TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey

Transcription

1 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the MPA Program Requirements of Clark University by: Juan A. Gomez Suze Jean-Charles Qi Zhao Wenchao Zhao Ruoyang Zou Clark University December 06, 2012

2 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 2 II. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the Government Efficiency Committee of the Town of Wrentham for placing their trust on our group to design and evaluate the results of a survey to measure the quality of life, and level of satisfaction of the residents of their town with their form of government, and the services they receive from the town. We also wish to thank Clark Professor and MPA Program Coordinator Dr. Susan Yi-Millette for her guidance and mentorship. Further, we wish to thank Clark University for affording us a tremendous education and our families for their sacrifice, support and encouragement.

3 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Title Page...1 II. Acknowledgement...2 III. Table of Content...3 IV. Introduction V. Literature Review...6, 7 VI. Methodology Sampling...7 Ensuring Anonymity...8 Survey Instrument... 8, 9 VII. Results & Discussion A. Response Rate and No Response B. Margin of Error C. Data Analysis Demographic Questions General Questions Town Services Questions Communication Questions & Form of Government Questions VIII. Discussion...40, 42 IX. References...43 X. Appendices Appendix A: Committee Charge Appendix B: Survey Instrument Appendix C: Survey Responses Appendix D: Index of Figures... 65, 66 Appendix E: Comments by Respondents... 67, 70

4 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 4 IV. INTRODUCTION A significant consequence has risen as a result of the current economic climate. Across the country and among the international community, two key questions are being posed and vigorously debated: (a) what is the role of government? (b) which services are indispensible for government to provide to its citizens? Government bureaucracies, and in particular municipalities are grappling with the reality that they must do more with less. In short, they must eliminate waste, inefficiencies and duplication, and focus on those absolutely necessary services that they can do best. This does not come naturally to municipalities or government entities in general. In fact, the field of Public Administration, which focuses on the mechanics of managing government entities and bureaucracies, by instituting laws and codifying regulations, in itself explores and tries to navigate or reconcile political values (the reality that government is a creature of political necessity) versus administrative values (Yates, 1982). As such, government is constantly navigating or negotiating between two extremes; the values the professionals bring to the job, vs. the role of elected officials. The most successful administrators of municipalities across the country have brokered compromises with elected officials which have allowed them to strive for efficiencies and effective strategies that have resulted in economies of scale and better services. These municipalities have collectively seen the wisdom of engaging their constituents in a dialogue to help officials measure the constituency s level of satisfaction with the quality of the services provided, the level of such services and the diversity of those. Through this process, constituents

5 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 5 are able to express which services they are satisfied with, how they wish to pay for them, as well as how these services could be more conveniently delivered. As reported in the Town of Southborough, Massachusetts Resident Survey 2011, in Massachusetts alone a growing number of municipalities have conducted at-least one resident survey in recent years (Clark University, 2011). Among the municipalities they site, the town of Shrewsbury conducted such a survey in 2005, and again in The city of Worcester, in partnership with the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and Clark University conducts a resident satisfaction survey every year. The town of Wrentham MA, established in 1673 and with a total population of approximately 10,995 residents according to the 2010 US Census report, engaged a group of graduate students from Clark University s MPA program whose Capstone project centered on those very issues; How do residents of Wrentham feel about the quality of services the town provides? How satisfied are town residents with their town s form of government? This team of five students helped develop a comprehensive survey to evaluate quantitative measures of the residents satisfaction, as well as provided analysis and findings based on their responses, for town officials to consider. The project was undertaken between the first week of September and the first week of December Of the 4,503 households that received the survey, a total of 414 responses were collected, a 9.19% response rate. The survey had a margin of error of 4.59%.

6 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 6 Among the most significant findings the survey produced the following: A significant percentage of respondents are very satisfied with the quality of services being provided by the town. A large number of the respondents appeared satisfied with their town meeting form of government. Specifically addressing the issues dealing with the town s refuse and recycling initiative also resulted in similar levels of satisfaction. Consequently, we commend the town of Wrentham for their good work and for their willingness to elicit input from its constituents to further improve services. In this report, we will carefully detail the answers offered by respondents to the survey. V. LITERATURE REVIEW In reviewing literature on citizen survey and government performance, the team came to have a better understanding of the methodology of citizen surveys. According to the National Performance Review, the quality of the outputs and outcomes of the government is one of the most important parts of performance measurement (Berman, 2008); thus, government bureaucracies should use citizen survey as a tool to identify where improvement is needed in the delivery of public services. A citizen satisfaction survey can be used to elicit valuable information, whether on broad topics such as quality of life, or on particular services such as police and fire, street repair, storm drainage, and parks (Kelton, 2006). In addition, a citizen survey establishes a symbiotic relationship between government and participants of the survey: not only does it help government in improving public services, but it is also meaningful to the citizens to fulfill their rights to engage in civic activities. People do care about their local

7 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 7 government s work, they want and need information about what their government is doing, and they understand that much of what local government must do is difficult and complex. (Berman, 2008) The team also reviewed several previous citizen surveys that were carried out by local governments similar to the Town of Wrentham s. These surveys include Citizen Survey of Town of Needham (ICMA, 2010), Resident Survey of Town of Southborough (Clark University, 2011), and the Citizen Survey of Town of Shrewsbury (Clark University, 2007). The Needham survey questionnaire by ICMA, for example, is rather comprehensive; it is divided into nine sets of questions. The Southborough and Shrewsbury surveys are not as comprehensive; however, they had both been tailored according to the needs of those two municipalities; the resources available to the teams, and the fields of study of the researchers. These surveys all provided the team with insight into how to structure surveys on citizen satisfaction, and how to analyze the data collected. VI. METHODOLOGY Sampling In conjunction with the Ad-hoc Town Government Study Committee, our team decided to survey the total number of households instead of study a number of selected sample. There was only one questionnaire, which was sent to each of Wrentham s 4,503 residential addresses via US Postal Service. The survey was also available online and the link was listed on the paper questionnaire mailed.

