The annual Tillamook County Fair provides an opportunity for the Futures Council to meet with the citizens of the county. Through intercepts at our Fair booth, the Council is able to discuss and gather information about current issues affecting the communities of Tillamook County from the citizens’ perspective. Futures Council members, community advisors, and staff attend to the Fair booth, collecting information through personal surveys.
Survey participants are asked to identify the three issues they consider priorities for Tillamook County. In 2007 the list of issues was expanded to include sixteen items. These issues were identified as important to the citizens of Tillamook County through the Strategic Vision update. These issues included:
Four hundred sixty-three residents participated in the 2007 County Fair survey at the Tillamook County Futures Council booth. This statistically reliable sampling of Tillamook County citizens allows the Futures Council to report residents’ priorities within a margin of error of +/- 4.5%.
Drugs & Alcohol, Affordable Housing, and Family Wage Jobs are mentioned most often as issues of priority for the citizens of Tillamook County. While there are some variations in priority by geography (North, South, Central county) and age (Youth, Adult, Mid-Life, Elder), overall the top three priorities remain consistent. Youth Activities, Healthcare, Preserving the Natural Environment, and Land Use follow as issues to consider important to many citizens. The relative importance of these issues, however varies by age and geography.
Compared to findings at the 2006 County Fair, Tillamook County residents appear significantly more concerned with Affordable Housing today than they did a year ago, and significantly less concerned with the quality of education. This may be indicative of the attention being paid to Affordable Housing in terms of advocacy and publicity; significantly more prevalent compared to one year ago. Furthermore, the decrease in concern regarding Education may reveal residents are satisfied with the quality of education in Tillamook County and therefore do not consider it a priority when compared to other issues.
For more information on this year’s County Fair Survey findings, as well as past County Fair statistics,
view the links below:
