San Marcos City Residents Give City High Marks in Recent Satisfaction Survey
San Marcos residents are quite satisfied with the City’s efforts to provide municipal services and facilities, as well as the quality of life in the City, according to a recently released independently conducted survey.
The vast majority of respondents polled recently in a citizen satisfaction survey shared favorable opinions of the quality of life in San Marcos, with 37 percent reporting it is excellent and 57 stating it is good.
Approximately 89 percent of residents indicated they were very satisfied (49 percent) or somewhat satisfied (40 percent) with the City’s efforts to provide municipal services.
Other key conclusions, described in much greater detail in the full survey report, are that residents are quite satisfied with San Marcos and the City performance in terms of overall quality of life, overall performance in providing municipal services, communication and customer service provided by staff.
The study was designed to provide the City of San Marcos with a statistically reliable understanding of its residents’ satisfaction, priorities and needs as they relate to services and facilities provided by the City.
“Learning how our community feels helps the City Council and City staff make sound, strategic decisions in a variety of areas including service improvements and enhancements, measuring and tracking internal performance, budgeting and planning,” explained City Manager Jack Griffin.
The high level of satisfaction expressed with the City’s performance was echoed in residents’ assessments of the City’s performance in providing specific services. For 19 of the 21 service areas tested, the City is meeting or exceeding the needs and expectations of at least 80 percent of its residents — and for most service the City is meeting the needs of at least 90 percent of residents.
San Marcos falls in the top quartile in terms of service performance and overall quality of life when compared to 200 similar studies conducted for a variety of California municipalities.
Additionally, San Marcos residents were more positive than in 2009 when the City last conducted this type of survey, with almost a nine percent increase those who rated the quality of life in San Marcos as excellent.
“It’s important that we continue to improve our performance standards,” continued Griffin. “The results of this survey help us identify areas where we can improve. The fact that our residents’ views are more favorable now is a sign that the City managed to weather the recession well and that impactful service level reductions were avoided.
As the City continues to strive for improvement, the results of the study suggest opportunities to bolster resident satisfaction. The top candidates for the City’s attention are managing traffic congestion, providing and maintaining walking and bicycle paths, managing growth and development (including economic development), repairing and maintaining streets, and maintaining current levels of public safety services.
The survey was administered in February 2014 by True North Research and was designed to identify key issues of importance for residents as well as their perceptions of the quality of life in San Marcos. It was also meant to gather opinions on topics such as parks, recreation facilities, trails, communication and public safety as well as evaluate perceptions of local government and customer service.
For the purposes of the survey, the City was divided into four quadrants using Twin Oaks Valley Road and State Highway 78 as the dividing lines. The survey process began by sending letters to 3,000 randomly selected households inviting them to participate in the survey either online or by telephone. The consultant targeted completing a minimum of 400 surveys in order to have a maximum margin of error of +/- 4.9% and a 95% level of confidence.
For more information, please contact Communications Program Manager Jenny Windle at (760) 744-1050, ext. 3169.
