HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-21-26 Public Comment - E. Mason - Re_ NCOD Survey FeedbackFrom:Emily Mason
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Re: NCOD Survey Feedback
Date:Sunday, June 21, 2026 10:16:34 AM
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Dear Commissioners,
I am writing to express my dismay over the NCOD survey the City is asking residents to
complete.This survey is one that only a 4th year architecture student could respond to. Youspend a lot of time saying you want your tax-paying constituents to engage more. Well, if
that were truly the case, you would not develop a survey on such an important matter thatwould turn the average person off within the first handful of questions. The same applies to
your urban forestry survey.
When I earned my masters in journalism and public affairs, I learned that you want to writeat an 8th grade reading level (or lower) to ensure a broad readership. When I worked as a
reporter covering the Pentagon and military-related issues on Capitol Hill, I made sure mywriting was accessible to anyone with a middle school education. When I worked in
public relations primarily on foreign trade issues, we made sure our messaging was simpleand easy to understand, even if the policy initiatives were complex. The same skills
transferred to my next career when I worked as an educator working in an under-servedschool district outside of Denver for five years, and still applies in my work advising
students at MSU.
Bottom line, your surveys should follow the same rule - keep it simple, keep it short, andmake sure the average tax-payer can participate. Your surveys are either designed to
dissuade people from participating (even though you claim to want more engagement)because they are overly complicated or City staff needs to revisit how to develop a survey
that your very busy constituents can compete in less then 10 minutes and are written forsomeone who has at most, a high school education, not a 4th year or masters-level
architecture student.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Emily Kelley MasonWestridge Dr. Bozeman