A.L. leaders hope to improve views, better educate

Only 26 percent of Albert Lea residents have a positive view of the overall direction of the city government, according to a community survey released earlier this month.

Albert Lea City Manager Chad Adams said he plans on improving residents’ view of city government.

“We’re going to work on getting our message out more and reaching out to the public,” Adams said.“Sometimes we don’t have the opportunity in a formal meeting to have a lot of depth into what we’re doing.”

That was slightly higher than the survey in 2012, Adams said.

Sixty-five percent have a positive view of the city’s customer service, a rating similar in comparison to other communities.

The survey included 448 Albert Lea residents.

Other survey findings from Albert Lea residents in connection with governance in Albert Lea include:

• 36 percent of residents had a positive view of the value of services for taxes paid

• 31 percent said the city welcomes citizen involvement

• 29 percent said they have confidence in city government

• 32 percent said the city government acts in the best interest of Albert Lea

• 33 percent said the city government is being honest

• 34 percent said the city government treats all residents fairly.

Adams said engaging the public into what the city is doing and having an open relationship with the public will be key to improving those numbers.

He said the city wants the public to be part of the decision-making process and by doing so the sense of pride in the community will increase.

The city needs to allocate dollars into investments and partnerships the community wants, Adams said.

Residents’ ratings for land use, planning and zoning, code enforcement and cable television in Albert Lea were lower than the national benchmark. Economic development ratings for Albert Lea were also lower than the national benchmark.

Within the area of recreation and wellness, more than 80 percent of residents reported visiting a city park in the last year.

Around six in 10 positively rated recreation programs, recreation centers and health services within Albert Lea, all similar to the national benchmark.

Albert Lea’s accessibility and amount of walking trails exceeded national benchmarks in the survey.

The Albert Lea City Council, along with city staff, will review the survey during the summer and use the results for goal planning in the future. Input from the community was gathered at neighborhood parties that took place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“This provides us more direction,” Albert Lea Mayor Vern Rasmussen Jr. said earlier this month of the study. “You can see what areas people feel need to be addressed, and this survey provides another tool for us to set goals and identify the needs that we haven’t done as good of a job at addressing. This survey will better the community.”