Publication Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Guest Opinion: What?! Good news about Palo Alto city government?
Guest Opinion: What?! Good news about Palo Alto city government?
(February 16, 2005) by Frank Benest
It is quite clear that a demanding community gets good government. Palo Alto is certainly a demanding community ... and I believe it gets good government.
And it seems I'm not the only one who feels that way. The people of Palo Alto agree by an overwhelming margin - a recent citizen survey shows approval is actually higher than in last year's survey.
The city's independent auditor, Sharon Erickson, recently released the results of a citizen survey she commissioned in conjunction with her annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) Report.
The survey was conducted by the National Citizens Survey Center, which polled a scientifically selected representative sample of 582 Palo Alto residents. The center compared the results to surveys of comparable communities across the nation. The results are accurate within a plus or minus 5 percent.
Here's what Palo Altans had to say:
Palo Alto is a great place to live and raise a family: 96 percent rate Palo Alto a good or excellent place to live (Palo Alto's rating is in 90th percentile compared to the other communities surveyed), and 93 percent rate Palo Alto as a good or excellent place to raise children (91st percentile).
The city has good government: 75 percent said they received good value for their taxes, up from 69 percent last year (93rd percentile nationwide), while 63 percent said that they are pleased with the overall direction of the city, compared to 54 percent last year (in the 72nd percentile of other cities).
Palo Alto has great city services: 90 percent rate city services good or excellent (85th percentile of all cities). A nearly unanimous 98 percent feel safe in their neighborhoods during the day, and 90 percent rate police services good or excellent.; In addition, Palo Alto ranked number one among all cities surveyed in the area of recreational and cultural services: 86 percent of those surveyed say recreational and cultural services are good or excellent (87th percentile); while 84 percent rated the range and variety of recreation programs as good or excellent.
An impressive 84 percent said city employees are responsive (up 10 points from last year and in the 72nd percentile nationwide)
Not bad. So let's take a nano-second to celebrate our community, the leadership of our City Council and the responsive efforts of our City employees. OK. Nano-second over. Now back to the criticisms.
A final word. While a demanding citizenry gets good government, a hypercritical one gets "risk-aversive" government -- when staff from high-level administrators to rank-and-file service people take the "safe" course or spend too much time looking over their shoulders than doing their jobs.
If Palo Altans are engaged in local government and hold the City Council and city administration (that's me) accountable, you will continue to get good value, leadership of which you can be proud and quality services. However, if the only residents we hear from are the hypercritical few, city leaders and staff will become scared of our own shadows and never take a calculated risk to innovate and stretch.
And we would never take a courageous but unpopular position. Why? Because we would be criticized incessantly -- at council, commission and community meetings and, of course, in the press.
So please be demanding -- but not hypercritical. I know it's a fine line, but it's a vitally important one.
In the meantime, take a moment to enjoy this special place called Palo Alto. And thank some of the ordinary people -- police officers, firefighters, public works staff, recreation leaders, city planners -- as well as city leaders who are doing our conscientious best to make it and keep it so.
Frank Benest has been Palo Alto's city manager since 2000. He can be e-mailed at Frank.Benest@CityofPaloAlto.org.
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