Alameda Residents Weigh in On Their Priorities
City Government enjoys strong approval ratings, residents provide comprehensive input on priorities
A recently-commissioned annual Quality of Life community survey shows residents in the City of Alameda highly value their quality of life, with 77% of respondents indicating their neighborhood is headed in the right direction and by virtually 3 to 1 margins, approve of the job City Government is doing.
The survey, conducted this summer by the city’s opinion research professional FM3 Research, was commissioned to assess resident perspectives on their quality of life, including community priorities and needs.
“I want to thank everyone who took the time to participate in this study,” said City Manager Jill Keimach. “We pride ourselves on our community engagement, as the perspectives of our residents are critical to how we prioritize services to address the needs of the public.”
Maintaining the City’s financial stability, police response to 911 and violent crime, fire and emergency medical response were identified as priorities by virtually 80% of respondents. Addressing the cost of housing, traffic and congestion on local streets, and maintaining and repairing storm drains to keep pollution out of the Bay and prevent street flooding were identified as major concerns or priorities by respondents. Additionally, respondents strongly support regulations on the cultivation, processing and sale of cannabis.
Significant percentages of respondents were also interested in local funding measures such as a general purpose measure to maintain quality of life services; a bond to address infrastructure repair; or a gross receipts tax on cannabis businesses.
“State Water Board regulations and other factors require Alameda to make significant repairs and maintenance to the City’s deteriorating storm drain system. Repairs and proper maintenance of our storm drains is necessary to prevent street flooding and pollution from spilling into the Bay and avoiding state fines,” said Liam Garland, Public Works Director.
“This community feedback is extremely helpful. We all look forward to continuing to engage the public on the best way of maintaining our quality of life consistent with our city’s values as we work on the priority issues identified by the community,” said City Manager Keimach.
Click here for the survey results and here for an Executive Summary of the results.
