Odense Municipality and the Citizens, 1995

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. Futher more the purpose was to compare the result with a similar survey from 1990 (DDA-1579: Odense Municipality and the Citizens, 1990). #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. #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. #The survey was carried out in November and Dezember 1995. Questionnaires were sent to 3000 randomly selected citizens aged 18 or more