8 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 8 Control Measures to Ensure Anonymity According to the previous surveys the team reviewed, anonymity is always a concern to the respondents. Because the Wrentham survey instrument included questions on private information, we presumed that participants would be somewhat reluctant to divulge some of the information requested. Therefore, residents of Wrentham were assured that the survey was and would remain anonymous. In order to assure the anonymity of the survey the team adopted several control measures. First, there was no identifying information required to complete the survey. Second, four sealed and unmonitored drop boxes were made available to collect completed surveys; the drop boxes were located at Town Hall, the Library, the Senior Center, and Sheldonvile Post Office. Third, there was no identifying information shown either on the questionnaires or on the envelopes used to mail the questionnaires; mailing labels used only read Current Resident. Fourth, the online survey is set up on a website provided and managed by a third party, the Information Technology (IT) Services department from Clark University. Based on the website, a proprietary version of commercially available software was used to develop and administer the online survey. The software, known as Checkbox Survey was made available by Clark University. The data was stored on Clark servers, and therefore neither the team of students, nor the Town of Wrentham officials could identify the respondents through the online feedback. Lastly, all surveys, responses and report data will be deleted shortly after the analysis and reporting are complete. Survey Instruments As mentioned above, there were two versions of survey instruments being used paper questionnaire and online digital questionnaire. However, both versions share the same set of

9 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 9 questions. The team worked together with the Wrentham Town Government Study Committee to design the questionnaire: it included: 1. An introductory letter explaining to Wrentham residents the purpose of the survey, that the survey would be anonymous, the importance of residents participation, the option of completing the survey online, and the deadline when to return completed paper surveys or to complete the survey online; and 2. Questions organized into the following five sections: a. General Questions (Quality of life; quality of neighborhood; place to live/work/retire) b. Town Services Questions (Transportation; affordability; economic sustainability; public schools; public safety; government offices/departments; overall impression; focus questions) c. Communication Questions (Preference of town information; source of town information; communication infrastructure) d. Form of Government Questions (Town meeting attendance; efficiency; etc.) e. Demographic information Questions (Age; gender; ethnicity; education; years in Wrentham; income level; housing; etc.) In addition, team members personally prepared the surveys for mailing, which included affixing one label, on which one random survey code was printed, to each copy of the questionnaire. A participant who chose to do the survey online was required to enter his/her assigned code to the survey online; this was a measure to prevent duplication.

10 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 10 VII. RESULTS A. Response Rate and No Response This survey was mailed to 4,503 residential addresses in Wrentham. No surveys were returned by the post office as undeliverable, thus we accepted all surveys sent as viable. Out of 434 surveys returned, 20 responses entered online used invalid random access codes and were eliminated, leaving 414 valid and usable response for analysis, resulting in a 9.19% valid response rate. Paper responses were received from 267 of the 414 respondents, which represent 5.92% of all responses. Total Responses 147 Paper Responses 267 Web-based Rersponses Figure 01 The Team entered the paper responses manually into the Checkbox Survey software using the code on the paper survey form. Team members checked every code on each response to confirm the uniqueness of every survey. Additionally, if there were two responses for any given questions, the team agreed to accept the lowest valued response. For example, if a respondent answered both, excellent and good to any particular questions, the team accepted good as the valid response for that question. Finally, in some instances where we needed a truer measure of the satisfaction level of respondents relative to services, the team

11 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 11 calculated the percentages based on the answers of those respondents with experience with those respective departments. For example; on the questions regarding public safety services, the questions read how would you rate the services you receive from the following public offices The response options were excellent, good, satisfactory, fair, poor, and no experience. While it was important for us to understand, in general which department or services the public has less experience with, one can only rate a service when he/she has had experience with the service. We have properly identified the instance in which that was the case, by phrasing the description thusly: of those with experience and interaction with the And while in some instances, the number of respondents with experience with a particular department is much less than the total pool of respondents for the entire survey, we are still confident that the responses are significantly representative of the total population for the town of Wrentham. We will also include the number of respondents for those particular answers. B. Margin of Error A key factor in assessing response data is calculating the margin of error, also called a confidence interval. This number represents the mathematical likelihood, or probability, that the specific responses received reflect the opinions of all residents instead of only those who responded. (ICMA, 2009, p. 21) Based on the number of responses received, this survey s overall margin of error is plus or minus 4.59%. For example, if the result to a given question is 65% then the 4.59% margin of error indicates responses of the total population could range from 60.41% to 69.59%, an indication that the data obtained is highly reliable. All survey questions, except two, allowed only one answer; this was the case for both the online and the paper versions of the survey. The responses that were submitted on paper that had questions with multiple answers were excluded from the analysis.

12 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 12 C. Data Analysis As noted above, the survey instrument was divided into five distinct sections: General Questions; Demographic Questions; Town Services Questions; Communication Questions; and Form of Government Questions. Understandably, we began the data analysis with the demographic questions to establish a profile of the Town of Wrentham as a whole. Then we analyzed the General questions, the Town Services, Communication, and Form of Government Questions. 1. Demographic Questions Complete survey results are shown in Appendix C. In order to ascertain the Wrentham residents demographic profile, the Team asked a number of questions, including personal and household information. The Team compared those demographic responses from Wrentham to the most recent U.S. Census data. Personal Information The survey s first question asked on the demographic section was age of the respondent. See Figure 01 for the results. Of the 369 responses, the majority was between the ages of 45 and 64 and the median age was Age Ranges of Respondents Response Percent Count % % % % years 12% 42 Total 100% 369 Figure 02

13 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 13 Of those who responded to the survey 52.2% were female and 47.77% were male as shown in Figure 02, which is consistent with the results of the 2010 U.S Census. GenderRatios of Respondents Figure 03 The majority of the respondents (98.18%) identified themselves as White, as shown in Figure 03. This is consistent with the U.S. Census data, which shows a rate of 97.6%. Race and Ethnicity Response Percent Count White 98.18% 377 Native American 0.52% 2 Asian 0.78% 3 Multiple Races 0.26% 1 Other 0.26% 1 Total 100% 384 Figure 04 Education Level When asked what is the highest degree or level of education attained, 65.71% percent reported having a Bachelor s degree or higher, while 34.29% percent of respondents stated they had a high school education. The results were shown on Figure 05.

14 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 14 Figure 05 Whether or not a registered voter also reflects personal information, the team included a question to explore it. According to the responses, 98.74% percent of respondents said they were registered voters. See figure 5 below. Are you a registered voter?( 398 Responses) Response Percent Count Yes 98.74% 393 No 0.5% 2 Ineligible to vote 0.76% 3 Total 100% 398 Figure 06 Length of Residency Question 8b asked about the length of residency in Wrentham. Of those who responded to this question, 55.36% marked that they had lived in Wrentham for more than 20 years; see Figure 06.

15 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 15 Figure 07 Household information According to Census Report, the median household income in Wrentham is $123,558, which is a little bit higher than what the survey results show; see Figure 08. Home ownership Income Information (225 Responses) Response Percent Count $49,999 or less 17% 39 $50,000 to $99,999 27% 61 $100,000 to $149,999 21% 47 $150,000 to $199,999 16% 35 $200,000 to $249,999 9% 21 $250,000 or more 10% 22 Total 100% 225 Figure 08 The majority of respondents are home-owners. A total of 92.91% percent of respondents reported owning their homes. See figure 09.

