| | Published September 7th, 2016
| Moragans Want Safety, Open Space and Good Roads
| | | By Sophie Braccini |  | | Importance/Satisfaction Matrix Image provided |
It's always a good idea to ask your constituency how they perceive the quality of your service and what they value in what you offer. The Town of Moraga entrusted Godbe Research to do just that by polling a significant number of residents. The results say residents want to stay safe, to protect open space, and to repair storm drains and roads.
The results of the survey also give the idea that Moragans have a positive view of how the town is managed, that they are engaged, but want more efforts to attract businesses in Moraga.
Charles Hester, president of Godbe Research, says that Godbe polled 412 people, a representative sample of a population of 9,764 voters. He says that his company uses sampling and algorithms methods used by the best political pollsters and that the results obtained have only a 5 percent margin of error.
Using half phone interviews and half emails, the 412 respondents were asked to indicate what they thought are the most important public services, and how satisfied they were of the way the town handled them. Godbe created a diagram called the importance/satisfaction matrix (at right), synthesizing both criteria. The top left are those services that are important and well served, the top right are well served but not as important, the bottom left are neither important nor well served, the bottom right are important but need improvement. In that quadrant are services in which people would want to see more town involvement.
The winner, both in term of importance and excellence is fast response to 911 calls. The next priority for residents is the preservation of open space and ridgelines. Taking care of the drainage system is also a top priority - as one could have anticipated after the sinkhole near the itersectiom of Rheem and Moraga Roads.
Rather surprisingly, residents registered a significant level of dissatisfaction regarding the state of the roads, when public works just finished its four-year repair campaign using sales tax money that dramatically increased the pavement index for the town. This roads program does not include the arterials such as Moraga Way, Moraga Road or Rheem Boulevard, streets that are badly impacted at this time on different segments.
Attracting more interesting businesses in Moraga is the topic that registers the lowest satisfaction while being of importance to residents.
The survey also assessed residents' information level and participation at events. Newspapers are in the lead with 60 percent of residents indicating they get their information that way, and over 80 percent of residents feel that the information they get is accurate and impactful. The survey also shows a high level of involvement of residents in local events such as the Pear & Wine Festival (coming up on Saturday, Sept. 24).
The council members who listened to Hester's report on Aug. 24 were fast to ask him if residents who had indicated an issue was a high priority and needed improvement - such as the storm drain system or the development of a Long term vision for the town - would be ready to contribute financially to improvements.
Hester answered that this type of questioning was completely different than a satisfaction survey. Mayor Mike Metcalf added that the next steps would be to look into open space, storm drainage and other needs that are important to residents and get price tags on them. "And then see if people are ready to pay for it," he said.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA