LOS ALAMITOS : City Scores Well in Survey on Services

Residents have given the city high marks for police services, recycling and recreation programs, but are not satisfied with animal control patrols or cable television service, according to a city survey released Monday.

Residents also called residential burglaries one of the major problems facing the city, along with traffic, the recession, lack of business and the state taking money away from city coffers to balance the state budget.

“Overall, we’re pleased with the results,” Assistant City Manager Gerard Goedhart told the City Council on Monday. “We maintain a fairly high level of satisfaction despite lesser resources.”

Goedhart said the survey, which the city conducts every two years, was sent out to residents last month. The city mailed 4,356 surveys to residents, requesting them to evaluate city services and to identify the problems facing their neighborhoods.

A total of 1,066 residents returned the survey questions, the highest response since the survey was started in 1986, Goedhart said.

At least 81% of the residents graded police services from good to excellent, and only 2.4% said they were poor. More than half of the residents surveyed said theft and burglary are the most significant law enforcement problems. That was followed by traffic, vandalism and graffiti, while just 10.4% of residents consider gangs a major problem.

In addition to kudos for police services, residents said the city offers very satisfactory service on recycling, recreation, trash collection, street sweeping and park maintenance.

However, residents indicated that the city is not doing enough to solve problems with skunks and other wild animals. The level of satisfaction with animal control had dropped 28% from the previous survey; the biggest decline among all city services.

From early September to late December, skunks invade several neighborhoods close to the Armed Forces Reserves base and the county flood-control channel. Residents have complained about the smell and damage to properties, such as dug-up lawns.

The survey also showed that there was a general dissatisfaction with Paragon Cable’s service. With four years left in its 15-year franchise, the cable company has to provide better service or lose the franchise, officials said.

“We go through this all the time,” said Mayor Ronald Bates. “Service goes down, clarity goes down, cable rates go up. Someone should look into how the federal government regulates cable TV.”

Paragon Cable officials were not available for comment Monday.