16 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 16 Figure 09 Children and the Elderly Thirty percent of the respondents said that their households included children under 18 years old; see Figure 10. This is also consistent with the U.S. Census figures, which is at 24%. Figure 11 shows the results for the number of individuals 65 years or older: 32% of the respondents said that they were 65+ years old, or were living with someone who was in that age range. This percentage is much higher than that of the recent U.S. Census data which is 13% percent. This may be an indication that a larger percentage of seniors responded to this survey, versus total population figures. Figure 10

17 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 17 Figure General Questions There is a growing trend within local governments and municipalities placing greater emphasis on public satisfaction. The team designed five questions to determine how satisfied the public is with the services provided by the town of Wrentham. Question 1 included five parts, subtitled a-e. They dealt with the overall quality of life in Wrentham; the neighborhood as a place to live, Wrentham as a place to live, Wrentham as a place to work and retire. The following five figures show the responses. Fifty-four percent (54%) of residents rated the quality of life in Wrentham as Good; 41% percent rated it Excellent; see Figure 12. Figure 12 Ninety-one percent of the respondents rated their neighborhood as Excellent or Good as a place to live, which were very positive evaluation. See Figure 13 below.

18 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 18 Figure 13 Asked to rate Wrentham as a place to live, 94% of respondents rate the town as Excellent or Good; see figure 14. Figure 14 The question of how Wrentham could be rated as a place to work received a wide range of rating. Only 28% of responses rated Wrentham as Excellent or Good as a place to work (figure 15 below). Forty-nine percent (49%) of the respondents had No opinion.

19 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 19 Figure 15 The question about how residents rate Wrentham as a place to retire, 49% of the respondents rated it Excellent or Good, 21% gave it a Fair, and 11% gave it a Poor rating; see figure 16. Figure Town Services In this section of the report we discuss the responses relative to town services. It is important to note that we have grouped a number of the questions together given the categories of services they relate to, as well as the fact that in some instances a large number of residents may have little experience with a number of services in those categories. For instance, questions relative to the police department, the fire department, the dispatch and the ambulance are all

20 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 20 public safety related services. As such we will discuss them individually, and will also discuss them collectively. Similarly, with services such as Town Administrator, Finance and Accounting, Treasurer/Collector, Town Moderator, Assessor s Office, are all administrative functions of this government. Regulatory functions such as the Board of Health, the Planning Department, the Conservation Commission, and the Zoning Board will also be discussed individually and as a collective. Similarly, the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee will be discussed individually and as a collective (in a later section of this paper, in particular, the section dealing with the form of government). The reason for those two to be grouped is because they are political in nature. Finally, responses relative to the Schools, the council on aging, and economic development will be similarly treated. Residents were asked to rate the services received from the town, based on responsiveness, knowledge, professionalism, courtesy, helpfulness, efficiency and effectiveness, in a scale from excellent, good, fair, poor or no experience. a. Public Safety The respondents offered the largest number of responses to public safety services. Of the 414 respondents responding to the survey, 400 respondents answered the question relative to the police department, 400 answered the question relative to the ambulance service, 399 relative to the dispatch and 398 relative to the fire department. It is important to know that several of our questions provide as a response no experience ; meaning that the respondent had not had the opportunity to interact with that particular department of service. Thus in order to have a more accurate rating, on those questions, we only used the responses of those who have had experience with those particular departments. Despite eliminating the answers of those with no

21 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 21 experience with particular departments, our team is still confident that the responses are significantly representative of the community as a whole. Of those with experience and interaction with the police department, 91% report that the service is either excellent or good. Of those with experience with the Fire Department, 96% rated the department either excellent or good. Further, of those with experience interacting with the ambulance service, 95% rated the service as excellent or good, and finally, 92% of the respondents rated the dispatch service as being excellent or good. Satisfaction Rate with Major Public Safety Services by Department 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Police Department Fire Department Ambulance Dispatch Figure 17 Collectively, 93% of respondents said that the major public safety services were either excellent or good. From the responses offered we can conclude that residents in Wrentham are very satisfied with the quality of major public safety services provided by the town, individually and collectively. Level of Satisfaction for all Major Public Safety Services Collectively 7% 93% "Excellent" or "Good" Less than Good Figure 18

22 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 22 b. Less Visible Public Safety Services Less visible public safety services, such as Animal Control, Lake Patrol and Emergency Management were also explored individually and collectively. They were not grouped with Fire, Police, Dispatch and Ambulance, because town residents have a lot less exposure to those services than the latter. Non-the less, they are important services and town officials should also carefully evaluate resident perception of these services. Of those with experience with Animal Control, 82% ranked the services either excellent or good. Of those with experience dealing with Lake Patrol 68% stated the services were excellent or good. While this rating is still significantly above 50%, it is markedly less than other public service services. Residents with experience with Emergency Management reported 75% either excellent or good interaction with this department. Level of Satisfaction for Less Visible Public Safety Services Collectively Animal Control Lake Patrol Emergency Management Figure 19 c. Perception of Safety in the Community In addition to the questions specifically dealing with the town s public safety services, our survey asked residents to rate how safe they felt in their neighborhood during the day, and at night, at public parks, and downtown during the day and at night. We also asked about specific crimes; (violent crimes and property crimes). The scale ranged from very safe to safe fairly safe fairly unsafe unsafe very unsafe. Of those responding to the survey, 87% stated they

23 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 23 felt either very safe or safe in their neighborhood during the day. Approximately 73% stated that they felt either very safe or safe in their neighborhood at night. While respondents said they felt less safe downtown at night, the change was not very drastic compared to the day time. Of those responding to the question 80% stated they felt either very safe or safe during the day compared to 94% during the day. Of those responding to the question relative to the perceived safety of public parks, 80% stated they felt either very safe or safe. Perception of Safety around the Neighborhood during the Day and at Night Figure 20 Figure 21

24 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 24 In the chart above we show the percentage of respondents who perceived their neighborhoods to be very safe or safe in blue, while those who feel fairly safe are depicted in red, and those who feel either fairly unsafe, unsafe, or very unsafe in green. Perception of Safety around Downtown during the Day and at Night Figure 22 Figure 23 These charts show the percentages of those who perceive downtown to be very safe or safe in blue, those who perceive it to be fairly safe in red and those who perceive downtown to be fairly unsafe, unsafe or very unsafe in green.

25 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 25 d. Perception of Safety for Violent Crimes vs. Property Crimes When considering violent crimes in town, of those responding, 79% stated that they felt very safe or safe ; while only 46% stated they felt very safe or safe about property crimes. A number of respondents wrote on the surveys that there seems to be a serious spike in break-ins (see Appendix E on pg. 67). Perception of Safety around Violent Crimes and Property Crimes Figure 24 Figure 25 This graph shows a marked difference in the number of respondents concerned about property crimes vs. violent crimes in town. Graph number 24, shows the number of folks who feel unsafe, or very unsafe in red. This number represents only 4% of the respondents, while for property crimes, that number represented in red on graph 25, that number is 11%.

