"Students canvass local parks to ask about dogs in Cupertino"

By Matt Wilson

Published in the Cupertino Courier

Posted: 11/04/2009 03:57:12 PM PST

Dogs off-leash or not? That's the big question a team of surveyors has been asking Cupertino park users in recent weeks as part of the city's second phase of collecting community feedback on a proposal to allow dogs off leash during set hours at four city parks.

Since Oct. 12, about 80 political science students from De Anza College have canvassed Library Field, Jollyman, Linda Vista and Memorial parks armed with clipboards and a survey asking park users whether they support the city's proposal to move forward with a nine-month off-leash dog trial. The students will be at each park every morning and evening for 30 days, or until Nov. 13.

"Overall, people have been surprisingly passionate about the issue," said student Patrick Floyd. Many park users have already taken the survey mailed to their homes during the city's first phase of collecting feedback, students added. Residents cannot take both the park user survey and mail-in survey.

Part of the on-site questionnaire asks if the park user has already participated in the survey. If so, the students must terminate the on-site survey.

Other students said not everyone was willing to respond to the survey, especially non-English speakers. The survey is available in Chinese, they added.

The city recruited the students, who will receive community service credit, from Robert Stockwell's American politics and government class at De Anza College in an effort to have a neutral third-party conduct the on-site surveys.

"The class really solved a problem for me, which was how I was going to get a large enough, neutral third party to do interviews in the park every day for 30 days," said Mark Linder, Cupertino director of parks and recreation.

The survey asks residents which parks have they used in the past 12 months and how often, which park they frequent the most and whether they support or oppose the city's off-leash proposal that would allow

dogs to run free for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening at the four targeted parks. Currently, dogs are prohibited from running off leash in Cupertino.  The survey also asks name, race, age and address.

The issue has been contentious since the council agreed to move forward with a possible pilot last July. Residents from both sides expressed concerns about the validity of the survey process. Many said they were worried that people who don't normally use a specific

park will go there just to skew the survey results.

Students said most who have taken the survey appear to be regular park users or live nearby. As part of the process, students are required to fill out shift report forms and list any abnormalities or concerns about a survey taken.  Park-user reaction to the survey process was mixed on a recent Wednesday.

"The city did a good job of working through this issue, but I wish our neighborhood was better noticed about what was going on in these parks," said Ruyu Chen, a Linda Vista Park regular, who has walked dogs there for 25 years.

One resident, who took the survey and wanted to remain anonymous, said collecting feedback from residents would do little to ease neighborhood fears about dogs or a possible trial.

"It's a waste of time for them to go through all this work," she said. "There are people out there that will always be afraid of the thought of dogs running wild. It is not fair to them. I only overcame my fear of dogs off-leash by babysitting my daughter's dog."

Linder said the park survey results will be combined with the mail-in surveys conducted at the end of summer.  Linder said Cupertino has already received its mail-in surveys. More than 30 percent out of 4,500 residents responded to the mailed survey.

If more than 50 percent of those surveyed in both phases approve a trial period, then the council may authorize a trial in an individual park. Results will be presented to the council no earlier than Dec. 15.

Godbe Research Associates, an independent firm, is conducting the surveys and will tabulate the results. Linder said the cost to consult with Godbe, create the surveys and have each mailed to and from residents was approximately $22,000.