The city of Hermiston has launched a new public survey tool to better understand local priorities and concerns on a wide range of city services and the local quality of life.
The tool will enable the city to collect feedback from the local neighborhood level to community-wide priorities.
Following the intensive Hermiston 2040 survey campaign and other recent efforts to gather public input, the Zencity Community Survey is designed to track resident satisfaction and response to specific efforts over a long period of time.
“We are always striving to get input from residents and this partnership with Zencity will be a great step toward understanding the needs and concerns of our residents to make the best decisions for the future of our city,” said City Manager Byron Smith. “Zencity enables us to have a broader, more representative insight in resident priorities.”
Already underway, the survey will typically gather thousands of responses from Hermiston residents each year in English and Spanish. The survey appears to residents through digital ads in various locations such as news websites, social media platforms, blogs, and apps. Based on responses, the survey will measure resident satisfaction regarding local services and quality of life in the city, while also identifying key concerns residents want the city to address. In addition, residents can find and respond to the survey on the city website.
This initiative builds on an existing partnership between Hermiston and Zencity, the community input platform used by local governments to hear from more residents and get the most meaningful and actionable insights. Starting last year Hermiston began working with Zencity to better understand the feedback residents are already voicing about the issues that matter to them the most — whether on publicly available social media channels, comments on traditional news sources, or through official channels like 311 — helping the city to hear from all corners of the community.
“I applaud forward-thinking leaders like City Manager Byron Smith who understand that effective local government must leverage data on the needs and priorities of residents,” said Zencity CEO Eyal Feder-Levy. “Zencity is proud to provide a platform for cities like Hermiston to reach more voices in the community and turn that input into action.”
Zencity works with hundreds of municipalities across the U.S. including Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, and San Diego on issues ranging from public safety to American Rescue Plan Act implementation.