26 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 26 One of the most significant factors that helps determine the level of satisfaction with the performance of their public officials is how Wrentham s residents view public safety services. Whether ambulance services, police and fire departments are well staffed, how quickly the police respond to emergency calls, etc. are all examples of factors that indicate how safely residents perceive a municipality to be. The fact that the respondents perceive their town to be very safe is, undoubtedly, one of the key reasons why many residents find Wrentham a desirable place to live. e. Administrative Departments We categorized as Administrative Departments collectively the following offices or departments; Town Clerk s office, Finance and Accounting Department, Treasurer/Collector s office, Town Administrator s office, Town Moderator and the Assessor s office. Other than the school department or public safety services, these departments are what residents of every municipality have the most interaction with and have come to know as the backbone of their government. The level of the quality of service provided by each of these departments was measured from excellent, to good, fair, to poor. The factors given for residents to consider when making their evaluation of each department were the following: responsiveness, knowledge, professionalism and courtesy, helpfulness, efficiency and effectiveness. Of those respondents with experience dealing with the Town Clerk s office, 95% reported that the service was excellent or good. Of the respondents with experience dealing with the Finance and Accounting Office, 90% rated the service excellent or good. Of those having had interaction with the office of the Treasurer/Tax Collector, 91% rated the service of that office as excellent or good. The Town Administrator s Office was rated by 83% of respondents as being excellent or good. 80% of those with experience with the Town

27 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 27 Moderator rated the service provided as excellent or good. Finally, 81% of respondents with experience dealing with the Assessor s Office stated that the service was either excellent or good. Quality of Services Provided by Departments Assessor Town Moderator Town Administrator 81% 80% 83% Treasurer/Collector Finance & Accounting Town Clerk 91% 90% 95% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% Figure 26 f. Regulatory Boards/Commissions Those departments categorized as Regulatory Authorities were the Planning Board, the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals. While these departments or commissions carry out very important functions within a government bureaucracy, not every resident has a significant amount of interaction with them. For instance, unless someone is building a new home or structure, planning an expansion to a home/structure, erecting a new structure in protected land, or working on a building deemed historic, they have no interaction with any of these three departments. Consequently we can conclude that while over 50% of residents who responded to this survey selected no experience as their answer in this section of the survey, the level of response is consistent with what can be expected. Thus we feel strongly that those who responded with a specific rating, are in fact representative of those residents who have interacted with these departments/commissions.

28 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 28 Of those respondents with experience and exposure to the planning board 65% stated that their experience was either excellent or good. Of those with experience with the Conservation Commission 79% reported that their experience was excellent or good. Finally, of those having interacted with the Zoning Board of Appeals, 75% reported the service to be excellent or good. Quality of Service Ratings by Board/Commission Zoning Board of Appeasl Conservation Commission Planing Board 75% 65% 79% Figure 27 Collectively, of those respondents with experience with the regulatory authorities of the town, 73% ranked the experience as excellent or good. However, we must again underscore the rating of the planning board and feel there is a significant deviation from how respondents feel about other commissions individually or collectively. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% g. Public Health Services Public Health Services, in the case of the town of Wrentham, the Board of Health, the Building Inspector and the Public Health Nurse, have the responsibility of protecting the health of the community. This charge is carried out by ensuring that building structures are sound and in sound/healthy living conditions, by promoting health, and providing limited health services. The survey measured the level of satisfaction with these services ranging from Excellent to good, fair, to poor.

29 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 29 Of those respondents who ve had experience with the Board of Health, 65% rated their service as being excellent or good. Of those with experience with Building Inspector, 72% found their experience excellent or good. Finally, of those with experience with the Public Health Nurse, 95% stated that the service was either excellent or good. Perceived Level of Quality of Service Provided by Department 100% 80% 65% 72% 95% 60% 40% 20% 0% Board of Health Building Inspector Public Healtrh Nurse Figure 28 Comparison of Board of Health vs. Public Health Services Collectively 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 78% Public Health Services 65% Board of Health Figure 29 It is important to note the marked difference between the perception of quality services provided by the Board of Health as opposed to all Public Health Services combined. While, collectively, Public Health Services were rated as excellent or good by 78% of respondents, which could be considered an acceptable level of satisfaction, we must underscore the response to the town s Board of Health, which at 65% is not very good.

30 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 30 h. Other Services Other departments/services included in the survey were the Recreation Department and the Council on Aging. Of those with experience with the Recreation Department, 85% rated the department as either excellent or good. Of those with experience with the Council on Aging, 91% reported the council as either excellent or good. Level of Service Provided by Department 95% 90% 85% 80% 85% Recreation Department 91% Council on Aging Figure Communication and Wrentham s Form of Government Part of the charge given to the team by the Ad-hoc Town Government Study Committee when first meeting with the team was to help evaluate the level of satisfaction of town residents with their form of government, and to explore if residents were interested in making adjustments to it. To this end a number of specific questions were included in the survey to help gauge the perception or interest of town residents on the town meeting form of government. When asked how often they attended Town Meetings, 408 residents responded to this question, ranging from Regularly to Rarely/Never. The highest percentage (35%) of the respondents answered Rarely/Never. The breakdown is as follows: Do you attend Town Meetings? Choices # of % respondents Regularly % When important to me % Occasionally % Rarely/Never % Figure 31

31 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 31 Considering that 35% of survey participants say they rarely or never attend Town Meetings, Wrentham officials should take steps to increase attendance. The overwhelming response to the question of whether residents would watch Town Meetings if they were broadcasted over the World Wide Web, as well as vote on agenda items, was affirmative; approximately 77% of respondents. When asked if they would prefer the Annual Town Meeting to be held on a day other than the second Monday of June, and if so, what day they would prefer. Three hundred eightyone (381) participants answered this question; they overwhelmingly (90%) agreed to keep the Annual Town Meeting on the second Monday of June; see the table below. Do you prefer to a change of the date of Annual Town Meeting? Choices # of respondents Yes to a change % No to a change (Keep second Monday of June) Figure 32 % % When asked if residents would be willing to watch Town Meetings via a live webcast, if this were available. There were 399 responses to this question, the majority of which (77%) were in favor of a live webcast. If Town Meetings were available via a live webcast, would you be willing to watch? Answer # of respondents % Yes % No % Figure 33

