Public Participation

In 2007, a survey was conducted as part of the initial phase of Guilford County’s Strategic Alliance Project. The goals of the survey were to engage the public in the project, to receive comments from citizens and to establish a benchmark for future public assessments of County performance. The 2011 survey serves as a follow up. It was done to reassess the public’s satisfaction with key County services and programs and to measure the effectiveness of the County’s strategic planning efforts.

Funding for the survey was provided through a grant from the National Center for Civic Innovation, through the Government Trailblazer Program. The Trailblazer Program seeks to encourage and support government management practices that inform and are informed by the public. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provides continuing support for the Trailblazer Program by offering grants to governments that align their work with the public’s point of view. Similar to the 2007 survey, the goal was to provide a benchmark for how services were perceived by the public, to understand their priorities for County government and to assess the County’s customer service. The survey’s content was very similar to that of the previous 2007 survey.

There were 465 Guilford County residents and three others who stated they were not residents of Guilford County who completed the survey. While the random sample was representative of the County population, the sample of those who actually completed and returned the survey included 60% who identified themselves as Greensboro residents, 21% who identified themselves as being from High Point and 19% from other areas. In 2009, the North Carolina State Demographic Unit reported Guilford County as 56% from Greensboro, 21% from High Point and 23% from other areas.