HARLINGEN — Residents are getting a chance to “grade” the quality of the city’s services in an online survey whose feedback will help the new commission set its goals.
So far, about 428 residents have responded to the survey, which will remain on the city’s website for at least two months.
The survey’s responses will help commissioners develop the city’s new comprehensive plan charting its course through the next several years.
“It’s a report card on the city of Harlingen,” Mayor Norma Sepulveda said, adding she and City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez developed the survey with the help of area leaders and the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
“This is an opportunity to voice their concerns and to give a grade on the city and all services the city provides to see if we need improvements in any areas so we can take that into consideration,” she said.
Grading city services
The six-page survey’s questions surround the quality of city services ranging from police and fire protection, emergency medical services, water and sewer service, solid waste collection, drainage, street conditions, City Hall customer service, library and parks along with recreational and cultural arts programs.
“We want a true pulse of the city,” Sepulveda said. “When you have open government, it only works when you get cooperation from the residents. When more people participate, we have a true indication of what the concerns are.”
With the survey’s responses, she plans to call a town hall meeting during which commissioners will review residents’ feedback.
“This is the start of a new way of governing for the city of Harlingen,” she said. “Community engagement has been non-existent in the city of Harlingen. This is going to change that. They just want to be involved in the process.”
Developing new comprehensive plan
Next, commissioners will hold town hall meetings within the city’s five single-member districts, Sepulveda said.
“One of the benefits of single-member districts is to assure each district is represented — and each district will have different needs,” she said. “Community engagement is a critical element. This gives an opportunity to people who feel they didn’t have a voice. We can’t build a city around a community’s needs if we don’t know what those needs are.”
During the process, commissioners are planning to develop the city’s new comprehensive plan, a map aimed at guiding officials through the next several years.
“We look forward to giving them the opportunity to talk to us, to give us their criticism and concerns and their highlights of what they like,” Sepulveda said. “In order to give the community what they want, we have to listen and they have to tell us. Understanding and prioritizing what the community wants assures moving forward we can create a Harlingen representative of the people. We have evolved as a community and the needs of the community have changed.”
Background
City officials released the survey during the first of the commission’s series of town hall meetings held June 30.
During the two-hour session, residents called for more police security at schools, better drainage and street lighting, improved street conditions and clean-up drives.
Residents can take part in the survey on the city’s website at https://www.myharlingen.us/page/2022survey.
