A current online questionnaire is believed to be the first countywide community attitudes survey conducted in Clinton County.

The Clinton County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) currently is running the Elmer Williams Community Attitudes Survey on the commission’s Web site. While the canvass is nonscientific, it is intended as an “inaugural” attitudes survey and the input will be considered carefully, said Christian Schock, executive director of CCRPC.

The questions, he said, are meant to survey quality-of-life factors of schools, services, shopping and so forth across the county.

“We hope to develop it over time into a more scientific survey where we get a true random sample and results are truly significant. This one is Web-based only, so obviously it is not a random sample,” Schock said.

Being countywide, the survey is anticipated to be more inclusive than previous surveys, such as chamber of commerce polls obtaining views of the chamber’s membership or surveys limited to the residents of a particular municipality.

The Elmer Williams Community Attitudes Survey participants remain anonymous.

Regarding response, Schock said, “The more the merrier.”

He hopes the data results will help decision makers be responsive to the aspirations of residents — with decision makers aware that the survey is nonscientific in terms of representing the entire population.

To participate in the survey, visit the CCRPC’s Web site at www.co.clinton.oh.us/regional_planning.

The questions are wide-ranging. Some questions concern what the respondent’s level of satisfaction is with street repairs, the hospital, local parks and snow removal, and whether Clinton County is a friendly place to live.

There also are questions about the participant’s stances toward the Wilmington bypass and the proposed casino in Chester Township, plus questions concerning local job opportunities.

Participants even are asked to rate Rombach Avenue restaurants collectively, as well as restaurants in the larger villages.

And, a fitting question for a countywide survey of the public is included: Respondents are asked to assess the statement, “County officials do a good job of including the public in their decision making.”

The survey is named in honor of Blanchester community leader Elmer Williams Sr. In 1957, Williams created a community attitude survey for the Mason Junior Chamber of Commerce. By 1963, more than 70 percent of all U.S. cities and towns with a Jaycee chapter had run the survey.