Dan Hoffman: 0:10

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Route Review. We are back after our summer break. I'm still the city manager, uh, and Sarah Fry Here with me is I'm still your, our P-I-O-P-I-O. So I hope everyone had a great summer. Uh, I hope they got some time to, I hope all of you got some time to spend, uh, take a break, be with family, celebrate the fourth, all that good stuff. Hopefully no one, uh, got too much water in their basement from the storms over the summer. Uh, I know that's gonna be something we're working on for quite a while, so, uh, let's jump back into it. We've already had one council meeting after the recess. Um, and now we're onto our second one. It's, uh, course tomorrow. Normally I talk about what's on the agenda, but we actually don't have hardly any items on the regular agenda. Wow. I think there are a few consent items. And that's about it so far. It's

Sarah Frey: 1:11

my kind of agenda.

Dan Hoffman: 1:12

Yeah. It's, uh, that the regular meeting should go incredibly quickly, but I don't wanna jinx it.

Sarah Frey: 1:19

Oh, you Jin I just, I did just j it Jin. And you jinx it. And that's just the regular meeting that means, yeah,

Dan Hoffman: 1:24

because we're still gonna have a work session. Well, the rare work session.

Sarah Frey: 1:30

Mm. You know,

Dan Hoffman: 1:31

uh, committees are where a lot of the action happens. So of course, if you're interested in specific topics. You know, make sure you tune into the Public Health and Safety Committee, or the finance committee, or the Planning and Economic Development Committee. If you're interested in development. Check out PED committee. If you're concerned about public safety. Public health and safety meets Wednesday evenings once a month.

Sarah Frey: 1:53

Yes. The third. Wednesday at 5:00

Dan Hoffman: 1:55

PM Third Wednesday at 5:00 PM We just had, uh, one last week. Mm-hmm. Uh, so those are good to focus on every so often. If we have a particularly light meeting, um, we will do a work session to talk about general updates. So we will have a work session. There are gonna be two topics. Uh, one is a discussion of the strategic plan and the process for that. You'll hear a little bit more about that. Uh, later when we talk about the community survey, uh, the other item on that agenda will be, uh, something we're gonna start doing quarterly with council. And that is, um, in essence kind of an open discussion about future policy matters that they would like to tackle. Uh, of course we can't tackle everything all at once. I do not, I do not have SI staff assigned just to do research projects for council. Uh, we all went, went anew. A policy or a new ordinance comes up, you know, we, we take our best shot at it. Um, but you know, we can't tackle 15, 20 things at once. Or for example, we're not gonna tackle a. A new policy issue in finance during the budget season. We, we just do not have the resources to do that. Uh, so we're gonna ask council for some of their prioritization. You know, there's obviously topics that pop up from time to time. Everything from people getting interested about chickens again, or we've had that discussion about four years ago. Um, maybe that comes back up, um, discussions about, you know, blight. It could be discussions about. You know, what's coming up on our legislative agenda, it, it could be a variety of different things. So this will be counselors opportunity to basically to give us some direction about where we should focus our policy time. Uh, and if, you know, majority of council says this is something they wanna dedicate staff resources into researching or designing, we'll do it. Uh, so that'll be the second part. It might be. Might be an interesting discussion if you are a, an avid follower of our council meetings.

Sarah Frey: 4:01

Which of you're listening to this podcast? You probably are. You probably are. So it'll be

Dan Hoffman: 4:05

interesting. It'll be interesting to see what, where, you know, council's prior priorities are. Mm-hmm. You know, we have retreats, um, where we learn from them. Of course, you know, you see their priorities in the way they vote, but this is a good opportunity for them to tell us. What they wanna tackle. I mean, of course two counselors can just request something, be put on a committee agenda. That's also super easy. But, um, it's always nice for them to have a public discussion about what their priorities are. Mm-hmm. So, uh, that will happen tomorrow. Uh, other than that. Uh, that's it for the agenda tomorrow. Uh, I think September's gonna be a pretty busy month with items. Um, some stuff has been making its way through the planning commission. We've got a few other odds and ends to take care of as we get ready already for the budget season next spring. So. Uh, tune in, tune in, see what council's, uh, interested in these days. Uh, with that, I'm gonna take a breather and we'll talk about what's coming up.

