Get Real 2011 Participant Workbook

Workbook – page 1

Participant Workbook This booklet contains: • • • •

Priority Worksheet Values Worksheet One Sacrifice, Big Voice & Big Ear Worksheet Demographics (optional) and Evaluation RETURN THIS BOOKLET AT THE END OF THE WORKSHOP. YOUR RESPONSES WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL RESULTS.

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 2

Priorities Worksheet – What’s Most Important?

This is a list of community services or needs that are supported, at least in part, by public budgets.

“+” symbol beside the three items you think are MOST IMPORTANT. Put a “-“ symbol beside the three items you think are LEAST IMPORTANT. Put a

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The Arts

________

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Children’s Well-Being

________

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Crime & Safety

________

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Economic Development/Jobs Creation

________

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Education o Pre-K o o K-12

________

Others

________

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Environmental Protection

________

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Growth management

________

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Housing

________

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Neighborhood Improvement

________

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Parks & Recreation

________

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Physical & Mental Health

________

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Poverty Reduction

________

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Professional Sports and Entertainment

________

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Transportation

________

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Workbook – page 3

Values Worksheet – Doing What We Have to Do From your perspective, list three values that you think are important for the community to “hold close” as we make tough choices in these tough times. Give each value a name and a very short description that describes what you mean.

1. _________________________________________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________________________________________ 3. _________________________________________________________________________ With these values in mind, read and think about the following statements. For each statement, circle the response that best reflects your level of agreement with the statement.

Statement 1 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, the most vulnerable people in the community (children, the elderly, those already in poverty) should be protected first.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ________________________________________________________________ Statement 2 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, cuts and sacrifices should be made by everyone completely equally because this is the only way to ensure truly fair sacrifice.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ________________________________________________________________

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 4

Statement 3 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, the total impact of ALL cuts or loss of services in a neighborhood should be considered as decisions are made.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: _______________________________________________________________ Statement 4 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, decisions should be made that are the best decisions for each part of government (City, County, CMS), and “let the chips fall where they may” in terms of their total impact on any given neighborhood.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: _______________________________________________________________ Statement 5 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, people that are better able to “weather the storm” economically should be asked to bear a larger share of the burden.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ________________________________________________________________ Statement 6 In making decisions about where sacrifices must be made, special consideration should be given to people who have been historically disadvantaged to ensure that the cycle isn’t continued.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ________________________________________________________________

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 5

WHAT DO YOU THINK? The following statements are drawn from real discussions and ideas in the community – what do you think? There are no right or wrong answers, and many people have legitimate concerns about these topics from different perspectives.

Statement 7 The time has come for a serious discussion and some decisions to be made about consolidating our city and county governments.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ______________________________________________________________ Statement 8 The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board should have the authority to levy taxes in order to meet the educational demands of the community.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ______________________________________________________________ Statement 9 In order to address short term, critical needs in the community, it would be ok to raise taxes in some way.

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ______________________________________________________________ Statement 10 In order to address short term, critical needs in the community, it’s best to cut services to match revenue levels and “tough it out.”

1 Strongly Agree

2 Agree

3 Disagree

4 Strongly Disagree

5 Not Sure

Comment: ______________________________________________________________

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 6

My Sacrifice, My Voice, My Ears Worksheet After what you’ve heard and learned in this Get Real 2011 workshop, write down your responses to the following questions.

Question #1 - What would YOU sacrifice to help this community in these tough times?

Question #2 - if you had a magic microphone that allowed you to SPEAK to ALL of our elected officials at once, what would you say to them that you think would help to move the community forward?

Question #3 – If you had a magic ear that allowed you to LISTEN to ALL of our elected officials, what would you want to hear that would build your sense of confidence and trust in our community’s future?

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 7

Demographics and Evaluation It’s important that we be able to tell where we might need to reach out with more energy as we seek to empower people in Charlotte-Mecklenburg to help guide real decisions. For this reason, we’d like to ask for information about you. As a reminder, ALL of your input and feedback from Get Real 2011 will be kept anonymous. If nothing else, we’d like to ask for your zip code. My zip code is ___________________.

Optional Demographic Information (check the line next to the answer that is most accurate to you) Gender: ______Male

________Female

Race/Ethnicity: _______African American/Black _______Asian _______Hispanic/Latino

_____ Native American _____ White _____ Bi-racial/multi-ethnic

_______Don’t Know Sexual Orientation: _________ Straight

________ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender ______ Questioning

Time lived in Charlotte-Mecklenburg ______ up to 1 year

_______1 – 3 years

________4-7 years

______ 8 – 12 years

_______ 13 – 20+ years

_________ Lifelong

Age:

_______ 15 – 18

______ 19 - 20

______ 21 – 30

_______ 31 – 40

________ 32 – 40

______ 41 – 50

______51 – 60

_______ 61 – 70

________ 71 – 80

______ 80+

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Workbook – page 8

Annual Income: ________ $5 – 10,000/yr.

_________$10,000 – 25,000/yr.

________$25,000 – 45,000/yr.

_________ $45,000 – 85,000/yr.

________ $85,000 – 150,000/yr.

_________More than $150,000/yr.

Marital Status: ________ Single

________ Married

Children in Pre-K ________ Yes

________ No

Children in K-12 School:

__________

Yes, in public school

__________

Yes, in private school

__________

Yes, in charter school

__________

No children in school

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ

Workbook – page 9

EVALUATION - Please indicate your impressions of the items listed below.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Agree 1. The GR 2011 session met my expectations.

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4. I learned more about who does what in local government.

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5. The information shared about the budgeting process increased my knowledge.

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6. Discussing Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s current reality was helpful.

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7. Participants were encouraged to think about and discuss community priorities.

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8. I was able to share my values and how values can help decide community decisions.

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2. The session was important to me and our community.

3. The Crossroads Charlotte stories helped me consider potential futures for our community.

9. I will be able to apply what I learned to help make a positive difference in the community.

10. Adequate time was provided for questions and discussion.

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How do you rate the workshop overall?

Excellent Good Average    Other comments?

Strongly Disagree

Poor 

Very poor 

www.crossroadscharlotte.org copyright SOLID/Tracy Russ