32 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 32 When asked if they would be more likely to vote if remote Internet-Voting were available for Town Meetings, of the three hundred ninety-one (391) respondents, the majority of respondents (71%) were in favor. See graph below. If you are a registered, and remote Internet voting were available for Town Meetings, would you be more likely to vote? Choices # of respondents % Yes % No % Figure 34 The responses to this question may be construed as a lack of interest in Town Meetings on the part of Wrentham residents. As reported, only 13% of respondents stated that they regularly attend Town Meetings; 35% report attending rarely to never. In contrast, 90% of respondents expressed their opinion about the scheduling of the Annual Town Meeting, voting for the day as it is currently scheduled. We conclude that the low attendance at town meetings does not accurately reflect the residents real attitude toward this form of government. In fact, the overwhelming response to Question 5c in favor of live webcast, does tend to support our conclusion that residents are interested in this form of government. Factors such as work schedules, transportation and childcare may be among those keeping residents from attending Town Meetings. Further supporting this theory, we found that (Ease of Bus Travel) in Question 2 above, received low marks, with 179 out of 410 respondents (44%) giving it a Poor rating. Indeed, delivering public services electronically will help administrators improve the town government s relationship with its constituents. Many researchers have demonstrated the value of implementing electronic government (egovernment). egovernment initiatives improve citizen

33 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 33 interaction with government in general as citizens can be active in shaping policies directly through the means of information and communication technologies... (Radu, 2009). Another benefit of remote access to Town Meetings via telecast or webcast is that it would provide access to folks who are confined to their homes because of physical limitations; this is what M. Cecilia Baranauskas and Heiko Hormung call inclusive egovernment (2011).... Accessibility [to online services] is crucial for egovernment systems in order to be effective... (Baranauskas and Hornung, 2011). Another researcher, Ahmed Elmorshidy, has a more direct stance in favor of the diffusion of online public services: Good government is accessible. Good government correlates to immediate access to pertinent information. Good government is faster, cheaper, and more efficient, (Elmorshidy, 2012). Instituting Webcast and if possible, electronic voting may well be the way to increase voter participation in town affairs. Form of Government There are four forms of government available to municipalities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Mayor-Council Form; Council-Manager Form; Open Town Meeting Form; and Representative Town Meeting. Typically Mayor-Council and Council- Manager forms of government are available to cities; the other two are for towns. Massachusetts has 301 towns and 50 cities. The Open Town Meeting form of government, which is currently in effect in Wrentham, is available to towns of no more than 6,000 residents; it was first used in the 17 th century. This form of government is used in other parts of the United States, but mostly in New England; it is considered the most democratic form of government, as it allows private citizens who are registered voters to vote on public policies and on other important matters associated with their towns. Registered voters have the opportunity to debate and then vote on budgets, and by-laws. (Smith and Schudrich; 2010). The other form of town meeting is the

34 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 34 Representative Town Meeting. In this form, citizens elect other individuals from their respective precincts to represent them and vote on their behalf at Town Meetings. This form of government is available only to towns of more than 6,000, but no more than 12,000. Because of its population size, Wrentham could petition the legislature to switch to the Representative model; however this would require an act of the legislature; otherwise Wrentham would have to use Home Rule Charter process, which is a lengthy process. One of the questions on the survey instrument asked residents if they considered their current Open Town Meeting an effective form of government; the only choices were Yes or No. The majority of the respondents 73% of the 388 respondents said yes; see Figure 35. Do you think Town Meeting is an effective form of government? Choices # of respondents % Yes % No % Figure 35 Among some of the other pieces of information we were able to extract from survey responses, was the number of respondents who marked that they had No experience with a number of services and/or departments. One might posit that there is a direct correlation between the high number of respondents who marked No Experience and how well informed Wrentham residents are about the services available to them.

35 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 35 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Percentage of respondents who have "No experience" with these services. Figure 36 It seems that the services provided by the Recreation Department and the Council on Aging should have been well known and well used services. Yet 36% of those who responded to that question said they had No experience with the Recreation Department, while the rate was 58% for Council on Aging. Town officials may determine that departments with the highest level of No Experience responses need to be engaged in outreach so to become more visible in the community. The Economic Development and Emergency Management Offices are among the least known services, with 55% and 61% of respondents saying they had never interacted with these offices respectively. While the Emergency Management department may have little interaction with the public year-round, it is important for all residents to be familiar with the department and its critical function. (See figure 21, on page 23). Similarly, the Economic Development department of the town should engage the public and business community proactively, so that it is easier to achieve stated department goals. Figure 37 shows how participants of the survey rated Wrentham s 27 departments and offices.

36 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 36 All answers to Question 5f Lake patrol Economic Development Zoning Board of Appeals Planning Board King Philip School Emergency Management Conservation Commission Finance Committee Wrentham School Board of Selectmen s Office Town Moderator Board of Health Solid Waste & Recycling Town Administrator s Office Building Inspector Animal Control Finance / Accounting Council on Aging Assessor s Office Recreation Department Public Health Nurses Treasurer/Tax Collector s Dispatch /911 Ambulance Services Town Clerk s Office Police Department Fire Department Excellent Good Fair Poor No Experience Figure 37 Question 5g asked participants to rate the overall customer service skills of Wrentham s public employees. The response was very positive with 72% of 400 respondents giving a rating of Excellent or Good. How would you rate the overall level of customer service skills exhibited by Wrentham's public employees (of the office listed in question 5(f) above Choices # of respondents % Excellent 91 23% Good % Satisfactory 62 16% Fair 17 4% poor 7 2% No experience 27 7% Figure 38

37 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 37 As shown in Figure 38, a significant number of respondents ranked the overall customer service skill exhibited by Wrentham s public employees as Excellent or Good. This response is consistent with the rating received by two of the Administrative offices in 5f the Town Clerk s office and the Treasurer/Tax Collector s office. The Town Clerk s Office, for example, is a busy office, which provides services both in-person and over the phone to Wrentham citizens. Services include: keeping records, administering elections, coordinating town meetings, and acting as the local public information officer (Town of Wrentham, 2012). During a brief phone conversation with Ellen Wojcik, Assistant Town Clerk, she confirmed that the office serves individuals on a typical business day; she added that this number increases to about 100 a day around election time, for example. COMMUNICATION AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE SERVICES Given growing expectations on the part of constituents about what their government is supposed to provide, the goal of providing necessary services to its constituents without being able to communicate in an effective and efficient manner will not suffice for town of Wrentham officials in the eyes of its constituents. Thus the Town must make better use of its communication infrastructure, both to communicate directly with its residents and for town residents to learn about town activities and services. Question #6 asked Wrentham residents about where they go to keep informed. They were asked about which information they are interested in, and where they obtain it. Over 400 participants provided answers to this question. It is undeniable that most Wrentham residents are very much connected to the Internet.

