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Fort Pierce survey finds residents praise water and services but flag safety and economic concerns
Summary
A National Community Survey presented to the Fort Pierce City Commission showed many ratings on par with national benchmarks, high marks for water resources, and lower scores for open space and perceptions of fairness; commissioners asked staff for the underlying demographic weighting and next steps on public safety and economic priorities.
Brandon Barnett of Polco presented the Fort Pierce National Community Survey results to the City Commission on June 10, saying the report is based on 250 completed responses to a mail‑based random sample (a 9% response rate) with a margin of error of about ±6 percentage points. "Our hope is that as these findings are presented, it will spur ideas for you in what could be done with these results or where you might want to dig deeper," Barnett said.
Barnett summarized benchmarked findings: most governance and customer‑service items scored on par with national averages; residents gave particularly high ratings to local water resources (roughly seven in 10 positive); several items tied to open space, preservation of natural areas and cleanliness scored below peer communities. On public safety measures, Barnett said about 55% of residents reported feeling very or somewhat safe from violent crime, and roughly 8–9 in 10 reported feeling safe in downtown commercial areas during the day.
Commissioners pressed for more methodological detail. "I'd like to have a breakdown to understand the citizens that make up these 250," Commissioner C. Johnson said, asking staff to provide demographic tables and the unweighted response data Barnett referenced. Barnett said the method section of the full report includes the demographic weighting table and that staff would provide the deeper documentation.
Several commissioners flagged safety and economic development as follow‑up priorities. Commissioner Broderick noted a discrepancy in ratings between county and city services and said the results point to budgetary tradeoffs: "The totality of the city's entire operating budget is $58,000,000," Broderick said, urging the commission to examine resources linked to outcomes. Commissioners also identified access to water downtown, outdoor recreation and reducing homelessness as high resident priorities to inform future budgeting and strategic planning.
Mayor Linda Hudson and staff said the survey provides a baseline for annual tracking and that the city could continue broader community engagement through Polco's platform. The presentation concluded with commissioners requesting the full report and supplemental tables for staff and commission review; no formal policy action was taken at the meeting.
The commission will receive the full NCS packet and follow‑up demographic tables from staff for further consideration during budget and strategic‑planning discussions.
