Community survey's open-ended question is revealing
Marin County officials just released its most recent Marin County community survey.
Commissioning a professional opinion poll every five years is a good move. County supervisors and Marin's top managers need to use every reasonable means to stay aware of the public's pulse.
The survey's most productive use is revealing the public's sense of what are and aren't issues of widespread concern.
One revealing question used an open-ended format. Instead of survey respondents' reactions to issues which the survey's preparer considers important, the respondents themselves pick the issues and set priorities unprompted.
It asked, “What do you think is the biggest priority the Marin County government should focus on in the next five years?”
By a mile, the top issue is “housing” with 31% saying it's their top priority. Nothing else comes close. Only 9% were satisfied “with the availability of affordable, quality housing.”
Two issues tied in second among the hierarchy of priorities at 12% each. They are, “homelessness and services for other vulnerable residents” and “climate change and the natural environment.”
Elected officials should take the former as a message that the public is displeased with the government's handling of chronic homelessness despite huge sums spent in vain. “Chronic” refers to those with long-term mental health and substance abuse issues.
“Climate change” reflects Marin's history of environmentalism and fear, particularly among younger residents, that they and their children will be forced to endure climate's new norms unless major actions are promptly taken.
At the low end, 2% of respondents voluntarily indicated that “education” and issues related to “diversity, equity and inclusion” should be county government's top priorities. “Education' is low on the list, not because it's not considered important. Most regard Marin schools highly but understand that education isn't provided by county government. Schools are managed by independent districts.
The survey reflected that “diversity” is clearly not a high priority for those who aren't impacted by Marin's lack of it. Yet, when asked, 75% of residents replied that “eliminating racial disparities” is important.
It may be that “diversity” is considered esoteric and doesn't spring to mind, as might more specific subjects such as “safety and crime.” Revealingly, that issue was listed as the top priority by only 6% of respondents.
The survey reports that approximately “nine in 10 favorably rated their feeling of safety from violent crime, while eight in 10 said the same about property crime and the overall feeling of safety in Marin County.” Confidence in our police, fire and paramedics remains high. Asked whether their own neighborhood is safe, 89% said yes.
Queries on emergency preparedness showed that only 59% of respondents gave a positive response. That's a healthy 17% improvement of the public's perception of preparedness for wildfires, floods and earthquakes since the 2018 community survey.
Ninety percent of residents stated that “improving disaster preparedness was essential or very important.” Polling shows Marin residents understand that county government, municipalities and fire districts hear them. That confidence was expressed by voters in 2020, when 70.8% of them approved instituting a tax creating the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.
A troubling result occurred when residents were asked to rate the “availability of affordable quality child care/preschool.”
Only 34% of responses said it was adequate. Of locales where that question has been previously asked, Marin rated near the bottom at 241 out of 292 communities nationwide.
In Marin, where the overall perception of quality of life is higher than in most other American communities, this lack of affordable, quality child care is a call to action. It's not just a Marin issue. It's a national quandary.
If society wants to encourage healthy, prosperous families, sufficient high quality child care is essential. The community survey shows that's one field in which Marin can do better.