Sarah Frey: 5:19

It's going to be September. It's hard to believe Summer's over. Kids are back in school. Yep. And nothing says that more than Labor Day weekend, which is coming up. Yep. So don't just be aware. City offices, park rec center. Mm-hmm. Winchester Transit all and the courts, we're all gonna be closed September 1st. Yep. But you can still take advantage of the last day to go swimming at the outdoor pool in Burnett.

Dan Hoffman: 5:40

There you go. Take advantage of it.

Sarah Frey: 5:42

So don't let that slip past you. And most importantly, this is the first holiday with our new trash schedule.

Dan Hoffman: 5:49

Yes, that's true. Remember, everything just shifts a day.

Sarah Frey: 5:51

Everything's just one day. We're skipping

Dan Hoffman: 5:52

you over for two weeks.

Sarah Frey: 5:54

No, it's gonna be nothing like that. So easy. So just remember it's not coming on Monday, so if you forget and you do put it out Sunday night, yeah, just leave it out.'cause they'll pick it up Tuesday morning.

Dan Hoffman: 6:03

It just shifts one day. So easy in advance. And you know, we've gotten a few questions from people about, well why isn't the. Uh, why isn't Monday the day that there's no pickup? Mm-hmm. Well, there's actually a really important operational reason for that. Yes. Uh, we need the staff spend a lot of time maintaining these trucks and vehicles, and we need to have them cleaned and maintained.

Sarah Frey: 6:27

Hmm.

Dan Hoffman: 6:27

Before we leave for the week, uh, they collect a lot of grime, a lot of, they're trash trucks people. And,

Sarah Frey: 6:34

and Dan's been back there. He knows I've been back there.

Dan Hoffman: 6:36

They're a mess. And we, you know, we, that's the day that we spend maintaining the vehicles, getting them all prepped and ready for the coming week. Uh, and. If all that gunk and stuff just bakes on for an entire weekend, uh, we, we like to take care of our, you know, these, these aren't cheap trucks. These are, you know, some kids, there's like$500,000 trucks. So after a week of heavy use, we need to clean them, maintain them, uh, and that's why we do it so that they're fresh and clean and ready for Monday morning. Um, so this, uh, coming Labor Day. Don't put out your trash for Monday morning,

Sarah Frey: 7:17

but if you forget, it's okay. Just leave it out.

Dan Hoffman: 7:19

Just leave it out. It's fine.

Sarah Frey: 7:20

No big deal. All right. Last but certainly not least. Yeah, there's a pickup party coming. Yay. Have you been to one yet? I hope everybody has. We're about halfway through this pickup party season. Mm-hmm. So these are community cleanup events. Great way to stay involved with the city, meet your neighbors, check out your local parks, help keep'em clean, but most importantly, earn some credits on your storm water utility fee. Mm-hmm. So our next one is 5:00 PM Thursday, September 4th at Frederick Douglas Park. So, mm-hmm. We hope to see you there.

Dan Hoffman: 7:49

Yes. That's one of our, uh, of the park of course, has been there for a very long time. Uh, but. In the last few years, we put a lot of money into that park.

Sarah Frey: 7:58

It looks so good out there.

Dan Hoffman: 7:59

It looks great. We completely redid the field so there aren't large rocks in it. Uh, so I know we've had the flag football kids out there. Mm-hmm. Um, I believe the, all the other amenities are there and up and running, the bathrooms, um,

Sarah Frey: 8:14

bathrooms, pavilion, basketball courts, little walking trails. It got a

Dan Hoffman: 8:17

very nice refresh. So, playground, lovely. If haven't, haven't been there in a

Sarah Frey: 8:20

while.

Dan Hoffman: 8:21

Go check it out. Go check it out and earned a little stormwater credit. Okay, that's what's coming up. Uh, we take a breather and bring in Kit Red Murray to talk about the community survey. Okay. Welcome back. I hesitate to say welcome to the show because kits. Kind of on the team already.

Sarah Frey: 8:46

Oh, yeah. Heavily involved.

