Survey: Residents less than enamoured with South Tahoe
By Kathryn Reed
While the number of people who believe South Lake Tahoe is going in the correct direction increased by 50 percent in the most recent survey compared to the prior year, the majority of survey takers said the city is off track.
Partial results from the December citizen survey were just released. Twenty-two percent believe the city is on the right path. While that is a dismal percentage, the 2010 survey had 15 percent believing in what the city was doing.
This was the largest percentage increase in all the questions asked.
The goal of the annual survey that was started in 2010 is to ask residents and business owners a series of questions to find out how the city is doing in a number of areas. From there it is up to staff and the City Council to figure out how to improve on those numbers.
“We have to do a better job in the services we are delivering,” City Manager Tony O’Rourke told Lake Tahoe News. “We need to focus less on ourselves and more on the public.”
This was in response to 29 percent of respondents believing they get value for their tax dollars. That dropped two percentage points from 2010.
Forty-one percent of the people who were sent a survey filled it out – or 444 people. The 2010 survey had a 35 percent response rate. On things like this response rates usually range between 25 percent and 40 percent.
Twenty-two questions were about the city, though many were multi-part. For example, under the question about the quality of services in South Lake Tahoe, 38 areas needed to be graded either excellent, good, fair, poor or don’t know.
The highest rated city department was fire at 88 percent believing these men and women do a good job. However, garbage collection was at 92 percent – the top ranked entity. But garbage isn’t even a city business; South Tahoe Refuse is a private company that contracts with the city.
“I’m going to make it a point to have these garbage guys visit our staff,” O’Rourke said. “That is the type of customer service we want to obtain.”
The worst area in the city is streets – with an approval rating of 14 percent. That is the same number from 2010.
Besides comparing the results from year-to-year, the city also puts itself up against other cities in the United States.
Out of 339 cities, garbage service in South Lake Tahoe is ranked eighth best. This compares to street repair that is No. 391 out of 400. That means people in nine other cities have a bumpier, more unpleasant experience than people here.
Snow removal, which is considered a core service, received a 63 percent good-excellent rating. Compared to other cities, South Tahoe is 108 out of 255.
O’Rourke wants to do what he can to make the number go higher. It’s impossible to know if all the news about cutbacks to the department as well as last year’s heavy snowfall that was not always plowed to residents’ satisfaction contributed to the rating.
But it was up 3 percentage points from the previous year.
O’Rourke said he was alarmed with only 30 percent saying business service is good or excellent.
“We are ranked 156 out of 170 and we are a tourist destination where service should be our hallmark. That is a horrible story,” O’Rourke said. “I think the pubic is critical, but not in an overly negative way. They call it like they see it.”
Staff, as was done a year ago as well, was also surveyed. All those results will not be made public until employees hear the news first. However, O’Rourke said overall feelings “went from neutral to slightly negative.”
“It seems like employees feel picked upon. But we have to be fiscally solvent before we are mother hens,” O’Rourke said. “There is a nexus to what we do today and how it affects us down the road.”
In coalescing all of this information the city also sought data from neighboring counties with the main goals to find out the percentage of employees who were let go in the last year, change to the pension and health care plans, and what the significant impacts were. South Lake Tahoe officials in this chart provide that information.
The citizen survey will most likely be discussed in full at the March 6 City Council meeting. It is slated to be released at that time as well. The council could make changes to the strategic and business plans that were adopted last year to incorporate any information from the survey.
If O’Rourke would like to have a rating like the Garbage Company, what he has to do is Throw out the garbage.
Starting with Himself, and the rest of the Council and Nancy Kerry, The citizens must elect new faces.
It will be nice to see the if the City truly will release the results of the Staff survey, I for 1 know that the Staff dis-likes Mr. O’Rourke more than any other City Mgr. in the history of the City of So Lake Tahoe, He is a bully and and he has about as much class as a stopped up sink,if it were put to a vote, he would receive an F- for what he has done to the moral of this City. It is Shameful.
Anyone that rattles the cage is disliked. Of course the city staff do not like Mr O’Rourke, their cushy jobs could be in jeopardy and while they’re there they actually have to work. What a concept. I thought it was funny that you stated above about street repair.
