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Council discusses final report on quality of life
Interpretation disputed by council members, residents
By Gretchen Knaup
Council members decided to adopt the information provided by the Quality of Life survey, but they're still trying to figure out how to act on the results. Meanwhile, some of residents of Sunnyvale question the accuracy of the survey and say they didn't have enough information to complete it effectively.
According to participants in the survey, Sunnyvale resident's top three priorities for a quality life is a safe community, superior education and a healthy environment. The city council reviewed and discussed the findings of the final report on the survey at their April 24th meeting.
According to the final report, the city asked residents to provide input on eight priorities in a variety of ways. The city hosted three Quality of Life open houses for Sunnyvale residents, and those who could not attend could register their concerns through e-mail or by voting online through a virtual open house. More than 400 residents participated in the survey.
The final report states that the goal of the survey was to identify areas of community concern that could be measured in order to complement municipal programs and services and to develop practical and meaningful measures to include in a quality of life index.
City staff said they're ready to address the Quality of Life priorities, goals and measures as well as use the information accordingly to meet the needs of the citizens.
The report outlined the scope of work, the schedule, and the criteria for selecting task force members. The goal of the report was made very clear. What's not so clear are the means that the city will use to achieve these goals.
Assistant City Manager Amy Chan stated, "The goal of the public participation process was to enlist the perspective and knowledge of community representatives regarding issues and goals that affect the overall quality of life in Sunnyvale."
Sunnyvale resident Tom Mayor added, "Perception is what quality of life is all about."
"A perception of safety and reality can sometimes be different. That is the case in Lakewood Village Park. It's perceived to be a dangerous place, when it's really a safe place in reality," assured Vice Mayor Fred Fowler.
"In order to have the ability to make a judgement call, they (voters) need more facts and terms to do this," stated Raymond Pole, a member of the public and second task force. "They can understand these figures. If you want a meaningful response, you need to ask all of the questions."
Pole later added, "Information needs to be available for the public to understand the data."
Councilman Jim Roberts, who also served as the chair of the task force, replied, "We didn't have the resources."
As the city gets ready to take on these goals, the methodology of the voting procedure is up for debate. Pole admitted, "The questions are great. They need more facts. As indicators the questions are clean. When answering the indicator they should put the measure next to it. This is a problem because it's not a full description. The board has the info, but at the voting poll, those facts weren't there. They (the public) didn't get the full story."
"The intent is not to miscommunicate," Amy Chan argued. "The information was available at both the web site and the polling place."
"If this does not match your quality of life, and we don't know, we can't do anything," Mayor Jack Walker concluded. "Please let us know."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
