by Keith Walker, Potomac News
9 Aug 2007
“Some numbers are up, some are down and some stayed about the same, but overall Prince William residents are satisfied with the way things are going.
“The Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently heard the results of the county’s annual Citizen Satisfaction Survey.
“The 2007 survey, which was conducted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research, showed that residents’ satisfaction with the quality of life has remained steady at about 70 percent since the 1998 survey.
“Thomas M. Guterbock, who directed the $61,227 survey, told the supervisors Tuesday that residents’ priorities have changed since the 2003 survey.
“Improving the county’s road network jumped from 4th to 2nd on the list of 24 strategic goals, and better public transportation moved from 11th to 9th place on the list.
“Expanding the county’s revenue moved up in importance from 22nd to 17th.
“Overall satisfaction with county government services remained about even with the 2006 numbers, but dropped significantly from the 2005 results to fall from 92.2 percent satisfied to 89.5 percent satisfied in 2007, Guterbock said.
“Prince William residents were 98.9 percent satisfied with the library staff, 98.5 percent satisfied with medical rescue, 98.4 percent satisfied with fire protection services, 97.3 percent satisfied with courthouse security and 96 percent satisfied with the landfill.
“People are generally dissatisfied with the coordination of development and roads, growth in the county and planning and land use. Although the satisfaction with being able to get around Prince William County is up by 7.3 percent, Guterbock’s presentation showed that people are only 46.9 percent are satisfied with ease of travel in the county.
“In the 2006 survey, 60.2 percent of residents trusted the county to do what’s right. In the 2007 survey. which was conducted this spring, 64.1 percent of residents believed the county would do the right thing.
“Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan, R-Dumfries, said the study showed her that people are satisfied with the way things are going in the county.
” ‘The people are satisfied and they trust us a little bit more,’ Caddigan said. ‘I think all in all the county is doing as well as can be expected.’ ”