2011 Citizen Survey: Clayton City Services Fulfill Community Expectations

May 16, 2011

Results of the 2011 Citizen Satisfaction Survey indicate that Clayton citizens rate City services very highly.

May 16, 2011, CLAYTON, Missouri . . . results of Clayton’s 2011 citizen satisfaction survey were presented to the Board of Aldermen on May 10. Major findings from this year's survey show that 96% of the residents surveyed feel that the quality of life in Clayton is excellent/good; 94% are very satisfied/satisfied with the quality of public safety services and 92% with the overall quality of City services.

In an ongoing effort to improve performance, the City solicits opinions from Clayton residents on an annual basis. Each year, the citizen satisfaction survey is conducted to gauge how the community rates the quality of City services. ETC Institute, a national leader in the design and administration of market research for local governments, helped administer the 2011 Clayton citizen satisfaction survey, which was sent to 1,800 randomly selected households.

“The expectations of City government are very high in Clayton,” ETC Institute’s Karen Falk told the Board during her presentation in May. “Your residents should know that the survey provides measurable proof that your City is meeting those expectations by comparing your ratings to similar communities across the country.”

Benchmarks that compare Clayton to other municipalities regionally and nationally show 91% of the survey respondents in Clayton feel safe in their neighborhoods compared to 75% in other cities in the region and 68% nationally. Clayton is ranked significantly higher, in some cases more than 35% higher, in satisfaction with the City's efforts in preventing crime and fires, in providing customer service, in keeping the community informed, in maintaining streets and managing traffic flow.

The City plans to conduct citizen surveys annually to maintain the mutual recognition between City staff and the community it serves. The final results of all citizen surveys are available at claytomo.gov/citizensurvey