A survey to give residents an opportunity to share their thoughts about the state of the City of Aiken and its direction is in the planning stages, new City Manager John C. Klimm told members of the Aiken Council of Neighborhoods at its meeting Tuesday.
The purpose of the professionally administered, random-sample survey will be to give a voice to residents, especially residents who might feel disconnected from local government, Klimm said.
"I know that there are segments of our community that don't feel that their voice is being heard, and the best way to deal with that is to, I think, have a random sample survey where everyone in the community has the same chance of being contacted and asked a series of questions and allowed to give input," Klimm said.
The Aiken Council of Neighborhoods is an umbrella group for Aiken's recognized and approved neighborhood organizations.
Although Aiken - with a population of about 30,000 - is considered a small city, it is large enough to make knowing what the entire community is thinking difficult, Klimm said.
"We all have our circle of friends, and we think we have the pulse of the community; but whether or not that's true remains to be seen," Klimm said. "I've found that the use of a survey is one way to really hear objectively from the citizens."
Klimm said he was "intrigued" by the City's television access, channel 4, on Atlantic Broadband cable.
He recently introduced "Aiken This Week," a new broadcast program produced in conjunction with the Aiken Standard that broadcasts City meetings; Klimm said he plans to "ramp up" the program significantly.
"Other than the City Council, there are very important meetings happening every single night in this town," Klimm said. "But, if you can't come here and be in the audience, that doesn't mean you don't care about what decisions are being made or the thought processes of the decision makers.
"The ability of any resident to truly come to understand what's going on is truly difficult if we don't use all of the tools that are available. So, I'd love to hear your thoughts, but I'd really like to hugely increase the amount of programs that we are doing now."
Klimm also told the neighborhood representatives he hopes to attend an association meeting for each group.
"I have to understand what your concerns are for me to be successful," he said. "Without you, I can't be successful."
Klimm said, since he became Aiken's city manager in late April, he has had more than 200 meetings with residents.
"A good week for me is when I've been out in the community at least four or five times," he said. "I try to set some time every week to just listen because I can't be effective without that."
Following Klimm's presentation, representatives from the neighborhoods expressed concerns, including:
- Drainage problems
- Absentee homeowners and landlords who neglect their property
- "Doughnut holes," areas of the city surrounded by unincorporated parts of the county
- More development on the Northside of the city to include businesses such as Olive Garden and KFC restaurants
- Issues in Crosland Park
- Sidewalks for neighborhoods
The Aiken Council of Neighborhoods' purpose is to promote communication and cooperation among the organizations, celebrate a sense of community and provide a forum for the organizations to discuss specific concerns.
The group will sponsor a safety awareness event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Municipal Building at 214 Park Ave. S.W.
A native of Aiken, Larry Wood is a general assignment reporter. He grew up on Aiken's west side.