ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
It's the kind of report card that might tempt a schoolchild to ask for a bigger allowance.
Because this year's annual survey of Roanoke County residents came on the heels of a divisive school bond referendum, officials were a bit surprised to find a few A's - well, A-minuses - on their report card.
Overall, 82 percent of the 521 county residents who were polled said their local government is providing an appropriate level of services. Ten percent wanted more, while 7 percent said they could do with fewer services.
Survey respondents were asked to grade 26 individual services. In last year's survey, none of the county's services scored higher than a B-plus, but this year three received an A-minus.
County residents were most pleased with their fire and rescue services and their libraries.
"I'm tickled to death. It's a good way to retire," said Fire and Rescue Chief Tommy Fuqua, whose last day is Wednesday. "The people in the trenches that do the work are the ones to be commended. It speaks highly of the whole department, both volunteer and career."
Other services with improved grades since last year were crime protection, public health services, parks and recreation, brush and bulk trash pickup, building inspections and permits and the Virginia Cooperative Extension service, which includes 4-H clubs.
Although the bond referendum apparently had no impact on the county's overall rating, the performance grade for the county's public schools dropped slightly from B-plus to B.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge noted, however, that 51.5 percent of the county respondents gave schools an A grade, compared to a recent statewide survey by Virginia Tech's Center for Survey Research, in which only 23 percent of those contacted gave schools the top score possible.
James Gallion, assistant school superintendent, said the debate over the bond issue may have given some county residents the impression that school buildings are falling down, when in fact they simply need renovations. He noted that other measures - including test scores, attendance, enrollment in upper-level classes and the number of college-bound graduates - have actually improved over the past year.
"We certainly have not slipped," he said.
The three services receiving the lowest satisfaction ratings were road maintenance, the commissioner of revenue's office and planning and zoning services. Each received a C-plus.
Although the Virginia Department of Transportation is responsible for road maintenance, Hodge said, "We can't just say that's someone else's responsibility."
He said county officials need to look at how their actions concerning planning, zoning and subdivision approval affect the county's roads.
The fact that reassessments were made this year probably had something to do with the commissioner of revenue's score, but Hodge said one problem expressed by respondents was an inability to reach the office by phone. He said plans are under way for a new phone system, possibly including a message system for calls made after hours.
As for the planning and zoning department, Hodge said the question was too broad for any interpretation to be made about the lower grade. It's unclear whether people are dissatisfied with planning in general or with a particular zoning decision. Hodge said people who responded negatively about individual departments will be asked to participate in focus group discussions later this year so county officials can get suggestions for improving services.
The telephone survey was conducted between June 12 and 25 by BKW Research, a group of Roanoke College professors, at a cost of $6,100. Hodge said the results are consistent with the findings of the two previous surveys the county has done.
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