” This compares to street repair that is No. 391 out of 400. That means people in nine other cities have a bumpier, more unpleasant experience than people here.”
What you should have said is “that means there are 390 cities that do a lot better than South Lake Tahoe”
Remember Mr. O’Rourke serves at the pleasure of the city council. He must be doing what the city council dictates or he would be gone. And I know that costs lots of money with employment contracts and not “at will” employment.
X Local I could not agree more. Kerry & O’Rourke definitely need to go!
The service in this town does stink. I’d bet most of the people complaining right here are the ones giving out the bad service.
How does one take the “citizen survey”?
Street repair was abandon when the City Overlay summer project was eliminated back in the 90’s
becuase the City was so far in Debt from
phase 1 of Redevelopment
in the last 23 years the City has done a lot of things to make the $9,000,000.00
a year bond payment.
Bob, I have to agree with you about the customer service. Although I love the serenity and beauty of Tahoe, there is a stark difference to the level of customer service in SLT, as opposed to other areas in California.
Having lived in Tahoe for several years, I was proud to invite guests into town for family events, but each time we had a running joke “that’s Tahoe customer service for ya!”. I can only wonder if it is intentional in order to keep the tourists out? The only thing was, I was not a tourist.
Not to say the service is bad everywhere in every place in Tahoe, please don’t get me wrong. I am actually working on writing an article about specific great customer service experiences I had in Tahoe (naming businesses that have excelled in my opinion), but there seems to be the mentality of, “if you’re not local, you’re not worthy of excellence in service”. It’s sad but true.
I wonder if everyone (all businesses) realize that without the money of tourists and local customers, they would not have a job, or a paycheck? There is a link missing.
Use the model established by the garbage service. Subcontract out services, don’t hire city employees to perform the work. When the services don’t meet the residents’ standards, hire a new subcontract company. No Pendions, No post employment healthcare payments. What could convince someone not to follow this approach?
Bravo Tahoeadvocate
Tahoeadvocate and dryclean:
Isn’t that what’s happening with the Ice Arena? The City was losing money when operating/managing that faciity and subcontracting that out is now bringing in revenue.
X and SLT Local,
What is your beef with Nancy Kerry? I can understand the disenchantment with Mr. O’Rourke but in my experience, Ms. Kerry has shown herself to be a very experienced, hard working, compassionate and community minded public servant. I have had the opportunity to work with her and hold her in very high regard. I believe your attacks on her are linked to the fact that she now is the City’s communication official as well as Mr. O’Rourke’s assistant. She was serving this city long before Mr. O’Rourke’s arrival. As communications offical she has had to respond to several troubling issues….issues not of her making. DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!
If you knew her like I do, you would not have such a negative opinion of her.
dissolve the city of south lake tahoe.
As an ‘outsider’ of over 50 years, what is also not said is the “City” needs to shore up supposed support for a ‘future’ with much higher support for their own adopted Sustainability Action Plan.
Leaving the now-seated-for-over-two-years Sustainability Commission “twisting-in-the-wind” contradicts and confounds the whole reason for its’ creation: honoring what direction the highest category in what yet another City survey called for: a green, healthy city, with overall well-being for the citizens.
Interesting also that 92% rating for STR, as an ongoing partner in the composting route created over two years ago now, they have, as always, just quietly done their job as an excellent contributor to one of the items in the Sustainability Action Plan, Healthy Food Systems (#9)
How is “food waste” such a positive (?)
Well, when you have at the other end of that route one of the better soils people in the West producing high-grade soil to be used in creating nutritious produce, once the City figures out what “fiscal sustainablity” is, they might actually get on to the part about how changing the community for the better starts with an important building block.
In the now-over-a-year since a strategic business plan for the second phase of doing just that was introduced to all of them, not one person within the so-called administration has made so much as a comment.
This of course would make it difficult to explain how this can be fiscally easily accomplished, being the one area of Federal funding that is still showing any sign of life: community growing programs !!
How much back-pedaling are we to continue to do before we “graduate” back to the big-leagues of becoming a highly serviceable, beautiful place to be (?)
The answer to that question is why my “mantra” continues to be advocating for “policies equal to the scenery”. . .
Sigh !?!