Dan Hoffman: 8:48

So, albeit mostly backstage, but Yes. But hey, he's our guy today. He's, uh, yes. He's who we're, we're interviewing, uh, we're interviewing Kit Reder. Uh, you probably know, uh, kit from his, uh, famous Groundbreakings, which we're doing a lot these days. I love it. Uh, whether it's Ward Plaza Volunteer Appreciation Day, we're, we're, we're trying to get out there and celebrate our successes, uh, so that you are proud of our city. Uh, of course, Sarah, whether it's a neighborhood night or a pickup party or, uh, any of those things, pickup party being a very specific thing. She doesn't go to random pickup events. Just to be clear, it's a pickup party where we pick up trash.

Sarah Frey: 9:30

I was gonna say that's how rumors get started. Yeah. We, we don't, uh, yes, we do not have city

Dan Hoffman: 9:34

sponsored singles events. So, uh, that is for picking up trash. Uh. The, uh, one of the other things that they take care of for us and uh, particularly Kit, is our community survey. We do a community survey roughly every other year. That is our intent we did one, two years ago. Mm-hmm. Uh, it's, this one is particularly important and we're trying to get as many people to respond to it as possible because it's gonna provide direct feedback to the city council. As they build the new strategic plan, that process takes six to nine months. Absolutely. Yeah. And this survey is a core component because it is a statistically valid, uh, basically score how we're doing across a wide variety of topics. It's always important that, you know, we use a third party for a reason. We don't do it ourselves, so no one can say, oh, you just. Dan, you just gave the surveys to your friends, or,

Kit Redmer: 10:32

um, in fact, Dan, we're actually precluded, um, city staff and city leadership is precluded from answering it Yep. And responding to it. Yep. We don't even,

Dan Hoffman: 10:40

we don't get it. And if somebody gets one by accident, you're not allowed to fill it out. Uh, and if you do, it won't be counted. So it won't be counted anyway, so, yeah. Uh, I already have my bully pulpit, so I don't need to, uh, I don't need the survey as well. Me too. And really the, you know, we want to have a. A true estimation of how our residents feel about these topics. You know, it's always nice when we have these one-on-one conversations with our neighbors and we get their thoughts and, and mm-hmm. Opinions on things.

Kit Redmer: 11:08

Absolutely.

Dan Hoffman: 11:09

Uh, but it's not good when we start making policy or strategic decisions based on anecdotes. Exactly. That is, uh, it's not representative of the community. Uh. Again, I love hearing personal stories, uh, good and bad.'cause it's either a way for us to get better or, um, it's sometimes it's even a, a compliment. Yeah. But when we're making big picture strategic decisions, where to focus our energy, where to focus our resources, I want data that I can say reflects the, the needs and wishes of this community. Uh, and the only way we do that is with. This randomized, statistically valid survey. So, kit, uh, real quick, tell us about ET CTCs, the companies we've used before. Uh. Real quick about ETC?

Kit Redmer: 11:59

Yeah, absolutely. So ETC is one of three major companies in the United States that, you know, data analysis companies essentially, that run community surveys for local governments. Um, so they're one of the most respected companies. Mm-hmm. And we have a long track record working with them, um, going back at least to 2004. That's the oldest file I can find. Mm-hmm. So I'm not sure if there's anything behind, you know, be before that, but. Um, they, they, we have a great relationship with them. They do, you know, to your point actually about making sure that we have good representation from the entire community. One of their strengths is that they make sure that they get re essentially a roughly equal number of responses from every ward, from every different part of the city, from every different demographic in the city. It's very important to them. It's important to us, like you said, to have that full representation. So, so that's one of the main reasons we work with them and, uh. And as you mentioned too, they did it two years ago. So we can really directly compare the, you know, the, the responses and see the trajectory, um, over time. Yeah. As far as how we're doing good or bad.