38 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 38 Question 6a looks specifically into where Wrentham residents obtained their information. This is one of the two questions on the questionnaire where participants were allowed as many choices as possible, and all answers were factored into the calculation. The four hundred and two respondents (402) to this question said they were interested in all types of town information available to them. Here are the details: What town information are you most interested in? Type of Info Number of Percentage respondents Town events % Town Job postings 51 13% Town government meeting outcomes (Board of % Selectmen meetings, etc.) Town services details (guidelines for recycling % DPW yard services, etc.) Town "briefings"--summary of events of town of committee meetings showing how decisions were made % Figure 39 Question 6b asked residents if they would be interested in signing up for automatic notification. (this is another question that allowed multiple choices). Four hundred and two respondents said they would be interested; the majority of whom (71%) would, and would prefer receiving information by electronic mail. See Figure 40. Would you sign up or register for an automatic notification? Method # % % Voic 30 7% Not interested 72 18% Figure 40 Question 6c surveyed the residents on access to the Internet. Based on the responses it was not surprising that the majority of them use the Internet on an extensive basis either at home

39 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 39 or at work. Naturally, the Town of Wrentham s website is among the sites visited by a large number of them 67% of the 401 respondents find information posted on the Town s website useful; see Figure 41. Do you agree or disagree with any of the following: I use the Internet extensively and/or with ease I have access to the Internet at home and/or or at work Info posted on the Town's website useful to its residents Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree No opinion Figure 41 But the respondents who strongly agree, disagree or have no opinion about the three measures in the grid above, should not be dismissed. Rather, the issue of Internet connectivity throughout Wrentham could be part of ongoing conversations among Town officials to avoid what researchers call a digital divide. A digital divide can potentially undermine the Town s efforts to diffuse online public services to the residents in the future. As noted earlier, only 35% of the respondents chose to complete the survey online, despite a high percentage of respondents who reported using the internet extensively and with ease. An additional obstacle to better service and better communication with town residents relative to the use of the Internet is the fact that when asked Is the information on the town website useful? One hundred twenty-three (123) respondents disagreed, strongly disagreed or had no opinion. This means that approximately 31% of respondents do not find the information on the town website useful. And while bridging the digital divide may become a long-term goal for town officials, ensuring that relevant and useful information is posted on the town website should be an immediate goal.

40 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 40 Question 6d asked residents to identify their primary sources of information. Here, too, the 400 respondents were allowed more than one choice, and all choices were factored into the calculations. Based on the answers, the majority of respondents, 99%, go to the newspapers in addition to other sources: 208 or 52% read the Country Gazette; 187 or 47% read the Sun Chronicle. Only 136 out of the 400 respondents (34%) obtain their information from the Town s website and Facebook page, which is consistent with the responses in Question 6c, above. What is your primary source of information about Wrentham? Source # % Country Gazette % Sun Chronicle % Town website % WrenthamTimes.com 97 24% Wrentham.Patch.com 79 20% Public Access TV (Ch. 8) 75 19% Town Meetings 50 13% Boston Globe's MetroWest 47 12% Other 33 8% Town Facebook Page 29 7% Figure 42 Knowing the results of this question can be a useful tool for town officials to insure better communication with town resident. VIII. DISCUSSION There were a number of specific objectives that the Town of Wrentham Ad Hoc Government Study Committee had in mind when they charged a team of five MPA Clark University students. In order to meet those objectives, the team helped develop a comprehensive survey to evaluate quantitative measures of the resident s satisfaction, as well as provided analysis and findings based on their responses, for town officials to consider. Among the most important objectives, the team was charged with finding answers to the following:

41 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 41 How do residents of Wrentham feel about the quality of services the town provides? How satisfied are town residents with their town s form of government? From the survey responses we can conclude that for the most part, Wrentham town resident are satisfied with the services provided by the town. This conclusion can be arrived at from the fact that 94% of the survey respondents stated that Wrentham was an excellent or good place to live. (see Figure 13). In addition, 95% of the respondents stated that they found the quality of life either excellent or good. (see figure 11). Given the constraints of the survey design, there was little opportunity for respondents to give specific suggestions on whether services should be changed. However, in the two instances where respondents had the opportunity to give input on whether specific services should be changed, the respondents overwhelmingly chose the status quo (i.e.: Should Town Meetings be changed to a different day?) Similarly, 73% responders stated that the recycling service was excellent or good. After careful evaluation of the responses to this survey, the team concluded that Wrentham town residents are in fact interested in town affairs. To support this conclusion we need only point to the fact that nearly every person who completed the survey responded to the questions dealing with Town Meeting. In addition, an overwhelming number of respondents are registered voters; 98.7% (see Figure 05). Further, 77% of respondents stated that if the Town Meetings were broadcasted via the web, and were given the opportunity to vote electronically they would watch and vote. There are however, a number of areas where residents expressed the need for improvement. For instance, only 28% of residents stated that the town was an excellent or

42 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 42 good place to work. (see Figure 14 on page 18). Further, the Board of Health only received 65% responses in the excellent or good range. (see Figure 27 on page 28) Finally, 15% of resident stated that they felt unsafe or fairly unsafe about property crimes in town (see Figure 24 on page 25); a few respondents decried poor street lighting. Accordingly, town representatives have some work to do to make some improvements. While no form of government, or government bureaucracy is perfect, the team recognized the leadership exemplified by Wrentham officials to assess resident satisfaction levels with their form of government and the services provided. Finally, the team will recommend that the town of Wrentham consider conducting this survey of residents every two or three years. It is with long-term surveys that municipalities can show progress. This will also serve as a motivator to continue to strive for better services for your constituency. We would suggest that any such future surveys not take place immediately preceding a local election. Otherwise responses may be become tainted. We wish you all the best in the next phase of this process.

43 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 43 VIII. REFERENCES Baranauskas, M.C., and Hornung, H. Towards a design rationale for inclusive e-government services. International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 7.3 (July-September 2011); p1. Berman, B.J.C. (spring, 2008). Involving the Public in Measuring and Reporting Local government Performance. National Civic Review. Published online in Wiley InterScience ( P3-10. DOI: /ncr.198 Bureau, U. S. (2010). US Census Bureau American Fact Finder, 2010 Census. (U. S. Bureau,0Producer), Retrieved November 24 from: Clark University. (2007). Shrewsbury Town Survey. Retrieved October 5, 2012 from: ma.gov/egov/docs/ pdf. Clark University. (2011). Southbrough Resident Survey. Retrieved September 30, 2012, from: Elmorshidy A., (April 2012), The other side of the egovernment coin: monitor from the people building a new double-sided egovernment conceptual model. International Journal of Business Strategy. 12.1, p63. International City/County Management Association, (2010). The National Citizen Survey: Town of Needham, MA. Retrieved from: Kelton, R.M., (September 2006). The Role of Citizen Surveys in Performance Measurement. Public Management. P32 Radu, R.G., (September 2009) Citizen Empowerment and egovernment Application: Differences in 27 E.U. Countries. CEU Political Science Journal. 4.3; p326. Smith, M. and Schudrich, Z.A., (May 2010), Massachusetts Municipal Managers Association Form of Government Committee: A Study on Structural Changes in Local Government in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

44 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 44 Town of Wrentham - Town Clerk., (2012), Available from: Yates, D, (1982), Pluralistic Democracies and Administrative Efficiencies, The Search for Democracy and Efficiency in America, Harvard University Press

