Wellington residents have a chance to let their voices be heard through the village’s Great Hometown Survey. By filling out the survey online or in person, residents can weigh in on what issues are most important to them, areas where Wellington can improve and what they like about the village.
Wellington Principal Planner Bill Nemser said that community surveys have grown in popularity, giving governments a cost-effective way to get feedback from a large and diverse section of residents.
“It eliminates a lot of guessing you may be doing about the community’s priorities,” he said. “It’s valuable information because you get to hear from different segments of the community and can determine community support for different initiatives. It provides a baseline for future decision-making.”
It also gives residents an opportunity to give feedback to their local representatives.
“They may sometimes feel their opinions are not represented when decisions are made with their tax dollars,” Nemser said. “This gives people who want to participate an opportunity to be heard and identify their priorities, such as where they want their tax dollars spent and their support or opposition of initiatives or directions in the village.”
The surveys are available through Monday, Nov. 4. Residents can fill one out online by visiting http://wellington.home town.surveyanalytics.com, or in person at most Wellington facilities. There will also be survey teams at village events over the next several weeks.
“We’re gathering information and opinions from residents directly,” Nemser said. “We have gone to different groups, and also had teams at our food truck event and other events at the amphitheater.”
Wellington has also sent out fliers and postcards about the survey, and reached out to residents through local schools.
The anonymous survey takes about six minutes to complete, Nemser said. The first part asks residents to rank different aspects of Wellington — everything from quality of life, the overall direction of the community and the transparency of information to more specific topics such as sidewalk maintenance and drinking water quality.
Residents can rank each item from “excellent” to “very poor” with the option of “not applicable.” The survey also asks about residents’ experiences with crime in the community and about how likely they are to attend certain events or use certain amenities. The remaining questions allow respondents to weigh in on how Wellington can better serve its residents, along with some demographic questions.
“It’s completely anonymous and can be done online,” Nemser said. “We wanted to make sure people would be completely comfortable taking it. Hopefully the responses will be constructive. There are some free-response sections where you can tell us what you like or don’t like.”
The survey was designed through Wellington’s partnership with Florida Atlantic University’s urban and regional planning students. Results of the survey will be tabulated and shared on the village’s web site.
“The results of this survey will be compiled and analyzed by the class,” he said. “The results should be ready by early January, and we’ll post them online.”
Nemser said residents can contact him at (561) 753-2581 or bnemser@wellingtonfl.gov.
“This is a really good thing,” he said. “It’s a good thing to have, and it will provide us with valuable information.”
