Beaconsfield spends $15,000 on phone poll

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

Beaconsfield residents can expect their phones to ring a little more often in November.

Council recently commissioned Leger Marketing, a research firm known for its voter intention and consumer polls, to carry out a city-wide phone survey to find out how satisfied citizens are with the services offered in Beaconsfield. Leger Marketing consultants will survey 1,000 people, analyze the responses, and compile a report. The entire service will cost just under $15,000.

“We thought it would be a good time to find out from our citizens how we’re doing,” said Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti, adding numerous other municipalities have done the same. The survey will feature questions on everything from garbage collection to leisure activities, and will even ask people their opinions on non-city services, such as public transportation.

“If I have a survey that shows they’re really unhappy with public transport, I can go to the STM (Montreal Transit Corporation) with that, for example,” Benedetti clarified.

As the Leger Marketing poll designs questions to be unbiased and professional, and offers a margin of error near plus/minus one per cent, Benedetti feels the money spent on the service is worthwhile, compared to a less expensive Internet survey, for example.

“With an online survey, you’re counting on people’s initiatives to do it,” he said. An Internet survey can give you a feel, but it’s not the kind of thing I’d be really comfortable making major decisions on.”

The phone survey will begin mid-November, with the final report scheduled for December. Beaconsfield residents have a one in six chance of getting a call to participate.