Skokie strategic-plan outreach produced 1,155 survey responses; diversity and safety top priorities

Corey Porras Plutch, president and CEO of CP2 Consulting, presented the results of Skokie’s strategic-plan community engagement on Oct. 21. The consultant summarized survey and focus-group work that reached a cross-section of residents, businesses and community groups.

Key numbers: CP2 reported 1,155 community survey responses, 12 focus groups (approximately 123 participants), and a community visioning session on Oct. 5. Respondents named diversity and inclusion among the most valued qualities of Skokie; public safety and high-quality village services ranked as the most important contributors to quality of life. Infrastructure (including roads, water and sewer) and downtown economic development also emerged as repeated priorities.

Plutch described the engagement methods (translated surveys, focus groups with English-language learners, outreach through a volunteer “spirit team,” and a visioning session using Mentimeter and writable table coverings). He noted that survey respondents skewed toward homeowners and older age groups — a commonly observed pattern in municipal surveys — and that CP2 supplemented survey data with focus groups to capture harder-to-reach voices.

Trustees asked about demographic representation, outreach to faith communities and whether responses from focus groups differed from the survey. Plutch and trustees discussed cross-tab requests and follow-up analyses; staff said they will provide the full dataset and verbatim open-text responses for board review.

The consultant advised the board that the engagement material will help the village prioritize initiatives for the coming 3–5 years and produce the strategic-plan deliverables.

The presentation concluded without a board vote; trustees asked staff and the consultant to provide follow-up cross-tabs and the full engagement dataset.