By Kevin J Sabo
For the Advance
The County of Paintearth is hoping that a personal touch will convince the residents of the region to answer some questions about the municipality.
Beginning the week of Nov. 19, the seven council members representing the seven districts of the county will begin going door to door hand-delivering a new public survey that they are asking residents to fill out. The information collected will be used by county administration and council as they continue working on their strategic and budget plans.
“We want to see how satisfied people are with the various services,” said Paintearth County CAO Michael Simpson. “The surveys are being hand-delivered to increase public engagement.”
Historically, public engagement of these types of survey’s is low, with only 10 to 15 per cent of surveys sent out being returned. “We want to bring the voice of the public to the table,” says Simpson.
The five-page, 46- question survey is also being delivered with a postage-paid envelope to further ease the process. The survey will cover a broad range of topics, from Municipal Services to county reputation.
County administration is requesting that all surveys be returned to the county office no later than Dec. 14. All surveys will be processed anonymously, and a summary report will be made available in late Dec. or early Jan. 2019.