Most voters satisfied with city’s services

11 years ago

  CARIBOU, Maine — About 525 Caribou voters participated in an anonymous survey when they hit the primary polls on June 10, and data collected during the survey shows that 65 percent believe that Caribou offers adequate services for a city its size. Twenty-two percent believe Caribou should provide more services, and 13 percent thought the city had more services that were necessary.
For Caribou’s Mayor, Gary Aiken, the results weren’t too surprising.
“It came out pretty much the way I thought it would; most people seem to be happy with the services we have now, and don’t really want to see them cut any more,” he said.
The number of surveys filled out was a surprise for the mayor, who anticipated receiving about 400.
Councilors Joan Theriault and David Martin, with Aiken, spent June 10 at the rec center (Caribou’s polling place) to speak with voters and afford them an opportunity to anonymously weigh in on city matters through the survey — and many weren’t shy when it came to sharing their views with the governing officials.
“For the most part, all of them were quite happy and thanked a lot of the members of the council for what they’ve been doing, and appreciated the time and the effort they’ve been putting into it,” Aiken said last Thursday. “Some of them thought that this was the most proactive council that Caribou’s had in many years.”
Aiken, Theriault and Martin spent about four hours on June 18 reviewing the surveys and extracting data. The most time-consuming part of the process was reading through all the comments folks wrote, and those comments varied wildly from how the city uses fines from speeding to the salary of the RSU 39 Superintendent — neither of which members of the Caribou City Council have any authority over.
Voters most frequently commented that Caribou needs to bring in more businesses, and Aiken would love to hear ideas people have to bring more businesses to the city.
“Definitely come to a council meeting, talk to one of your councilors or talk to the city manager,” Aiken said to folks with business-attracting ideas for Caribou. “The City Manager (Austin Bleess) is the one basically responsible, and I know he’s working very hard himself trying to bring businesses to Caribou.”
With the willingness of Caribou voters to share their thoughts on city happenings, Aiken expressed that the council might do another survey this November.
“I think the majority of the council agrees that it’s important to get input from the people here in Caribou, and what better way to do it than something like this,” he said. “We may try to re-word how we’ve done some of the questions or add new ones, but hopefully we might do this again in November because there will be a much bigger turnout at the polls and we’ll get a much better cross-section of the community.”
Below are the results of the survey, with the questions paraphrased. Full questions and results are available on the city’s website, www.cariboumaine.org.

Identifying areas that should be looked at in order to save money:
Police: 63 votes
City administration: 97 votes
Parks and Recreation: 81 votes
Library: 64 votes
Fire and Ambulance: 40 votes
Public Works: 60 votes

Should the Highway Department continue offering brush removal once a year?
Yes: 384 votes
No: 127 votes

Should the sidewalks be plowed during the winter?
All sidewalks: 246 votes
One side of the street: 243 votes

Regarding the street lights, should the city:
Turn all the lights back on: 159 votes
Leave them as they currently are: 282 votes
Turn off a few more: 61 votes

Usage of the swimming pool has dropped about 65 percent the past five years; should the city close the pool for good?
Yes: 199 votes
No: 297 votes

Should the library
Stay open as is: 357 votes
Open with shorter hours and less days: 154 votes

Should the rec department
Stay open as is: 357 votes
Open with shorter hours and less days: 116

Should the city office reduce operating hours?
Yes: 169
No: 330

Should taxpayer dollars be used to supplement the Chamber of Commerce budget?
Yes: 183 votes
No: 324 votes

Should taxpayer dollars be used to support snowmobile trails and groomer equipment?
Yes: 291
No: 216

Should the city continue operating the airport:
Yes: 331
No: 150

Do you …
Live in town: 338
Live in the country: 118
Work in Caribou: 155
Rent: 54
Own a home: 394

Are you retired?
Yes: 51