An impressive 84% of citizens responding to a citizen satisfaction survey conducted last month rated Oklahoma City as an excellent or good place to live and 77% thought Oklahoma City was moving in the right direction.
Two out of three citizens surveyed were very satisfied or satisfied with the overall quality of City services ranking it above the national average. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed (79%) were satisfied with the overall quality of public safety with 89% satisfied with fire protection and 80% satisfied with ambulance service. The quality of City’s water and trash service was also rated high. Seventy-five percent of citizens were satisfied with it.
Citizens also gave high scores on the City’s customer service. Seventy-six percent were satisfied with how City employees treated them. Even more impressive, the percentage of citizens who were satisfied with how City employees handled issues and the accuracy of information and assistance given significantly increased over the 2005 citizen satisfaction survey.
“I’m pleased, but not surprised, that City staff ranked so high in customer service. One of The City’s vital core values is to serve the public competently, dependably and respectfully. We have a well-trained, courteous workforce and it shows,” Couch said.
As in past surveys, citizens were least satisfied with the maintenance of city streets. Citizens listed maintenance of city streets, flow of traffic and ease of getting around town and the quality of the City’s public transit system as the three most important areas for the City to focus on over the next two years. A City Bond Election that would provide more than $800 million in long-term funding to improve or replace infrastructure including streets and traffic control is tentatively set for December 11, 2007.
“The results of our survey were benchmarked against peer cities like Minneapolis, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Saint Louis and Indianapolis. I’m proud to report that we exceeded the benchmark in most of the categories. The survey is an invaluable method of finding out how citizens feel about the services we provide,” said City Manager Jim Couch.
ETC Institute of Olathe, Kansas conducted the survey in June-July 2007. The results were presented to City Council today.
The full survey results are available on the City’s Web site, www.okc.gov.
