On the last day of Mayor Ashton Hayward’s administration, the mayor’s office released the 2018 Community Survey conducted by the UWF Haas Center.
In announcing the results, outgoing Mayor Hayward said, “Pensacola continues to be on the right track and these survey results validate that what we have been focusing on during my administration matches what is important to the community. There is always room for improvement and we take these results very seriously. Public safety and stormwater infrastructure have been a major focus the last few years and it shows in the survey results.”
Of the 14 categories measured, only two, Fire and Police, had higher scores than they received last year – Fire up .13 points and Police up .03 points. Ease of Obtaining Information on City Services remained the same (3.55), but all the other categories dropped. The biggest drops were in City Street Lighting (-.24) and City Sidewalks (-.23).
| 2017 | 2018 | Â +/- | |
| Fire | 4.34 | 4.47 | 0.13 |
| Police | 4.02 | 4.05 | 0.03 |
| Recycling, Garbages | 3.92 | 3.81 | -0.11 |
| City Parks | 3.90 | 3.88 | -0.02 |
| Appearance/Cleanliness | 3.76 | 3.58 | -0.18 |
| Recreational Opportunities | 3.75 | 3.67 | -0.08 |
| Community Centers | 3.69 | 3.56 | -0.13 |
| City Athletic Facilities | 3.68 | 3.53 | -0.15 |
| Value of Services for City Taxes | 3.62 | 3.53 | -0.09 |
| Ease of Obtaining Info | 3.55 | 3.55 | 0.00 |
| City Street Lighting | 3.48 | 3.24 | -0.24 |
| City Streets | 3.42 | 3.33 | -0.09 |
| City Sidewalks | 3.31 | 3.08 | -0.23 |
| Stormwater Infrastructure | 3.16 | 2.99 | -0.17 |
The four-year trends showed a major decline in scores from 2015-2018 for Community Centers (-.40), Sanitation Services (-.39), City Athletic Facilities (-.34), Recreational Opportunities (-.29) and City Street Lighting (-.29). Fire, Police, Stormwater and Appearance are relatively flat – which means Hayward’s emphasis on public safety and stormwater only helped to maintain the status quo.
The biggest improvements over the four past years have been Ease of Obtaining Info (+.28), Value for Taxes (+.24) and City Streets (+.22).
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Â 4-year Trend | |
| Fire | Â 4.46 | Â 4.39 | 4.34 | 4.47 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.01 |
| Police | Â 3.98 | Â 4.03 | 4.02 | 4.05 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.07 |
| Sanitation Services | Â 4.20 | Â 4.04 | 3.92 | 3.81 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.39) |
| City Parks | Â 4.08 | Â 3.99 | 3.90 | 3.88 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.20) |
| Appearance/Cleanliness | Â 3.54 | Â 3.67 | 3.76 | 3.58 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.04 |
| Recreational Opportunities | Â 3.96 | Â 3.77 | 3.75 | 3.67 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.29) |
| Community Centers | Â 3.96 | Â 3.69 | 3.69 | 3.56 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.40) |
| City Athletic Facilities | Â 3.87 | Â 3.67 | 3.68 | 3.53 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.34) |
| Value of Services for City Taxes | Â 3.29 | Â 3.62 | 3.62 | 3.53 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.24 |
| Ease of Obtaining Info | Â 3.27 | Â 3.69 | 3.55 | 3.55 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.28 |
| City Street Lighting | Â 3.53 | Â 3.60 | 3.48 | 3.24 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.29) |
| City Streets | Â 3.11 | Â 3.29 | 3.42 | 3.33 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.22 |
| City Sidewalks | Â 3.28 | Â 3.35 | 3.31 | 3.08 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.20) |
| Stormwater Infrastructure | Â 3.01 | Â 3.07 | 3.16 | 2.99 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (0.02) |
See survey.
Note: The poorer westside city districts, with the largest percentage of minorities, were underrepresented in the 2018 survey. Districts 5 and 7 make up 28.9 percent of the city residents. However only 17.6 percent of the two districts were surveyed. Another 17 percent of the respondents couldn’t identify what district they lived in – the prior surveys didn’t include citizens who didn’t know their districts.