Traffic and transportation are the biggest concern, according to a poll of attendees of the 2019 Watertown Faire on the Square, followed closely by development.
At the 20th Faire on the Square, 25 people took the Watertown News Poll asking people about “what concerns you most in Watertown today?” People could check as many of the five categories as they wish, and could write in their own issue.
The categories were: Schools, Development, Traffic/Transportation, Heroin/Opioids and Property Taxes.
The very “unscientific” poll found that nearly 70 percent of people (17) listed traffic/transportation as one of their biggest concerns. More than half (13) checked off development as a concern.
Schools received the third most votes, with 9, which is about 35 percent. About a quarter (6) checked-off heroin/opioids as a concern.
Property taxes received just three votes (12 percent).
Three people wrote in their own concerns, which included affordability/housing, environment/pesticides and politics.
The results of the 2019 poll were similar to 2018, when traffic/transportation topped the list of concerns, and development was the second highest vote getter. Last year, however, heroin/opioids got the third highest number of votes, followed by schools and then property taxes.
In 2017, the same two issues topped the votes, traffic/transportation and development, followed by schools, opioids and property taxes. Three years ago, the top issue was development, then traffic/transportation, schools, property taxes and heroin/opioids.
25 people took part in this “poll”? Calling it a poll for Watertown and it’s residents is beyond laughable!
Yes, that was why Inused the word unscientific. However, the results have been pretty much the same each year. They are also similar to the which stories get the most feedback (including comments).
I appreciated the effort to proactively seek resident input as a collaborative tone. I would like to feel like citizen interests are prioritized by public service administrators – our taxes pay for operations and our votes determine leadership. The tone of municipal communication can feel a one-sided Golden Tower, traditional, and presumptive. It would be great to have large-scale polls to acknowledge city interests/satisfaction, using online means of communication/politics, providing financial detail of costs/future maintenance for tax increases/initiatives, more carrot/less stick (positive behavior reinforcement) for resource reduction, public education of choices/changes, etc. A Bentley/Brandeis Sr/Grad student (Nonprofit Admin, Business, Communications etc) could assist with some of these outreach & buy-in needs at minimal cost w/ their academic credit earnings. Gentrification development is not well-received or integrated by either legacy residents or newcomer waves if municipal coordination is not applied. Specifically thinking about demographic changes, forecast needs, reduction of political gold-star projects, eliminate redundancies, maintenance for service needs, traffic corrections, commercial negotiation pressure-points, etc. To publicize ways that each department is improving service quality with a citizen-first perspective. Baseline Status-> 6m Achievement-> Trends-> Dept needs-> Resident Interests-> Annual Task Plan.
Charlie- it would be helpful to include an online survey (to be shared w/municipal stakeholders) for line item detail & maintenance cost & policy oversight efforts for announcements of any developments like trees, water, bikes, chem labs, parking, electric, etc. I never know if initiatives are planful or porkbelly without financials. Devil or Angel in details etc. Thank You for your work!