45 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 45 X. APPENDICES Appendix A Committee Charge

46 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 46 Appendix B Survey Instrument

47 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 47

48 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 48

49 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 49

50 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 50 Appendix C a.overall quality of life in Wrentham b.your neighborhood as a place to live c.wrentham as a place to live d.wrentham as a place to work e.wrentham as a place to retire Survey Responses 1. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT WRENTHAM S COMMUNITY QUALITY. 410 Responses Excellent Good Fair Poor No opinion 166 (40.89%) 189 (46.44%) 178 (43.95%) 33 (8.31%) 63 (15.56%) 219 (53.94%) 183 (44.96%) 202 (49.88%) 78 (19.65%) 132 (32.59%) 19 (4.68%) 33 (8.11%) 21 (5.19%) 58 (14.61%) 88 (21.73%) 2 (0.49%) 2 (0.49%) 3 (0.74%) 32 (8.06%) 46 (11.36%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 1 (0.25%) 196 (49.37%) 76 (18.77%) 2. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WRENTHAM S COMMUNITY DESIGN, AFFORDABILITY, ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY, AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 410 Responses Excellent Good Fair Poor No opinion a.ease of car travel 101 (24.69%) 243 (59.41%) 49 (11.98%) 14 (3.42%) 2 (0.49%) b.ease of bus travel 10 (2.50%) 25 (6.25%) 31 (7.75%) 179 (44.75%) 155 (38.75%) c.sidewalk maintenance d.ease of walking and availability of paths/walking trails e.ease of bicycle travel f.traffic flow on major streets g.amount of public parking h.availability of affordable quality (3.69%) 24 (5.87%) 12 (2.95%) 26 (6.40%) 30 (7.35%) 14 (3.51%) (28.75%) 157 (38.39%) 72 (17.69%) 227 (55.91%) 180 (44.12%) 117 (29.32%) (37.10%) 123 (30.07%) 146 (35.87%) 115 (28.33%) 139 (34.07%) 111 (27.82%) (21.38%) 75 (18.34%) 92 (22.60%) 36 (8.87%) 52 (12.75%) 54 (13.53%) (9.09%) 30 (7.33%) 85 (20.88%) 2 (0.49%) 7 (1.72%) 103 (25.81%)

51 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 51 housing i.availability of affordable quality health care j.availability of affordable quality food k.availability of affordable quality child care l.retail growth (stores, restaurants, etc.) m.employment opportunities/job growth n.performance of King Philip Regional High School o.performance of King Philip Regional Middle School p.performance of Wrentham s Elementary Schools q.continuing education opportunities r.opportunities to participate in social events s.opportunities to attend cultural events in town t.opportunities for religious/spiritual activities in town 24 (6.00%) 38 (9.50%) 9 (2.31%) 56 (13.97%) 6 (1.51%) 53 (13.25%) 55 (13.65%) 109 (27.11%) 11 (2.76%) 29 (7.14%) 30 (7.46%) 85 (20.94%) 125 (31.25%) 149 (37.25%) 68 (17.44%) 140 (34.91%) 57 (14.36%) 148 (37.00%) 146 (36.23%) 148 (36.82%) 59 (14.79%) 164 (40.39%) 156 (38.81%) 193 (47.54%) 93 (23.25%) 108 (27.00%) 51 (13.08%) 112 (27.93%) 98 (24.69%) 53 (13.25%) 55 (13.65%) 32 (7.96%) 97 (24.31%) 127 (31.28%) 130 (32.34%) 46 (11.33%) 39 (9.75%) 71 (17.75%) 31 (7.95%) 78 (19.45%) 93 (23.43%) 20 (5.00%) 11 (2.73%) 5 (1.24%) 69 (17.29%) 39 (9.61%) 50 (12.44%) 13 (3.20%) 119 (29.75%) 34 (8.50%) 231 (59.23%) 15 (3.74%) 143 (36.02%) 126 (31.50%) 136 (33.75%) 108 (26.87%) 163 (40.85%) 47 (11.58%) 36 (8.96%) 69 (17.00%)

52 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 52 a)in your neighborhood during the day? b)in your neighborhood after dark? c)downtown area during the day? d)downtown area after dark? e)in public parks? f)about violent crimes (physical assaults, robberies, etc.)? g)about property crimes (burglaries, etc.)? 3. ABOUT WRENTHAM S PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEM: 407 Responses Very Safe Safe Fairly Safe Fairly Unsafe Unsafe Very Unsafe (49.88%) (36.79%) (11.60%) (0.74%) (0.99%) (0.00%) 128 (31.68%) 241 (60.10%) 141 (34.81%) 91 (22.92%) 104 (26.00%) 46 (11.41%) 167 (41.34%) 133 (33.17%) 164 (40.49%) 153 (38.54%) 173 (43.25%) 130 (32.26%) 85 (21.04%) 17 (4.24%) 60 (14.81%) 70 (17.63%) 82 (20.50%) 153 (37.97%) 12 (2.97%) 1 (0.25%) 4 (0.99%) 9 (2.27%) 14 (3.50%) 41 (10.17%) 8 (1.98%) 1 (0.25%) 2 (0.49%) 5 (1.26%) 4 (1.00%) 14 (3.47%) 3 (0.74%) 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%) 3 (0.76%) 1 (0.25%) 5 (1.24%) No Opinion 0 (0.00%) 1 (0.25%) 8 (2.00%) 34 (8.40%) 66 (16.62%) 22 (5.50%) 14 (3.47%) a)wrentham s overall appearance and cleanliness b)wrentham s air quality c)the way hazardous waste is handled 4. HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE ENVIRONMENT IN WRENTHAM? 410 Responses Excellent Good Fair Poor No 155 (38.08%) 170 (41.56%) 91 (22.25%) 212 (52.09%) 204 (49.88%) 186 (45.48%) 32 (7.86%) 21 (5.13%) 53 (12.96%) 8 (1.97%) 4 (0.98%) 12 (2.93%) experience 0 (0.00%) 10 (2.44%) 67 (16.38%) d)cemetery

53 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 53 Services (15.92%) (29.85%) (4.73%) (1.74%) (47.76%) e)street Lighting 30 (7.43%) 124 (30.69%) 150 (37.13%) 97 (24.01%) 3 (0.74%) f)trash removal & recycling services 144 (35.47%) 205 (50.49%) 42 (10.34%) 13 (3.20%) 2 (0.49%) g)highway and road maintenance, and snow plowing h)water service 80 (19.56%) 101 (24.94%) i)library 170 (41.98%) j)athletic 129 fields and (32.25%) facilities k)senior Center l)veteran s Agent m)housing Authority 105 (25.67%) 36 (8.91%) 22 (5.45%) 203 (49.63%) 201 (49.63%) 171 (42.22%) 161 (40.25%) 108 (26.41%) 60 (14.85%) 55 (13.61%) 93 (22.74%) 42 (10.37%) 24 (5.93%) 22 (5.50%) 13 (3.18%) 13 (3.22%) 25 (6.19%) 29 (7.09%) 8 (1.98%) 5 (1.23%) 5 (1.25%) 1 (0.24%) 2 (0.50%) 8 (1.98%) 4 (0.98%) 53 (13.09%) 35 (8.64%) 83 (20.75%) 182 (44.50%) 293 (72.52%) 294 (72.77%) 5. GIVE US YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE TOWN OF WRENTHAM S GOVERNMENT AND ITS CUSTOMER SERVICE AS FOLLOWS: 408 Responses a. Do you attend Town Meetings? Choices # of % respondents Regularly % When important to me % Occasionally % Rarely/Never %

