ROTHENBURGER – A modest proposal for a better citizen satisfaction survey

IT WILL SOON BE TIME for the Kamloops citizen satisfaction survey, when taxpayers will have an opportunity to say what they think of their city.

The survey will be carried out in the fall, and it’s an important tool for letting City Hall know what’s going well and what’s not in the Tournament Capital. For example, the last time it was done two years ago, 64 per cent said life had gotten worse but 83 per cent said it’s still good overall.

All kinds of things are covered in the survey, such as perceptions of crime, health care, taxation and culture. The idea is to provide council and staff with information they can use to make plans for the community.

One thing that’s not covered, though, is what kind of a job City council is doing. This would be very helpful to our City fathers and mothers, so I’ve devised 10 simple questions along with multiple choice answers.

If these were added to the survey, I believe they’d yield valuable insights for those in charge. So, please read and think carefully about your answers because it’s also a test of your knowledge of civic affairs.

1. Which of the following is City council’s greatest achievement?
a. the St. Paddy’s Day manifesto.
b. Fartgate.
c. the slide show the mayor wasn’t allowed to use.
d. the truly impressive number of documents and communications that have been leaked.

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Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.