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Survey says: Problem By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings A survey used for the past eight years by the city to judge residents' values and opinions holds little merit for most members of the present Ashland City Council, and will likely be revamped to be of better use in the future. The council on Wednesday frowned on two survey options brought forward by City Administrator Gino Grimaldi and Communications Director Ann Seltzer. One was a national survey with generalized questions which would allow the city to be compared with others across the county. The other was the fifth updated version of a poll generated exclusively for Ashland, dealing with local issues. Councilor John Morrison was not pleased with either survey, noting that the national poll is mediocre and the local questionnaire is "rife with 'so-whats' and ambiguities." "If I want to do it, I want to do it right, and I don't see any of these as right," Morrison said. "I almost feel like we're back at square one." Councilor Kate Jackson criticized the local survey, which has a history of reaching more older residents and not giving a true representation of the population. "We were really heavy on the older population responding the last two times. If I don't have some trust in the findings, I'm not going to look at it at all," Jackson said. "To me it seems like throwing money after nothing." Councilor Don Laws agreed that both mail-in and phone surveys can be misleading. "It's become much more difficult in recent years with so many people screening phones, using caller ID, or using cell phones. You're going to get a lot more older people answering a phone," Laws said, adding that people likely to fill out and return mail-in surveys are generally older and more educated, also skewing results. But any survey is better than none, Laws suggested. "On the other hand, a survey is much more reflective of the community than the responses we get (from coming into contact with residents) personally," Laws said. "Who we hear from on a day-to-day basis are not the public." Councilor Cate Hartzell conceded the local poll's shortcomings, and pointed out the difficulty of keeping questions from leading to certain responses. For instance, one question in the proposed survey asks residents their opinion on how quickly the city is preparing to hook up with the Talent-Ashland-Phoenix water intertie. "If I ask (in a survey), 'If it means raising your water rates ... how do you feel about moving up the TAP project?' we're probably going to get a very different answer," Hartzell said. But Hartzell insisted that keeping the survey consistent with previous questionnaires is the best way to gauge residents' attitudes over time. Jackson was not convinced. "Why are we still comparing to something we don't have trust in?" Jackson asked. Councilor Alex Amarotico said little throughout the study session, but did support the localized survey. He also supported Mayor Alan DeBoer's suggestion of working with a class at Southern Oregon University to perform the survey at a lower cost. DeBoer has spoken with SOU representatives and estimated such a poll would cost around $1,500, rather than the $15,000 which is presently budgeted for the project. "From my standpoint, I don't like surveys and I just wouldn't do it," DeBoer said. "But (using SOU) may give us everything we're asking for and save a tremendous amount of money." Morrison agreed that polls can be useful and misleading at the same time, and suggested that the council should aim for the best possible poll if the city is set on having one at all. "We have to use the very best methodology available," Morrison said. "All of that adds to the cost, but it also adds to validity." With the council split between scrapping the survey, using a general national version, or completely revamping the local version, it was decided to bring in an outside consultant to meet with councilors individually to help determine the council's goals before redesigning a survey. The 1998 and 2000 citizen survey results are available on the city Web site, www.ashland.or.us LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -