West Haven reviews resident survey draft; council presses on police-department wording and cost framing

West Haven staff presented a draft of the city’s resident survey and council members spent the bulk of the discussion pressing staff to clarify how questions frame costs tied to a potential local police department and to add a follow‑up asking why respondents hold a preference.

The draft survey, which staff said was designed to preserve trend‑line questions from 2022, includes warm‑up items on quality of life, a $100 hypothetical budget allocation exercise, 0–100 service satisfaction scales, communications preferences and a section on law enforcement that asks whether residents would prefer the city to form its own police department or continue contracting with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.

City staff said they made “a few changes around the edges” from the 2022 instrument and that the survey will use address‑based sampling and geocoding so results can be mapped to neighborhoods. The staff presenter said the survey will include an open text box so respondents can explain missing services or the reasons behind their preferences.

Why it matters: the council will rely on the survey to measure resident sentiment on public safety, budgets and infrastructure.…