Statistically valid Tumwater survey finds roads, homelessness and housing top resident concerns

DHM Research presented top-line results from a statistically valid survey of 300 Tumwater residents at the Tumwater City Council work session on June 10, showing transportation infrastructure (18%), homelessness/poverty (14%) and affordable housing (12%) as the most-cited issues residents want the city to address.

The firm’s project manager, Kara Kornochuk of DHM Research, told the council the statistically valid survey was fielded May 3–17 with quotas by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and income to align with American Community Survey estimates. “This survey…we actually were able to get, 300 a sample of 300 people, which is fantastic,” Kornochuk said, and she noted the survey’s margin of error is ±5.7 percentage points.

Why it matters: the results are intended to inform Tumwater’s strategic plan and provide a baseline for tracking opinion over time. The city is running a second, non-random community engagement survey open through midnight June 20; that survey had about 227 responses at the time of the presentation and will be analyzed separately and compared with the statistically valid sample.

DHM Research analyst David Fan walked the council through respondent demographics and topline ratings. He reported that 95% of respondents rated Tumwater’s quality of life as “good” or “very good,” with half calling it “very good.” On service delivery, respondents gave the city its highest marks for delivering services efficiently, creating a sense of belonging and keeping residents informed; the city scored lower on “focusing on priorities that matter most to residents” (46%) and “managing the public’s money” (45%).

Kornochuk and Fan used an index of priority versus satisfaction to highlight areas where residents see high priority but low satisfaction. These included street construction and maintenance, responding to homelessness and managing growth and development. Fan emphasized that, despite the index results, “almost all” categories showed a majority of residents were satisfied with city performance overall; for example, raw satisfaction with street construction and maintenance was reported at 66%.

Council members asked follow-up questions about how the open community survey will be handled and compared with the statistically valid sample. Kornochuk said the two surveys will not be combined; instead the engagement survey will be compared to the random sample to show differences between the broader public and the more-engaged respondents. She explained the engagement survey includes a screening question about prior completion and that staff will review duplicate or implausibly repeated responses and remove obvious duplicates during processing.

On public safety and environment, the statistically valid sample showed most residents feel safe in Tumwater; among the roughly 8% (about 25 people) who reported feeling unsafe, crime and homelessness were the most-cited reasons. On environmental priorities, 28% of respondents listed preservation via construction permitting as the top conservation priority.

Next steps: DHM will deliver the complete analysis, cross-tabs and a full report for both surveys on July 9; the engagement-survey field period closes June 20. The consultants and city staff said they will provide demographic breakdowns and additional reporting in the final deliverable.