Minutes - Council Work Session - 03/19/2024 - Special

Home

Councilmember Musgrove agreed and added that she would also like to remove question D2 about health as she does not see how this question would help the City with their missions and objectives. She said she does not see how these questions relate to the work that they do. She noted that they also get income data from the County so she does not see why they would need to ask about someone’s income as they already get a general idea about this from the County. She said she would like the questions to get more feedback from residents on the role that the City plays and the services it provides. Councilmember Woestehoff asked for more information on how these demographic questions are used to cross-reference the census data. City Administrator Hagen explained that the survey company that they are using does surveys nationally. He said they will compare the survey responses to the nation, then to the State and region, then to communities in the region of similar size in the region. He said the company wants to weight these responses. He stated he is not sure if they also calculate the weight based on race data. He said the main reason for these questions is to make sure the feedback is representative of the community. Councilmember Howell reiterated that the census has its own purpose and it is not the City’s job to help out with this. She noted that historically, when people are put into racial categories it has not ended well. She added that she does not know what they do with this data outside of the City’s use of it and she does not want any part of that. She noted that she also does not know why they have an interest in how often people check their emails, visit social media sites, and shop online as asked in question D1. Mayor Kuzma asked if the Council would like to strike these questions from the survey. Councilmember Woestehoff said he would like to get more information from the survey company before removing these questions. He noted that without these questions they could be risking the data and if it is appropriate for what the community is. He added that if they do not have this information then it is possible that they are only catering to one demographic of people rather than a representation of the entire community. Mayor Kuzma asked if these questions are similar to survey questions that have been sent in the past. City Administrator Hagen explained that D14a is a new question; however, the rest of the questions were all on the survey in 2020. He said he can go back to the survey company and ask them if these questions were to be eliminated if they would still get good weighted results from the survey. Councilmember Howell asked how they would be representing everyone in the community by asking for racial data if there is not an answer for people who are a race that is not listed. She reiterated that this question is not inclusive and taking all races and putting them into six response options does not give them accurate data. She noted they have a wide variety of races represented in the City. She emphasized that she would like this question, D12, and question D11 to be struck from the survey regardless of what the survey company says. City Council Work Session / March 19, 2024 Page 2 of 17