New Canaan’s highest elected official said the town will meet with a Glastonbury-based firm Wednesday to discuss a widely anticipated survey that establishes taxpayer priorities.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said Tuesday during a regular Board of Selectmen meeting that Great Blue is expected to conduct the survey. The town has $20,000 for the project, he said.
“Depending on how the meeting goes, we will bring back an agreement in two weeks,” he said.
During a multi-board workshop held in November, prior to the last budget cycle, officials from elected and appointed bodies including the Boards of Selectmen, Education and Finance, as well as the Town Council, decided to conduct a survey of residents to better understand their spending priorities.
Saying they faced a lack of funds, the Board of Finance decided in January to postpone the funding of the survey until the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. At the time, the survey was then estimated to cost $16,000 to $19,000.
Selectmen Kit Devereaux encouraged Moynihan to “reach out beyond one firm” to get a wider range of opinions on the most effective and efficient way to conduct the survey would be.
“Not that this firm might not be the best, but I do think that it would be important to hear other organizations’ viewpoints,” she said. In addition, she raised the concern that, “phone surveys, in this day and age, are self selecting a strange group.”
Moynihan responded that the town has “the advantage of a database of cell phone numbers and landlines” that can be used when conducting the survey.
This survey is long overdue for all residents. The misappropriation of tax payer monies has concerned many of us. Having grown up in NC, I am dismayed that our heavily bonded community was never addressed by those in office. Distressing events.
The survey should be made available in printed form. If you want to call people, there should be an option to have a survey mailed or picked up at Town Hall. I don’t want to waste my opportunity by a phone call at the wrong time, or not having time to thoughtfully answer the questions. I want time to make sure I’m fully informed on a question. Also, many people won’t answer their phone without known caller ID. Me included. Senior residents must be counted, they will also respond better and accurately with a written survey.