Dan Hoffman: 12:57

And that's it, good or bad. Mm-hmm. And that's the, that's the main thing. There's always things that we, excuse me, there's always things that we learn from, uh, the survey that we didn't expect, uh, last time we were caught off guard by the perception that there was issues or problems with the city's water supply. The reality is. The LED is, we've got ample water. Yeah. Uh, and it's, it's good quality water too. It gets rigorously tested. There's no way we're becoming Flint, Michigan. Uh, but for some reason, a fairly large portion of the public was concerned about the quality of their water. Great. Clearly what we need to do is a better job of. Informing folks about their water and the, the rigors that go into testing it and Exactly. Those are the types of things that if we, um, if we don't know, it lingers out in the public mindset, and That's right. People's perceptions are their reality in a lot of cases, so Exactly. We just need to educate folks a little bit more, so we pick up things like that where we just had no idea. So, yeah. Uh, so beyond all said, you know, if, if it's, you know, managing growth, that's another one where mm-hmm. You know, our, it was more of a neutral kind of mixed feeling about how we're managing growth. Yeah. But for the last several years, we've been really focused on these neighborhood design districts. We're taking control of the growth of Winchester, the residents are. Yep. You know, we're not just sitting back. Letting developers do whatever they like, dictate to us. Yeah. Dictate to us that's what they're gonna bring. That it is a two-way communication between the community and, uh, you know, it's leadership about where certain focus areas, how they should be developed. Exactly. Well, I would, I'm eager to see if our numbers get a little better in that regard, you know? Yeah. I know that we're managing growth well. Especially relative to many other jurisdictions.

Kit Redmer: 15:00

Yeah.

Dan Hoffman: 15:00

But I wanna make sure the community has confidence that we're managing growth well.

Kit Redmer: 15:05

Well, in addition to that, Dan, if I, and just jump in, you know, it's also from a comms perspective, you know, obviously the most important thing we'd really do is keep people informed. Mm-hmm. Right. As well as listen to them. And so. With the nd ds, we've really leaned into trying to explain to people what they are. Mm-hmm. Um, a little bit, you know, it's a subject a lot of people haven't thought that much about, so, so really educating. And so this survey will also tell us, are we doing a good job of that?

Dan Hoffman: 15:29

Mm-hmm.

Kit Redmer: 15:29

Do we need to shift gears? Do we need to take other tactics or, you know, how's that going? So it's good on several levels. Absolutely. And it's to know about that, like I said, it does cover a lot of topics. Yeah.

Dan Hoffman: 15:38

But I mean, I think you've told me it's 15 minutes probably to take it. Yeah. Uh, you know, we try to strike the right balance'cause we do want to cover a lot of topics, you know, we wanna know everything about Yeah. Transit, services, parks and rec, uh, storm water. Just customer service. Customer service speaking, uh, maintenance of our streets. You know, we, we wanna know a lot. So we are asking for a little bit of your time.

Kit Redmer: 16:04

Yes.

Dan Hoffman: 16:05

Um, and. It's also important that we ask the same questions every other year. So if you got this two years ago, let's say, uh, please do it again. Do it again. I wanna know how Yeah. Good point. We've improved or if we slipped. And we also want to get that confidence level up as much as we can. Last year, I, or two years ago, two years ago, we had a confidence level of about 4%.

Kit Redmer: 16:35

Yeah.

Dan Hoffman: 16:35

Which, you know, for the, exactly for the Nons survey people out there. All that means is that if we say that 80 people are satisfied with, 80% of people are satisfied with something, we're confident of that 80% number. Plus or minus 4%,

Kit Redmer: 16:53

right?

Dan Hoffman: 16:54

I really want to get that confidence level narrower. I wanna be within two to three guys. So, uh, fill out the survey. The only way we do that is people fill out their surveys and return'em to us. The more people the better. Exactly. The more surveys we get, the more confident we are in these numbers. Uh, here, here. And. You also get a, uh, there's a, the potential for a little reward if you fill

Kit Redmer: 17:19

out your survey kit. Absolutely. So, um, ETC, you know, they're. Along with the city. I mean, they also care about the results, right? They want the most accurate survey that they can point to and say, Hey, we're doing a good job. Yeah. So one of the things that they've graciously offered to the city at no expense to the city this year is they're offering an incentive of a$500 gift card. That will be awarded through a drawing, so not everyone gets it. Mm-hmm. Just to be clear. Yeah. But, um, if you do fill out a survey and whether you re, you know, res respond via mail, which is very easy to do, just put it in the post, you know, postage paid envelope and send it back. Or if you go to Winchester, um, survey.org.org, um, whichever's easier for you. If you respond, um, you'll be entered into a drawing. For a$500 Visa card, a Visa gift card. And so that will be announced, you know, shortly after we get the results of the survey. So, so please, you know, we care about your results, we hope you wanna respond anyway, but um, if that's added incentive, you know, please go for it. Yeah, we want to get

