San Rafael, CA – Marin County residents have until January 31 to participate in an online resident survey that will inform the County of Marin government about the services that neighbors want and need. The opt-in anonymous survey is available at www.bit.ly/countyofmarin.
The resident survey is a report card on customer service provided by the County of Marin.The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete and includes questions about general quality of life, local policies, demographics, a rating of local government services, and if the resident’s needs are being met. In addition, residents can provide perspectives about the Board of Supervisors’ current areas of focus. At the end, there is an open-ended question asking residents to share the top issue they believe the County should focus on over the next two years.
“The Board of Supervisors is eager to receive a report card from the community as a measure of customer service and to compare results to those from counties nationwide,” said Dan Eilerman, Assistant County Administrator.
Survey results will be available this spring via the County’s website and will be discussed during a public workshop with the Board of Supervisors. The results will provide data with which the County can dive deeper into some areas using other tools such as focus groups or listening sessions.
The online survey was launched in mid-December, about a month after the County mailed 3,200 printed surveys to randomly selected households. The surveys mailed in November were the scientific portion of the process so the County can ensure that it reaches a variety of residents and gather viewpoints from people from different locations, age groups, racial and socio-economic backgrounds. The online survey was added because it’s deemed critical to offer participation to residents who were not randomly selected to participate in the mailed survey.
The County formed a working group including participants from nonprofit community partner agencies to reach out to the community and confirm that every voice has an opportunity to be heard.
“We anticipated that some residents may have reluctance or even fear in providing their opinion, or have concerns about online access,” Eilerman said in December. “To safeguard against that, we are emphasizing that the survey is completely anonymous and that it’s available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.”
The County contracted with the National Research Center to conduct the comprehensive, scientific survey. It is expected to have less than a 5 percent margin of error.