The Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods wants your opinion. The city-wide effort to reduce government spending is underway. Some impacts from budget cutting have already been felt by the DON. Last year, a number of Neighborhood Service Centers were closed, the 13 district coordinators (one for each district) were reduced to 9, attempts were made to close some of the Community Centers, and employee furloughs were instituted. This year additional cuts are required and the Department is asking for some guidance from you, the residents and businesses of Seattle. The survey takes about 10 minutes and is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YQLJ82V

From a DON news release:

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods seeks your input on survey

Help guide department’s efforts in community outreach and engagement

The  Seattle Department of Neighborhoods seeks your input on our community outreach and engagement activities. In line with our mission of civic participation, the department is asking community members for their feedback and ideas on how we can most effectively provide support to the community.

To participate, please fill out the online survey, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YQLJ82V.

The survey will close on June 30, 2011 and takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

Following the adoption of the city’s 2011-2012 budget, Seattle City Council provided a Statement of Legislative Intent with the directive to evaluate, refocus, and prioritize DoN\u2019s community outreach and engagement functions to maximize limited resources. Results from this survey will provide much needed information on the department\u2019s present strategies and inform activities going forward.

Please forward our survey far and wide, i.e. to your community listservs, forums, neighbors and friends.  Also, If you are interested in participating in a focus group discussion in your area, please contact Pamela Banks at (206) 233-5044. Thank You!