The results are in and there is good news and bad for the town of Sackville in its latest annual residents’ survey.
Overall, 81% of the 259 people who responded to the online survey during February and March were satisfied with the “overall quality of life” in the town.
In response to the question “How satisfied are you with the following Town of Sackville services?” a majority of respondents indicated satisfaction with fire services (94%), garbage collection (86%) and town parks and facilities (78%).
However, fewer respondents were satisfied with the town’s marketing and communications (61%), tourism initiatives (55%) and the state of Sackville’s roads and sidewalks (49%).
Economic development got the lowest ratings with only 41% expressing satisfaction.
Results were similar when survey respondents were asked to indicate “the three services listed below that you are most happy with”: 51.7% chose fire services, 50.5% selected town parks and facilities while 40.1% chose garbage collection.
Many fewer respondents indicated they were “most happy” with economic development (1.5%), tourism initiatives (6.9%) and the town’s marketing and communications (8.4%).
And only 16.2% indicated they were “most happy” with police services.
Only about half of survey respondents were satisfied with the town’s “budget process and overall management of tax dollars” (51%); its “governance and leadership” (52%) and their “customer service experience” with the town (56%).
The table below also shows results when respondents were asked to list services the town needs to improve:
The 259 people who responded to this year’s survey was up from the 159 who filled it out last year and the 110 who responded in 2018.
To read my coverage of the 2018 survey results, click here.
Results are not scientific
In 2017, Sackville adopted a strategic plan that called for annual residents’ surveys.
It’s not possible to say, however, whether the three surveys conducted so far accurately reflect public opinion.
That’s partly because residents were not polled randomly and partly because respondents themselves chose whether to participate in the survey. A sample size of 259 is far below the 800 to 1,000 sample that would be needed for a scientifically accurate poll.
For more information on the science of polling, click here.
When asked to rate the services they were most happy with, at the very bottom of that list we find the services local citizens have identified as showing the poorest performance – ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT with a satisfaction rate of less than 2%, followed by TOURISM INITIATIVES with just under 7%, and finally MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS with just under 9%.
It is pertinent to note that those same 3 categories, for the past 6 years, have been under the direct supervision of the former Senior Manager of Corporate Projects, Jamie Burke, who has now recently been installed as the Town’s new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
Looking ahead, is this dismal record a foreshadowing of what now lies ahead for our Town under the leadership of Mr Burke?
I would expect it to continue to be neglected or only get worse.
Given that the survey asked people to list “the three services listed below that you are most happy with”, I think that the following part of this article is confusing or misleading (confusing wording between asterisks):
“Respondents were *least happy* with economic development (1.5%), tourism initiatives (6.9%) and the town’s marketing and communications (8.4%).
And only 16.2% *were happy* with police services.”
It’s confusing because people didn’t indicate whether or not they were happy, just whether or not they were **most** happy with these things. This is not just semantics, it’s a very important distinction: if I am asked to choose what three things about my partner I am most happy with, I might say sense of humour, good looks, and thoughtfulness. I am also happy with many other things, like his cleanliness and cooking, but in a survey of 1 person (me) it would/should be listed as “0% people are most happy with his cleanliness”, but with your wording “0% are happy with his cleanliness” — not so, it just doesn’t make the top 3.
Thanks for your comments Danielle. You make a number of valid points about my reporting of this survey. I’ve changed the wording in a number of places in light of your criticisms. Thanks again.
I for one as a business owner of two businesses up until a month and a half ago can say the town has done a poor job on economic development. All I need to do is look 10-15 minutes away to Amherst to see a local municipality that has certainly taken economic development much more seriously. This town seems to think that the university is the only major concern, and has in the past 40 years continued to see business after business leave or go out of business. I actually had a conversation with the mayor of Amherst in the past year and commended him on how open they seem to be to business and economy. Thankfully I now only own one business , and I don’t see the town hall having any future open minded leadership going forward.