Monday, January 12, 2004 Shoreline Conference Center

6:00 p.m. Highlander Room

PRESENT: Mayor Hansen, Deputy Mayor Jepsen, Councilmembers Chang, Fimia, Grace, Gustafson, and Ransom

ABSENT: none

GUEST: Ron Vine, ETC Institute

STAFF: Steve Burkett, City Manager; Robert Olander, Deputy City Manager; Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager; and Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director

Mayor Hansen convened the meeting at 6:20 p.m.

Steve Burkett, City Manager, introduced Ron Vine, ETC Institute, who described his firm, which is based in Oletta, Kansas. He said he has worked in 40 different states on public policy research. He will be developing the Citizen Satisfaction Survey for the City of Shoreline.

Mr. Vine outlined the goals of the survey: 1) to measure customer satisfaction across many service areas; and 2) to find out what the highest priorities are for Shoreline citizens. He explained his firm’s “Direction Finder” survey techniques, which he has used in more than 70 communities. He exemplified this approach with survey information from the City of Fort Worth, Texas. He concluded that his role is to gather information so that decision-makers can make better decisions and have enough information to set priorities.

Mr. Burkett added that in all probability there will not be a lot of new revenue in the next couple of years, so that even attempting to continue to offer some levels of service may require reductions.

Mr. Vine described the process for tonight’s discussion:

· Cement the goals for the survey;

· Look at the services that are to be measured;

· Develop key issues and/or questions the Council wishes to be answered in the survey; and

· Confirm the methodology for the survey. Mr. Vine said the survey would produce 500 responses (written and by telephone) in a statistically valid manner. Responses will be geo-coded to ensure distribution throughout the City.

He described the proposed timelines for the process:

· draft survey in late January;

· final version of survey in late February;

· conduct survey in March; and

· report results in April.

Councilmembers made comments on the goals of the survey, including:

· Customer or resident satisfaction with current services

· Educate the public about the service that they are receiving from the City and current service levels

· Understand the different languages that are spoken/overall diversity

· Prioritize categories of services

· Understand what our residents want in order to make better decisions—use as a tool.

Moving on to another topic, Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director, provided an overview of the Suburban Cities Association’s process for making appointments to the regional and King County Charter committees where it is the appointing authority. Councilmembers discussed which committees they would like to volunteer to serve on, including:

· Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board Mayor Hansen

· PSRC Transportation Policy Board Councilmember Chang

· PSCR Growth Management Policy Board Councilmember Ransom

· Growth Management Planning Council Councilmember Ransom

· Regional Water Quality Committee Councilmember Gustafson

Council also named Mayor Hansen to continue serving as Shoreline’s representative on the Suburban Cities Association Management Board and asked him to attend the January 21 SCA Northeast Regional Caucus meeting to cast Shoreline’s votes for committee appointments.

Additionally, Deputy Mayor Jepsen and Councilmember Ransom agreed to serve as Shoreline’s representatives on the SeaShore Transportation Forum.

Mayor Hansen declared the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

__________________________________________________________

Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director