City of Emporia leadership was very pleased with the results of a recently completed community survey.
This was the third community survey sent out to local residents since 2022 aimed at gathering feedback from citizens on the strengths and weaknesses of city operations. The results were presented to Emporia City Commissioners during their most recent study session on March 20 and were discussed at length by commissioners Jamie Sauder and Becky Smith as well as City Manager Trey Cocking and Director of Special Projects Tayler Wash during KVOE’s Talk of Emporia Friday.
Cocking says the survey is a healthy mixture of both positive and negative feedback stating that before the survey was available the only way local leadership received any feedback on operations was through what he calls the “Facebook feedback loop” which almost always contained only negative criticism.
According to Cocking, this year’s survey saw 481 responses, well above the city’s goal of 400. Commissioner Smith was very pleased with this level of participation saying they need residents to come forward with their feedback because without it the city wouldn’t know what or where the major issues are within the community.
Cocking also noted that out of the better than 480 responses to the survey, roughly 25 percent of feedback came from the local Hispanic population. That percentage was a welcomed statistic to local leaders as increasing participation and interaction with non-English speaking residents has been a major goal for administrators in recent years.
Commissioner Sauder noted that if they are to make Emporia the best it can be, they have to have input from all residents.
In addition to providing the necessary feedback mentioned above, the survey results are also being used for another purpose, a strategic visioning process. Wash explains what this new process entails.
City commissioners already held their first visioning session during the March 20 study meeting with more to follow in the coming weeks. Exact dates and a timeline for the process are currently pending.
