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Raymore to pilot Flash Vote platform for faster resident feedback
Summary
City staff recommended using the Flash Vote platform to collect short, frequent resident surveys (4–6 per year); council supported moving ahead with procurement and outreach without a budget amendment, while members raised questions about inclusivity and anonymity.
Raymore City staff told the council on Feb. 2 they plan to modernize resident surveys by piloting Flash Vote, a short, text- and email-based polling platform that delivers results within about 48 hours.
Ms. Harmer, presenting the proposal, said Flash Vote uses five-question surveys delivered by text message, email or phone and features an evergreen panel residents can opt into. She said the platform can return timely, actionable results and provide dashboards with respondent demographics and ward-level breakdowns so staff can target outreach or follow-up questions quickly. "This program is called Flash Vote," Ms. Harmer said, describing expected turnaround and participation benefits.
Council members asked whether the platform would exclude residents who prefer paper, what the median city age is (staff cited about 42.9), and whether responses could be anonymous. Staff said the vendor verifies participants’ residency by collecting contact information at sign-up, but that responses provided to city staff are anonymized; the vendor can also help push surveys to underrepresented groups.
The council discussed cost and cadence: staff said the city currently budgets about $7,500 per year on the ETC biennial survey (about $15,000 every two years when processing fees are included) while Flash Vote would cost about $9,900 per year. Staff proposed starting at roughly one survey per quarter to avoid fatigue and to retain continuity with core ETC questions for year-to-year comparison.
Council members suggested outreach channels to build a panel (social media, mayoral letters with QR codes, utility bills, targeted ads) and proposed in-person assistance for seniors who need help signing up. Staff said procurement and outreach steps can proceed without a budget amendment.
The council supported moving ahead with staff plans to implement the Flash Vote pilot and a public-engagement rollout, and staff said they would return with implementation specifics as needed.
