FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORT
MYERS, Fla. (April 22, 2002) – A
random sample of 1,200 Lee County residents will be receiving a survey in the
mail this week from Lee County Government.
The five-page questionnaire is
intended to help gauge residents’ use of and satisfaction with county programs
and services as well as their perceptions and attitudes about challenges and
issues facing our area. It is being
conducted by the Colorado-based National Research Center in association with the
International City and County Management Association (ICMA).
Lee County hasn’t conducted
such a citizen survey since 1995.
“This is just another tool we
can use to get a read on what residents are thinking,” said Pete Winton, the
county’s Communications Director. “The
random sample ensures the results are balanced.”
The random sample includes
residents of the county’s municipalities because many county services such as
libraries, transit, animal control and EMS are provided countywide.
Other services, such as county parks and roads, also are accessed and
used by those who live in cities.
The five-page questionnaire
should take only minutes to complete because many of the responses require only
checking the appropriate box or ranking services based on a predetermined scale. There is an open-ended question, however, that asks residents
what, in their opinion, is the biggest challenge facing Lee County.
Lee County Government is asking
residents who receive the questionnaire to please take the time to complete it
because the better the response rate, the better the results.
Lee
County Government has 2,100 employees, operates 25 departments and divisions,
and spends more than $500 million annually on an array of projects, programs and
services, including Parks & Recreation, Libraries, Roads, Public Safety,
Public Transit, Animal Control, Utilities, Community Development, Human
Services, Natural Resources Management, Economic Development and the Visitor
& Convention Bureau.