DRAFT STRATEGY IDEAS & POLLING SCORES
September 2024
This report presents draft strategy ideas and their polling scores based on the results of an online, non-scientific community poll of residents of South Deschutes County, also known as Newberry Country. The poll was conducted on behalf of Newberry Regional Partnership (NRP) and Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC), and is part of a larger effort to develop a Strategic Action Plan for the region.
The report highlights 64 strategy ideas in six focus areas and includes a priority score for each idea(based on the percentage of poll respondents selecting that idea), along with draft strategy language for each idea already under development. The report also includes 28 additional strategy ideas that were not tested in the poll along with their draft strategy language.
Strategy ideas included in the poll were originally gleaned from 92 specific ideas suggested by the public as potential strategies for inclusion in the plan. Those ideas were summarized in the document entitled Strategy Ideas Based on Community Input (August 2024). Due to the sheer volume of ideas not all 92 could be tested.
The 64 ideas tested in the poll reflected issues and concerns based on community input previously gathered by NRP. In order to secure the participation of as many respondents as possible in the poll, these ideas were tested by their titles only — not by their more detailed draft strategy language. Up to 350 residents participated in the community poll. (A small number of additional responses came in following poll analysis, but made no significant statistical difference in poll findings.)
Participation in the poll closely reflected populated areas in Newberry Country, with the city of La Pine and La Pine area slightly over-represented (55% of poll respondents compared to roughly 50% of the region’s population) and the Sunriver Owners Association and wider Sunriver Area (including Three Rivers) slightly under-represented (23% of respondents compared to roughly 25% of the region’s population).
While there were a number of priority strategies common to all populated areas across the region, there were also some significant differences based on where people live. These differences are not readily discernible in overall poll results. An analysis of priority strategies by different geographic areas of the region (“Community Poll Analysis by Geographic Area – A Closer Look at Rankings and Gaps”) can be found in the Appendix of this report.
Based on polling results and this further analysis, NPR’s Advisory Committee, assisted by COIC, will develop a smaller slate of final draft strategies and bring them before key stakeholders and potential plan implementation partners for their consideration and refinement at the Newberry Country Action Summit in November 2024.
Regardless of whether a given strategy idea ends up in the final action plan, all ideas presented in this document will be archived for future reference and consideration.