The city of Santa Clarita conducted its biennial telephone public opinion poll in early August, in an effort to learn how residents feel about the city’s job performance and to determine areas where improvement is needed.

The poll sample included 400 adults that make up a cross section of Santa Clarita residents including representation of women and men, with children and without, of varying age groups who live in Canyon Country (30 percent), Newhall (19 percent), Saugus (20 percent) and Valencia (30 percent). Respondents were asked over 40 questions ranging from their experience with the use of City services, top community issues, shopping and dining choices, as well as trust, availability of jobs, public safety, City beautification and landscaping, traffic, growth and libraries to name a few.

Residents in Santa Clarita place a lot of trust in their City when trying to obtain credible information about what is happening in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 80 percent saying they trust or strongly trust the City of Santa Clarita.

When asked if they felt the City of Santa Clarita was on the right track, 82 percent said they approved or strongly approved (44 percent said they strongly approved) of the City of Santa Clarita; higher than any other level of government.

City library users are very happy with their library experience with 82 percent rating the libraries good or excellent. Interestingly, 50 percent of those polled said they had visited a City library branch within the last year.

After hearing a brief description of the CEMEX mega mining proposal, 64 percent of Santa Clarita residents say they oppose the plan and a very formidable 47 percent say they strongly oppose the plan. After informing the residents that the City of Santa Clarita is opposed to the mega mining plan, the total opposition increased to 73 percent and the intense opposition increased to 54 percent.

When asked how they felt about the City’s financial situation, 66 percent said they felt it was very stable or at least somewhat stable.

When looking at specific City services, 90 percent of residents are quite pleased with the City’s parks and how they are maintained. City beautification and landscaping efforts were highly rated at 84 percent satisfaction.

Sixty nine percent of those who have had interactions with City staff were very satisfied with those experiences, with 38 percent saying they were extremely satisfied.

“The results of this poll are very encouraging. The City has worked hard over these last 25 years to create an amazing place to live, work and play and it appears that our residents feel that these efforts have been successful,” commented Mayor Frank Ferry.

The complete 2012 public opinion poll is available on the City’s website at santa-clarita.com.