The City of Stillwater is asking residents for one minute of their time to provide valuable feedback. Starting this month, Stillwater is the first city in Oklahoma to start using FlashVote, a scientific survey service provider.
“FlashVote is a way city staff and council members can get an idea of where residents stand on issues that affect us all,” City Manager Norman McNickle said.
The surveys are five questions or less and take no more than one to two minutes to fill out. The surveys will cover a wide range of topics. Some possibilities include recreation, public safety, zoning or transportation issues.
When residents sign up, they get to determine how they want to receive the surveys — whether by email, text or phone call. They will receive a notification whenever there is a new survey, and they will have 48 hours to participate before voting closes. Once the survey is closed, anyone who participated will receive the results and will see how his or her responses compare to the group.
“Because of the ease of the survey, FlashVote will give residents who might not typically interact with the City a greater opportunity to provide feedback,” McNickle said. “This information will provide valuable insight for city management and the City Council.”
FlashVote works to engage residents by making participation simple and anonymous. While personal information is not shared with the City, it does allow for localized reports. For example, it could show that residents on one side ofStillwater are more concerned about an issue than those on another side.
Residents can sign up quickly via the web at https://www.flashvote.com/stillwaterok
To sign up by phone, call 775.235.2340 and mention your want to sign up for FlashVote in Stillwater. Residents who choose to participate can also opt out at any time. User information is not shared with other organizations.
The first survey is expected to go live next month.