benedetti, adding he and council are half-way through their mandate. “We thought it would be a good point in our mandate to say, hey, how are we doing.”

Results were graded on a scale of one to 10 and compared to the Léger Marketing norm, a number determined by 300 similar surveys done in 200 Quebec municipalities in the past 11 years. According to Bourque, results below seven indicate something needs to be looked at or worked on.

Beaconsfielders rated the overall quality of municipal services at 7.1, just slightly over Léger’s seven-point norm. Leisure and culture had an ‘excellent’ rating at 7.5, while public works was rated at 7.3. At six points, snow removal scored the lowest of the public works indicators. However, Bourque said a major snowstorm during the survey period may have affected this reading.

“Satisfaction levels were at 6.6 before the storm (on Nov. 22). They were at 5.8 after the storm,” he said.

While firefighting services scored high at 8.4, and police services came in at 7.1, overall public safety scored slightly under Léger’s 7.7 norm, at 7.5.

“I think what people are telling us is that they’re happy with the traditional public security – police and fire – but they want to feel secure where they live,” Benedetti said, adding that in the 2008 budget, council approved extending the municipal patrol service to 24 hours a day. This decision was made prior to the survey results, he clarified. “I think this will help improve security in the municipality. They feel better if there’s someone keeping an eye out.”

Of the 1,002 residents polled, 64 per cent were in support of building a new soccerplex on municipal property on City Lane. About 26 per cent were against the idea, while the remaining 10 per cent did not have an opinion or declined to answer the question. Residents in District 2 – where the proposed soccerplex would be located – were least in-favour of the project, with 50 per cent of residents there supporting the plan and 39 per cent opposed to it. As for an estimated start-date for the project, Benedetti said, because it will be largely funded by the Lakeshore Soccer Club, construction details are basically out of council’s hands.

“We’re a relatively small player,” Benedetti said, adding the city is just providing the land for the project.

Satisfaction levels concerning the current administration, however, scored at and below average: Beaconsfielders rated the current administration at 6.5, the Léger Marketing norm, and the quality of decisions made by council was rated at 6.3, which is under the 6.5 norm. Residents in District 6 gave the council the lowest marks overall. Benedetti said this may be because the northwest area is both the newest part of Beaconsfield and the furthest away from services.

“I looked at that and said, gee, overall the result is positive. So why is the council decision number low?” Benedetti questioned, adding those who graded the council poorly gave really low marks. “We have to find out why they’re so dissatisfied and try to improve their satisfaction levels.”

As for future priorities, survey participants rated public works, environmental protection, and the development of Angell Woods as the three highest.

The complete results of the Léger Marketing survey are available on Beaconsfield’s website at www.beaconsfield.ca. The results will also be presented during the next council meeting on Monday.



(note: Photo for page 4)

Chronicle, Elyse Amend

Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti (left) released results of a public poll on municipal services last Thursday.