54 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 54 b. Yes, I would like to change the date of Annual Town Meeting to another date: 1. Friday 2. Saturday 3. Saturday 4. Not June 5. weekends 6. Wednesday 7. Saturday 8. Saturday or Friday night 9. Saturdays 10. Saturday 11. varied days 12. Saturday 13. Tuesdays or Wednesdays 14. Tuesday 15. Saturday morning 16. Friday 17. Tuesday; Thursday 18. Tuesdays 19. Wednesday 20. Last Monday of April 21. Tues-Thurs 22. Tuesday 23. Tuesday 24. Saturdays or Sundays 25. Saturday, daytime 26. Wednesdays 27. Thursdays 28. Tuesdays 29. Saturdays 30. 2nd Monday is fine 31. not Monday 32. Thursdays 33. Tue 34. WEDNESDAY 35. WEDNESDAY 36. Tuesday

55 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 55 f. How would you rate the services you received from the following public offices, based on responsiveness, knowledge, professionalism and courtesy, helpfulness, efficiency and effectiveness)? 401 Responses Excellent Good Fair Poor No experience i.town Clerk s Office 162 (40.70%) 181 (45.48%) 15 (3.77%) 5 (1.26%) 35 (8.79%) ii.finance Accounting Department iii.treasurer/tax Collector s Office 66 (16.79%) 135 (34.09%) 128 (32.57%) 172 (43.43%) 18 (4.58%) 27 (6.82%) 3 (0.76%) 4 (1.01%) 178 (45.29%) 58 (14.65%)

56 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 56 iv.board of Selectmen s Office 47 (11.96%) 114 (29.01%) 29 (7.38%) 17 (4.33%) 186 (47.33%) v.town Administrator s Office 63 (15.95%) 108 (27.34%) 21 (5.32%) 13 (3.29%) 190 (48.10%) vi.town Moderator 48 (12.40%) 94 (24.29%) 23 (5.94%) 12 (3.10%) 210 (54.26%) vii.assessor s Office 72 (18.60%) 128 (33.07%) 35 (9.04%) 13 (3.36%) 139 (35.92%) viii.board of Health 52 (13.20%) 88 (22.34%) 37 (9.39%) 40 (10.15%) 177 (44.92%) ix.planning Board 25 (6.38%) 97 (24.74%) 43 (10.97%) 21 (5.36%) 206 (52.55%) x.conservation Commission 36 (9.21%) 116 (29.67%) 27 (6.91%) 14 (3.58%) 198 (50.64%) xi.zoning Board of Appeals 24 (6.17%) 96 (24.68%) 28 (7.20%) 12 (3.08%) 229 (58.87%) xii.building Inspector 63 (16.36%) 125 (32.47%) 46 (11.95%) 28 (7.27%) 123 (31.95%) xiii.police Department 182 (45.50%) 150 (37.50%) 29 (7.25%) 4 (1.00%) 35 (8.75%) xiv.fire Department 186 (46.73%) 134 (33.67%) 13 (3.27%) 1 (0.25%) 64 (16.08%) xv.ambulance Services 156 (39.00%) 102 (25.50%) 12 (3.00%) 2 (0.50%) 128 (32.00%) xvi.dispatch / (35.09%) 118 (29.57%) 19 (4.76%) 4 (1.00%) 118 (29.57%) xvii.animal Control 65 (16.50%) 119 (30.20%) 30 (7.61%) 10 (2.54%) 170 (43.15%) xviii.lake patrol 18 (4.59%) 61 (15.56%) 22 (5.61%) 15 (3.83%) 276 (70.41%) xix.public Health Nurses 114 (29.08%) 100 (25.51%) 11 (2.81%) 1 (0.26%) 166 (42.35%) xx.recreation Department 88 (22.39%) 124 (31.55%) 26 (6.62%) 12 (3.05%) 143 (36.39%) xxi.wrentham School Committee 44 (11.20%) 99 (25.19%) 28 (7.12%) 14 (3.56%) 208 (52.93%) xxii.king Philip School Committee 35 (8.88%) 95 (24.11%) 34 (8.63%) 18 (4.57%) 212 (53.81%) xxiii.finance Committee 39 (10.08%) 90 (23.26%) 31 (8.01%) 11 (2.84%) 216 (55.81%) xxiv.emergency Management 36 (9.23%) 73 (18.72%) 26 (6.67%) 11 (2.82%) 244 (62.56%) xxv.economic

57 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 57 Development (5.41%) (17.53%) (12.89%) (6.96%) (57.22%) xxvi.solid Waste & Recycling Committee 60 (15.27%) 143 (36.39%) 41 (10.43%) 9 (2.29%) 140 (35.62%) xxvii.council on Aging 70 (17.95%) 74 (18.97%) 14 (3.59%) 1 (0.26%) 231 (59.23%) g. How would you rate the overall level of customer service skills exhibited by Wrentham's public employees (of the office listed in question 5(f) above 400 Respondents Choices # of respondents % Excellent 91 23% Good % Satisfactory 62 16% Fair 17 4% poor 7 2% No experience 27 7% 6. LET S TALK ABOUT COMMUNICATION: a. What town information are you most interested in? 402 Responses Town events Job postings Meeting outcomes Services details Summary

58 TOWN OF WRENTHAM, MA 2012 Citizen Satisfaction Survey 58 b. Would you sign up or register for an automatic notification? 397 Responses Voice Mail Not interested i.i use the Internet extensively and/or with ease ii.i have access to the Internet at home and/or at work iii.information posted the Town s website is useful to its residents c. Do you agree or disagree with any of the following? 401 Responses StronglyAgree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 238 (60.41%) 265 (66.58%) 108 (27.48%) 87 (22.08%) 99 (24.87%) 162 (41.22%) 34 (8.63%) 10 (2.51%) 45 (11.45%) 13 (3.30%) 9 (2.26%) 10 (2.54%) No Opinion 22 (5.58%) 15 (3.77%) 68 (17.30%) d. What is your primary source of information about Wrentham? Source # % Country Gazette % Sun Chronicle %