Patch has received the results of an informal survey conducted by a group of Tucker community members in conjunction with Yared Alemu, a licensed psychologist with ProActive Management Consulting. We make no claims on its veracity and present it as an interesting item in the continuing cityhood debate:
"Not surprisingly, nearly half of the 210 respondents from at least 15 neighborhoods (both inside and outside the LCA Map) would like additional information before they can finalize a decision.
Regarding the question about joining Lakeside City Alliance to pursue further study of incorporation, there was an even split: 41% in favor, 42% against, with 16% unsure.
Concerning Tucker incorporation separate from LCA, there was a three-way split between those in favor (30%), against (33%), and unsure (34%).
Interestingly, 52% would like local decision-making authority.
Respondents were most unsatisfied with economic development (55%), Board of Commissioners (52%), planning & zoning (44%), and business development/promotion (42%).
These results indicate that no one group can claim to speak for the Tucker community on these important issues, especially until we all receive more information and have the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue.
This informal, non-scientific survey was conducted through SurveyMonkey by a small group of neighbors who live in the Tucker community for the purpose of gauging whether Tucker residents are interested in pursuing further study of incorporation. Another purpose was to identify those concerns that are most representative of the neighborhoods surveyed. The survey was not funded or backed by a political organization or a business concern. Our hope is that the results of this study facilitate the community’s voice by providing some data, albeit limited.
For the purposes of this survey, Tucker was defined generally as east of I-285 out to the Gwinnett County Line.
Procedure
A draft of the survey was released for comment to interested parties, including the Lakeside City Alliance (LCA) and the Tucker Civic Association (TCA), prior to public distribution.
The 10-question survey was distributed via SurveyMonkey to 15 neighborhood email groups. The neighborhoods targeted were both inside and outside the proposed LCA Map that included portions of western Tucker (Proposed Map #2, dated 2/26/13). It is unknown how many individuals received the survey. We do know that the survey gained wider distribution beyond the original 15 neighborhood email groups, via personal email contacts, for example. The survey was restricted so that we did not allow multiple respondents to fill out the survey from the same computer.
Respondents were asked to complete the online survey anonymously after they had reviewed the Lakeside City Alliance website for background information and the Tucker Civic Association’s publically released TCA-Statement concerning LCA and cityhood for Tucker in general.
Distribution of the Survey began on Monday, March 18 and continued through 12 noon on Saturday, March 23.
Results
The total number of respondents was 210.
Q1. Characteristics of the Respondents. More than 95% of respondents were homeowners. Only one-third of the respondents had school-age children, 59% reported they had lived in the Tucker area more than 10 years, and 20% indicated they were retired or on fixed income. Less than 6% were members of the Tucker Civic Association.
Q2. Opinion about joining LCA to pursue further study of incorporation. Nearly half of respondents indicated a need for additional information/plans before they can finalize their decisions. Based on currently available information, there was an even split between those in favor/generally in favor of joining LCA (41%) and those against/generally against joining LCA (42%), with 16% unsure.
Q3. Opinion about Tucker pursuing incorporation separate from LCA. Again, nearly half of respondents indicated a need for additional information before they can finalize their decisions. Based on currently available information, there is a 3-way split between those generally for (30%), generally against (33%), and unsure (34%) of Tucker pursuing incorporation separate from LCA.
Q4. Reasons FOR joining LCA to pursue further study of incorporation. For those 88 respondents in favor of joining LCA, at least two-thirds regarded all 7 reasons listed on the survey (destiny, government voice, identity, revitalization, money, taxes, community) as either most important or important. The most important reasons are:
61% DESTINY: Desire to shape/control future
56% TAXES: Want tax base invested in local projects within LCA boundary
54% GOVERNMENT VOICE: Feel need for more/better overall representation
(Note that the survey allowed multiple reasons to be tied as most important, and so the above percentages do not add up to 100%.)
Q5. Reasons FOR Tucker pursuing incorporation separate from LCA. Among the 80 respondents who answered this question, at least two-thirds regarded all 7 reasons listed on the survey (destiny, government voice, identity, revitalization, money, taxes, community) as either most important or important. The most important reasons are:
60% DESTINY: Desire to shape/control Tucker’s future
45% REVITALIZATION: Mechanism to revitalize residential and commercial areas
44% TAXES: Want Tucker’s tax base invested in Tucker projects
(Note that the survey allowed multiple reasons to be tied as most important, and so the above percentages do not add up to 100%.)
Q6. Reasons AGAINST incorporation. Among the 85 respondents who answered this question, the majority regarded only two reasons (taxes, redundancy) as either most important or important reasons against incorporation. The most important reasons are:
39% REDUNDANCY: I feel we would duplicate County Services
37% TAXES: I am fearful they would increase
Interestingly, only 17% of respondents who are against incorporation said that their most important reason is that they identify more with DeKalb County as a whole than with the local Tucker area.
Q7. In general, changes that respondents would like to see for Tucker
62% Sidewalks/bike paths/street lighting
53% More or better planning and development
52% Local decision-making authority
52% Promotion of the Tucker area
52% Landscaping & curb appeal
Q8. Biggest concerns regarding joining LCA
The biggest concerns of the 143 who responded to this open-ended question regarding joining LCA can be loosely categorized and summarized as follows, in descending order of the frequency they were expressed:
Negative effects on the Tucker community (i.e. split Tucker)
Higher Taxes
Redundancy in government
Marginalization (such as lower property values) on areas left outside of LCA
Lack of socio-economic diversity (and cherry picking)
Concerns about the effect on schools, and school attendance areas
Negative effects on DeKalb County
This is just a summary of the most often recorded responses. Other concerns were articulated, and can be read in full in the PDF Survey Results.
Q9. Biggest concerns regarding Tucker incorporation (separate from LCA)
The biggest concerns of the 137 who responded to this open-ended question regarding Tucker pursuing incorporation separate from LCA can be loosely categorized and summarized as follows, in descending order of the frequency they were expressed:
Lack of sufficient tax base or economic viability
Higher taxes
Lack of (quality or progressive) leadership
Redundancy in government
No perceived need or benefit
This is just a summary of the most often recorded responses. Please see the PDF Survey Results for a full recording.
Q10. Level of Satisfaction with DeKalb county services for Tucker area
The majority of respondents were satisfied with fire/police protection (68%), water/sewer (56%), and parks & recreation (51%).
Respondents were most unsatisfied with economic development (55%), Board of Commissioners (52%), planning & zoning (44%), and business development/promotion (42%)."
Does this survey sound right to you? How would you respond to some of these concerns? Teel us in the comments below-