A public opinion poll recently commissioned by the City of Morgan Hill found that most residents who responded are “highly satisfied” with the quality of life here, according to a press release from city staff.
Much slimmer majorities said they would support potential ballot measures for a local sales tax and growth control ordinance update in the November election, but the research firm that conducted the survey said such initiatives are “viable.”
More than 90 percent of respondents rated the city’s quality of life as “excellent” or “good,” according to the survey results. The survey also showed that residents see maintaining public safety, streets and roads, fiscal stability and keeping a safe, clean, reliable local water supply as important city priorities.
“We are happy residents have given us a good quality of life rating,” said Morgan Hill City Manager Steve Rymer. “These results show our community wants us to continue our efforts to keep our neighborhoods healthy and safe. Doing so maintains our quality of life and helps to protect local property values.”
The survey was conducted by Godbe Research from Nov. 20 through Dec. 9, 2015. The City Council voted to commission the survey July 8, for a cost of about $33,000.
The council’s objectives in ordering the survey include to assess overall perceptions of life in Morgan Hill; gauge support for potential future ballot measures; determine residents’ satisfaction with the delivery of city services; assess awareness of the city’s financial situation; and determine the most pressing problems facing Morgan Hill.
The scientific survey selected a random sample of 501 residents, and consisted of both telephone and internet interviews, explained Morgan Hill Communications Manager Maureen Tobin.
The sample is representative of the “universe” of 16,528 Morgan Hill residents likely to vote in November 2016, according to Godbe’s report.
No representatives of City Hall were involved in the interviews or compilation of data, which was left entirely to Godbe Research, Tobin added.
Among other findings, the survey found respondents prioritized maintenance and repairs to the city’s water system, city staff said. About 86 percent of respondents agreed that work on this citywide infrastructure is necessary.
On the question of whether voters would support a local sales tax to fund basic city services—police, fire, street maintenance and traffic relief, parks and public buildings and other “general city services”—almost 58 percent said “definitely yes” or “probably yes.”
Specifically, this question posed a hypothetical three-quarter cent ongoing sales tax that would raise $5.35 million per year “that cannot be taken by the state.”
For the last two years, city council members have discussed the need for such a local sales tax, which the city currently does not have. A possible ballot measure has been discussed in the context of City Hall’s ongoing shortage of funds from current sources to improve streets and related infrastructure, and keep them maintained.
The survey also showed respondents value Morgan Hill as a great place to raise a family, with 92.2 percent saying Morgan Hill was an “excellent” or “good” community for doing so, the city’s press release said.
But some more pointed questions in the survey did not yield such overwhelmingly enthusiastic responses. When asked what direction Morgan Hill is going, about 51 percent responded “right direction,” while about 34 percent said “wrong direction.”
When asked how well Morgan Hill is providing services, about 10 percent said “excellent,” 48 percent said “good” and about 36 percent responded “only fair” or “poor.”
About 62 percent of survey respondents said they would support an ordinance to update the city’s Residential Development Control System, extending it to 2035 with a population ceiling of 64,600 for that year. The current RDCS or growth control ordinance sets a population cap in Morgan Hill of 48,000 for the year 2020.
Such an update is another ballot measure the city council is considering sending to the voters in November.
Respondents were also more evenly split on the question of how dense future residential development should be in Morgan Hill. About 32 percent said new housing should be “higher density to preserve open space,” while about 27 percent said future homes should be “as low a density as possible even if it does not preserve open space.”
The margin of error for the survey results is plus or minus 4.31 percent, according to Godbe’s report.
Survey takers from Godbe Research relied on files for all of Morgan Hill’s registered voters to find contact information for respondents, according to Bryan Godbe, President of Godbe Research.
“We would call of those,” but also make sure different socioeconomic demographic groups are equally represented, Godbe explained. If a voter didn’t answer the phone, the firm would call them again until they reach a live person.
“We usually have about a 100-to-1 or 150-to-1 ability to actually talk to someone,” Godbe said of the scientific survey process in general.
He added that a challenge in conducting any such survey is that many of the phone numbers in the voter files are land lines that have been “abandoned” as residents rely more on cellular and digital communications, he added. Survey takers for the Morgan Hill project called about 3,500 cell phone numbers, which were also listed on some of the voter files.
To view more results of the survey, visit the city’s website at morganhill.ca.gov.
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9.6 percent: Said the city is doing an “excellent” job providing services
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48.2 percent: “Good” job providing services
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61.6 percent: Support ballot measure updating growth control
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57.9 percent: Support potential local sales tax ballot measure
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35.4 percent: Opposed to such a sales tax
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50.8 percent: Morgan Hill headed in the right direction
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33.8 percent: Headed in the wrong direction
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48.2 percent: New housing in Morgan Hill should be mostly single family homes
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TOP ISSUES
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Survey respondents said their top five concerns with city government are the following:
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Rapid response to 911 calls
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Maintaining safe, clean, reliable water supply
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Maintaining fire services
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Long-term financial stability of City Hall
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Maintain crime prevention and investigation programs
