'It's really encouraging': Palm Beach mayor pleased with response to community survey

More than 1,200 residents and employees have completed the Town of Palm Beach community survey, far more than was needed to get a good sampling size, Mayor Danielle Moore told the Town Council last week.

During a presentation to council members at their Aug. 9 meeting at Town Hall, Moore noted that the total number of verified, unduplicated responses to the survey launched  last month was 3 1/2 times more than was needed to get a balanced distribution.

Residents and employees have until Friday to submit their surveys, which will be used to develop the town’s updated strategic plan.

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"It's really encouraging to see so many people respond to the survey," Moore said. "We know the last time the town did a survey, the response was not very broad. The board is very pleased with the way that is coming in."

The survey is designed to examine issues related to quality of life, environmental resilience and economics in the town.

Last fall, the Town Council approved a resolution establishing an ad hoc advisory strategic planning board tasked with writing a new long-range plan, which would replace the one completed in 2003 and updated in 2012.

It will provide basic policy direction to all functions and operations of government regarding the town's social, economic and physical development, according to documents.

The Strategic Planning Board will submit a proposed plan to the council no later than its regular meeting on April 11. It will cover a period of five years, and will be submitted in a form that would permit it to be periodically updated.

An important part of the strategic plan is to gather data through the community survey process, town officials said.

Town staff teamed with Community Data Platforms (CDP), a national data analytics firm, to develop a survey tool that solicits feedback on topics that were identified as part of the Strategic Planning Board’s SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and Critical Success Factors analysis.

Town staff and CDP’s survey methodologists tailored questions that would provide the town with ''actionable information'' needed to support the development of the updated strategic plan.

Survey results will be ''benchmarked'' with other communities, and the aggregate results will be presented through an ''intuitive dashboard so town leaders can develop and execute an evidence-based strategy.''

As of Aug. 9, 1,250 people had completed the survey, Moore announced.

Sixty-six percent of those who responded are full-time residents, and 17% are part-time residents, Moore said. Thirteen percent work in the town, while the remainder come to the town for leisure.

Respondents are well-distributed geographically, Moore said, with 400 living in Midtown, 240 in the North End and 300 in the South End.

Eighty respondents live in families with a child younger than 18. Moore described that figure as "interesting."

"I think the demographic is changing a little bit," she said.

The survey is open to ages 18 and older, and is available in English and Spanish.

To take the survey, visit hcdp.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5A9mytja6tnu3Ii?ProjectName=Town_of_Palm_Beach.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach encouraged by response to new community survey