By Shamona McClary

Kannapolis Citizen

One in three Kannapolis citizens believe the city uses its tax dollars efficiently, according to the 2005 Kannapolis Citizen Survey.

Jack Clark, director of the Charlotte-based KPC Research, presented this as well as more results from the survey during City Council's regular meeting Monday.

This is the first time such a survey has been done since 1998. It was conducted Dec. 8-17. Of all Kannapolis households, about 400 were chosen at random and asked to participate in 10-minute telephone interviews.

Although 400 people were interviewed, "the objective is to provide a study that shows what to expect if all 28,800 Kannapolis adult citizens were interviewed on these various issues," Clark said.

City employees were screened out of the survey, and interviews were only conducted in English. Data was weighted by the number of adults in a household, county, race, sex and age, in order to properly represent the general adult population.

Based on Clark's findings, most citizens would like to see more money spent on a teen center and street and sidewalk maintenance. Economic development was the top choice for funding in 1998.

Councilman Richard Anderson was surprised to see water and sewer services ranked toward the bottom with garbage and trash collection.

He said homes would not function without them.

The survey also said most citizens agree the city does a good job of communicating to them, whether it be by news media, the city newsletter or the city Web site. About 65 percent of citizens believe Kannapolis will improve as a place to work, live, play and raise a family, respectively.

City Manager Mike Legg said the percentages would probably be higher if the same question was asked now, considering the development of the North Carolina Research Campus.

Clark said 72 percent think the campus is a plus for the city. Other results showed citizens were satisfied with city services. Some of the least favorable ratings went to the recruitment of new industry, the maintenance of streets and sidewalks, storm drainage and general administration and management.

Jennifer Woodford, the city's community relations director, said survey results could challenge the city's thoughts when making decisions such as with the upcoming budget.

Also during the meeting:

* Eric Bankhead, a local promoter, said the "Father of Funk," George Clinton, is set to visit Kannapolis on Aug. 12 to receive the key to the city. Clinton was born in Kannapolis on July 22, 1942. He is best remembered for hit songs like "Atomic Dog," "One Nation Under A Groove"and "Flashlight." Bankhead said Clinton would come only if he had a formal invitation from the city. Mayor Bob Misenheimer said they could arrange that with no problem.

* Council killed a motion that would have waived Village Park Amphitheater usage fees for Cabarrus Cooperative Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization. They plan to use the facility on May 19 for a benefit concert. In January, the city adopted a fee policy for the park, and this is the first time someone has wanted to rent the space.

The Parks and Recreation Commission did not think it was wise to set a precedence and waive all fees for the first rental event. However, it was in favor of waving staffing fees of $330, but were against waiving rental fees of about $300.

Councilman Ken Geathers made a motion to waive all fees, but no one seconded. Council members discussed it further and said they needed to set up some type criteria on how to handle such a situation in the future. "We don't want to open up Pandora's box," Geathers said. No one made a second motion to waive the fees, and a vote wasn't taken on the item.

* After holding a public hearing, council unanimously voted to approve the 2006-07 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Annual Action Plan. In the plan, the city receives federal funding for housing that benefits low and moderate income residents.

*

Contact Shamona McClary at 704-933-3450 or smcclary@salisburypost.com.