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Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated staff recommends the method 5, third party <br />mail as it would result in a high quality, statistically significant, professional product that will <br />also balance efficient use of both City financial and human resources. <br />Councilmember Backous asked why there is a rating of 4 on method 3, utility bill survey insert. <br />Assistant to the City Administrator Brama explained that the first three methods would use <br />customized survey questions so that type of survey would be unreliable to compare answers with <br />other communities as other communities may not ask the same question. <br />Councilmember Backous stated it depends on the City's goals. He stated he thinks methods 4 <br />(third party phone) and 5 (third party mail) are costly and if Ramsey's goal is to measure what it <br />wants to accomplish within Ramsey, it does not matter what other communities are doing. <br />Mayor Strommen stated another issue with making comparisons based on a statistical sample <br />and cross section, is that a different response will be realized if the survey is within a utility bill. <br />Councilmember Riley stated he is interested in getting "bang for the buck" and the utility billing <br />option would provide good value for the dollars spent. In addition, more residents will be aware <br />of the City's survey when compared to only 300 residents being included in method 4, third <br />party telephone survey. <br />Councilmember Kuzma asked if an article could be inserted into the Ramsey Resident to drive <br />residents to fill out a website survey. <br />Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated that is a low cost option but may create a <br />barrier if the older generation is not comfortable using the website. He stated those drawbacks <br />should be weighed. <br />Councilmember Backous stated he does not want the City to become too mired in scientific data. <br />He noted that with the on -line route, there will be a younger demographic and with the utility <br />billing, there will be an older demographic. He supported using the simplest method that does <br />not take productivity out of City staff. <br />Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated Councilmember Backous is correct that with <br />the utility billing or Ramsey Resident methods, staff soft costs are substantially higher and that is <br />a major reason staff proposes method 5, third party mail survey. He clarified that with a <br />telephone survey, if 300 to 400 responses are received, it means that 2,000 to 2,500 calls have <br />been made. <br />Councilmember Johns asked if the point of the survey is to ask how the City is doing or to <br />benchmark against other cities, noting once that is decided then the best method can be <br />determined. <br />Mayor Strommen stated the purpose is to measure progress on the Strategic Plan within certain <br />parameters. She stated it also allows an opportunity to reach out and get a read on other issues <br />City Council Work Session / March 11, 2014 <br />Page 6 of 9 <br />