Since 2014, Mayor Ashton Hayward has hired the University of West Florida Haas Center to survey city residents about their satisfaction with services his administration offers.
In his press release today, Mayor Hayward discussed the importance of the survey.
“I think these survey results validate that our priorities are aligned with the community’s expectations,†said Mayor Hayward. “The survey data is useful to us as we begin our budget planning process.”
Unfortunately, the city district with the highest poverty and largest percentage of minorities has been repeatedly underrepresented in the survey.
The Tanyard and the rest of District 7 contain 13.5 percent of the residents in the city limits, 55 percent of its population is minority. However, the Haas Center has surveyed an average of only 7.8% of its residents.
Meanwhile, District 1 has the smallest percentage of residents (12.9%), but it has made up an average of 15.15% of the survey–19.7% this year. Districts 3 and 4 are the two city districts that are more than 90% white. They contain 28.2% of city residents. However, the Districts 3 and 4 are 36.62% of the survey on average–40.7% this year.
If Mayor Hayward wants to be sure his priorities are aligned will all aspects of his community, shouldn’t he insist the survey fairly cover all the districts?
Rather than having the Haas Center question people attending Gallery Night, Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival, Palafox Market and Foo Foo Fest, he should have them knock on doors in District 7.
District 7 is battling several issues – Government Street Stormwater Pond, redevelopment of Hallmark and Blount school properties, and the proposed closure of Morris Court playground. They deserve to be heard as much as Cordova Park, especially when the mayor uses the survey to determine the budget for the upcoming year.
The Pensacola Community Survey does a good job of gauging the feelings of the more affluent east side of Pensacola. The west side is left on the fringes again.
| City District | Residents | 2014 Survey | 2015 Survey | 2016 Survey | 3-Yr Avg |
| 1 | 12.9% | 18.1% | 7.6% | 19.7% | 15.14% |
| 2 | 15.6% | 12.3% | 17.5% | 10.1% | 13.29% |
| 3 | 13.0% | 18.1% | 12.9% | 21.3% | 17.44% |
| 4 | 15.2% | 16.5% | 21.6% | 19.4% | 19.17% |
| 5 | 14.0% | 13.3% | 18.0% | 10.8% | 14.04% |
| 6 | 15.8% | 13.5% | 14.2% | 11.5% | 13.07% |
| 7 | 13.5% | 8.2% | 8.1% | 7.2% | 7.82% |