Odense Municipality and the Citizens, 1990

This data material was collected in connection with a consumer survey which the consultant firm ECO-Analyse carried out for the municipality of Odense. The purpose of the survey is, on a broad basis, to map out and examine the citizens' degree of satisfaction with and attitudes to the services offered by the municipality. # An increased number of consumer surveys are carried out. This is partly connected with the fact that public and private organizations have become more aware of a user relevant development of service, partly with the need for a stronger strategic basis for decision-making. As for the latter, a consumer survey produces a relevant basis for planning and service adjustments - a basis which functions as a supplement to the overall political and administrative priority decisions which politicians and civil servants are responsible for making on the basis of attitudes and professional qualifications. # It should be noted that the approach and purpose of a consumer survey has to be regarded as a supplement to the right and duty the politicians have as regards decision making and priority ordering. This right and duty is not cancelled even though systematic and representative information is collected about the citizens' attitudes to various conditions and priority decisions. # Thus, the users' wishes and proposals regarding possible improvements are not the 'key' to the future priority ordering of the municipality; the proposals are a catalogue of ideas which may be used in the coming considerations regarding priority ordering together with many other types of information and considerations. # One of the reasons why it is extremely difficult to use the results of a consumer survey is that the citizens of a municipality, in this case the municipality of Odense (similar to the Danish population as a whole) to a great extent make mutually exclusive demands to the municipality. They want lower taxes but at the same time they want better service. In each of the fields examined it will probably be possible to obtain many arguemnts for the political debates in coming years for and against retrenchment measures. However, if the results of the survey are to be used in this way it has to be done with due regard to the basic dilemma of the politicians, i.e. that the citizens want better service and lower taxes. It is the right and duty of the politicians to make decisions in such cases knowing quite well that whatever they decide the result will be protests from a large or a small number of citizens. # The survey deals with five general subjects which the municipality wanted to get mapped out: # #1. The citizens' satisfaction with various municipal service # offers. #2. The citizens' attitudes to the municipal tax and service # policies. #3. The citizens' experiences as regards contact with the # municipal offices. #4. The citizens' experiences as regards municipal hours. #5. Municipal information to the citizens. # #In addition, four fields were examined more closely. These were public means of transport, the library system, the recycling projects, and recreational areas. # The survey was carried out in May and June 1990. Questionnaires were sent to 3000 randomly selected citizens aged 18 or more. As the aim of the survey, as mentioned above, was rather broad, it was considered practical to divide the 3000 respondents into two groups of each 1500 persons (sample A and sample B). In this way the questionnaire could be of a reasonable size as it was possible to ask different questions in the two groups. At the same time it was possible to to include certain questions which required a large number of respondents in both the questionnaires. Finally, it was possible, as something quite new as compared with similar surveys, to vary the wording of a question in some cases. This method has thus been used in fields where it is examined whether it is of importance for the attitudes of the citizens whether they know the actual costs, etc. of municipal services. # A total of 1828 citizens completed an acceptable questionnaire. This means a total response percentage of 61, which is satisfactory for this type of surveys. The response percentage was almost identical in the two samples, viz. 60.3% in sample A and 61.5% in sample B. # The respondents correspond nicely with the total population of the municipality of Odense as regards sex and age. In other words the data material is representative and may as such be used as the basis for statements about the opinion of the the citizens of the municipalityof Odense as regards municipal service at the beginning of the 1990's