Dan Hoffman: 18:19

that nu we want to get the number of responses up as high as we possibly can. Exactly. So like I said earlier, we have the best data to make decisions based on, um, if you don't get one of these surveys in the mail. It doesn't mean you're not important. It doesn't. Good point. It, it just means we are trying to make sure that the survey reflects the entire community. So it's a randomized sample. Exactly. You know, it, if we just go to, we, what we don't want is to have, you know. 80% of the survey results coming from one ward. Right, exactly. We wanna make sure that the wards are all represented equally, uh, or as close to equal as we can possibly get. We wanna make sure that we've got, um, good representation among the, the different neighborhoods, male, female, all that kind of stuff. Yep. So fill it out. Please fill out the survey. Uh, it's just gonna make our numbers even better, uh, and you know, it. When it's all said and done, we'll give a nice report to council. And you know, I'm almo I'm always optimistic. I have high confidence that our staff provides a fantastic level of service every day. Um, whether you're riding wind ready or whether you are out at the parks.

Kit Redmer: 19:34

Yeah,

Dan Hoffman: 19:35

I I, I'm confident we're having, you know, we promote good customer service. Absolutely. And the surveys in the past have borne that out. We are. In the last survey, we were head and shoulders above all of the other cities that we benchmark or compare ourself again.

Kit Redmer: 19:50

Mm-hmm.

Dan Hoffman: 19:51

Another benefit of going with a company that has a vast trove of data nationwide. Yeah. Using similar questions. So, you know, if we to ask people how well is the city managing growth? Yeah. Yeah. Maybe our response is that only 55% think we're doing it. The national average is probably, I think if I remember, is like 25, 30%. Yeah. Something very low. Mm-hmm. Yes. Of course. Redevelopments, you know, they're all, they can be very contentious issues in town. Yeah. You know, I'm, I'm curious to see if the work we're doing, the we're putting into it is, is actually paying off. So Exactly. Uh, you're doing not just us, but yourself a big favor by filling this out. Uh, because the more people that fill this out. The better decisions we'll be making. Absolutely.

Kit Redmer: 20:37

And, and from a comms perspective, not only, you know, it's a decision making or is a decision making process, you know, going well, but also are we informing people adequately? Do people understand what's happening? Yeah. You know, that's good for Sarah and I to know as well.

Dan Hoffman: 20:49

Yeah. If you have any questions or concerns about the survey, um, feel free to call

Kit Redmer: 20:57

Kit. Gimme a call Am call Kit Reder. Half of you, Elise, probably know my number already. Yeah. Kit, do you want me to use this number? Yeah, let's throw it out there. It's fine.

Dan Hoffman: 21:05

Okay. Kit's, cell phone number, I think.

Kit Redmer: 21:08

Yes.

Dan Hoffman: 21:08

Kit is, his number is 7 2 0 2 8 9. 1 8 3 0. Mm-hmm. Don't make him regret it, but you can call him(720) 289-1830 or Kit reder@winchesterva.gov.

Kit Redmer: 21:22

No calls at 3:00 AM please. No calls. I ask at 3:00 AM everyone please don't do

Dan Hoffman: 21:25

that. Gimme a ring. Uh, I I'm the only one that can do that. Oh, yes, that's true.

Kit Redmer: 21:29

Not talking. Good point. Or Sarah. Exactly.

Dan Hoffman: 21:33

Um, good point. So thank you very much, kit. Very excited. You're welcome to see what the results come out as and folks fill out your survey. Appreciate you, and we'll be right back. Thanks for joining us on our first episode back from the summer. Looking forward to chatting with all of you, uh, in the coming months on the Rouse Review. Uh, next time we actually already know who's coming in next time.

Sarah Frey: 22:05

Yeah, we

Dan Hoffman: 22:05

do. Kudos on us. Uh, we're talking about Old Town with friends of Old Town executive Director Brady cln. He's doing a fantastic job, uh, in the role, and we are excited to talk to him about the downtown walking mall. We'll talk about. All variety of things, uh mm-hmm. Yeah, the good, bad, and the homeless. Uh, so we will, um, talk about, uh, you know, the, what we're doing to make sure the downtown is, uh, as prosperous as possible. So, uh, stick around. That'll be next time in the route review. Until then, we'll see you around City Hall.