City of Kalamazoo to Conduct National Community Survey
People who are okay with things never flood a governmental email account with warm fuzzies. They just go about their day walking their dogs, having grilled cheese sandwiches, watching Gilmore Girls, planning a camping trip Up North, and otherwise living a normal, content, Tiki torch-free life.
Unfortunately, it’s the torches and pitchfork types, a small but extremely loud minority, that scream for all the attention and drown out the majority of people who are quietly fine with things.
The City of Kalamazoo has mailed 3,000 surveys to various homes in our community, asking for residents’ thoughts on different matters. The survey is part of The National Community Survey and is meant to evaluate how the city is doing and help inform what the city should focus on next.
Some people will not open the letters (though they should), others will ignore them once they are opened (though they shouldn’t), and a few will complete the survey but not mail it (just pop it in the mail—it’s not that hard!), meaning a good number of the responses will come from those feeling aggrieved and not from residents who are pleased with things.
Amplify Kalamazoo spoke with Kalamazoo City’s Chief Operating Officer, Laura Lam, about the survey and why it matters for the city to hear from as many residents as possible.
It’s important to point out that people who are okay with things may have many great ideas for improvements.
During the interview, I — NOT Laura — brought up the idea that it’s usually people with axes to grind that fill out surveys, email government officials, and otherwise make sure their points of view are heard. That’s not to say that these people’s ire isn’t warranted, but it is to say that happy and content people’s voices never rise to the same volume.
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In a few weeks, the city will make the survey available online for anyone to fill out. Again, this is the time for people who don’t keep pitchforks in their car trunks to submit their thoughts. These are essentially customer surveys, and it shouldn’t just be dissatisfied customers filling out the survey.
Keep your eyes open for the physical survey in your mailbox or for the opportunity to fill it out online in a few weeks. You can watch the interview with Laura Lam by clicking here and learn more about the survey by clicking here. In the meantime, enjoy your grilled cheese sandwiches and consider a camping trip to Munising this summer, where there are many beautiful waterfalls to explore – no pitchforks required.
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ABOUT ME:
My name is Lem Montero and I enjoyed Miners Falls in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore outside of Munising, MI. Five stars.
If you have any story ideas you’d like us to look into, shoot me an email at lmontero@publicmedianet.org.
