The City of Pensacola has released its 2023 Resident Satisfaction Survey. Here are the key takeaways:
* More than two-thirds of participating residents reported the city is moving in the right direction. About the same number of respondents, 68 percent, viewed downtown Pensacola as a crucial economic driver.
* Respondents were split when asked about their willingness to pay an additional cost for weekly recycling services.
* About 45 percent of participants were satisfied or very satisfied with the City’s efforts to promote the city’s image, while 35 percent remained neutral.
* Access to waterfront is the #1 thing participants love most about living in the City of Pensacola.
* When asked about additional amenities, residents prioritized increased access to water in downtown and additional outdoor recreation options.
* When asked to consider the top two priorities for current city initiatives, respondents chose to reduce homelessness and to decrease crime.
* Participants rated Aviation and Aerospace as the business sector likely to bring the most job growth to the area.
* Regarding public safety, 52 percent of respondents listed gun violence as their top concern.
At this morning’s presser, I asked Mayor D.C. Reeves how he plans to use the survey.
“It becomes a little bit of a guiding document of understanding what the City values,” he said. “It’s just nice to know as we’re making decisions and we’re prioritizing different projects that what’s important to the system. And so that’s what I mean by kind of a guiding document. If there’s obviously if there’s anything that is adverse to an initiative that we’re having, maybe that’s something that we take another look at.”
Between 4 and 5% of the population at least started the survey. I bet many of them were motivated because of their connection to downtown and probably tied to clubs and organizations who made their money downtown, which……Its a survey that most likely doesn’t contain a true representation of the population that live in the city. I would be careful trusting its real meaning. Its a data point, and useful to a point.but it’s not a statistically valid set of results if you are trying to argue its a valid representation of what the people want.
The Haas survey is about as useful as the Studer survey which to say not very useful. It’s basically an opinion poll that measures “perception.” It does not measure “reality” (facts). Imagine instead if city residents were asked to assess the effectiveness of the Pensacola Police Department but were first told that the last crime report issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement describes the city’s crime rate as 67.8% higher than the Florida rate? That’s pretty bad. It’s no surprise then if more Pensacola Police Officers live in Santa Rosa County than in the City of Pensacola. Mayor Reeves says that he does not want to use available city dollars to fix the Malcolm Yonge Gym but instead demolish it to make way for a community of tiny homes where he think city police officers and firefighters will want to live. In September, Reeves referred to “14 units or 16.” His father’s non-profit has built a “model” tiny home across the street from the gym.
Perhaps they are working hand-in-glove. City residents are mostly kept in the dark about the basic facts of city government. Since 2016, the Council had denied the public and media access to a monthly crime report it gets from PPD. Also, very few people have read the January 2023 mayoral transition report. I bet many council members haven’t read it either. In the report, Escambia County Chief Deputy Tommi Lyter (a former PPD Chief and now for a few years a city resident) writes, “The largest threat to public safety in the city of Pensacola is traffic crashes.” If a city resident taking the Haas survey knew what Lyter had written, and some basic facts about traffic safety in the city, how do you think they would reply if asked, “Do you support the Pensacola City Council’s decision this year to reduce the Pensacola Police Department’s Traffic Unit by 60%?” [According to the city budget document, the Traffic Unit is also the DUI Unit.] My guess is that most city residents would be shocked that Mayor Reeves would demand and the Council so meekly approve such a dumb action. Police Chief Randall’s explanation to the Council in August was that the PPD lacks enough “experienced” officers to serve in the Traffic Unit so they’re reducing the number of positions. First off, what’s really going on inside the PPD? This sounds ominous. Second, why can’t the city contract with the Sheriff to provide the Traffic Unit function? Sheriff Simmons knows how to arrest drunk drivers on Gallery Night. Basically, the Haas survey asks city residents to blindly describe how they feel about subjects about which they know nothing. As example, city residents were asked to rate how they feel about the city’s tree canopy. They were not told the percentage of the city’s current tree canopy or how it has been reduced in recent years. I know that the city planted 30 long leaf pines in the park across the street from my home and then mowed down 24 of them leaving only six left. That’s how they do things in the city. Imagine instead if city residents were asked a very specific question related to the city’s tree canopy like, “Do you support the Pensacola City Council’s decision to authorize the use of the city’s limited Tree Planting Trust Funds to cut down even more trees?” Pretty sure that city residents would be shocked if they knew. Mayor Reeves’ justification in January is a claim that the city is broke and has no General Revenue or Local Option Sales Tax revenues available to cut down the trees like they used to do. Rather than boldly resign in protest, the city’s Parks & Recreation Board and Environmental Advisory Board mostly kept their mouths shut few of them wanting to be labeled as troublemakers. Channel 3 reports that people’s alleged top ranked priority is waterfront access. Really? Channel 3 showed a picture of Pensacola Beach as if its in the City of Pensacola. It’s not. A more insightful question might have been to ask how often people visit the city’s waterfront? Few of my neighbors in Scenic Heights even ever go downtown most wanting to avoid it. An even more insightful question would have been to ask if it was more important for the city to improve infrastructure in their neighborhood or in downtown? Lastly, above we’re told that “additional outdoor recreation options” are of great interest to city residents. Ending the privatization of Parks & Recreation facilities and programs would be a good first step. For this year, the Council voted to spend less than 3% of its entire Local Option Sales Tax budget to “improve” parks, athletic facilities and resource centers. That is the “real” bad story here.