Stafford residents had a lot of positive things to say about living in the locality in a recent survey, but two county supervisors on Tuesday weren’t as high on the poll itself.
The results of Stafford’s 2026 National Community Survey were presented to the Board of Supervisors by Sonia Wytinck, executive vice president of data and insights for Polco, an independent community engagement polling company.
Overall, residents reported positive experiences living in the county, as the Stafford government pointed out in a formal, written announcement of the data distributed after Wytinck’s presentation.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents rated Stafford as a good or excellent place to live, and more than seven in 10 rated it positively for raising children. About 71% said they plan to remain in the county over the next five years, the announcement said.
The survey ran from March 31 through April 14. Polco mailed questionnaires to 4,500 Stafford households and received 428 responses with a 4.7% margin of error, Wytinck told the supervisors.
But there was also an “inclusive” part of the survey, which was open to all residents.
Hartwood District Supervisor Darrell English said he didn’t think that only 428 responses reflected a “good, active survey.”
Wytinck said the response was statistically valid.
Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch, meanwhile, wasn’t pleased when she found out that responses from the “inclusive” part of the survey weren’t included in the results presented to the board Tuesday.
“That’s atrocious,” she said.
Vanuch said she suggested to residents that they take the inclusive survey, not realizing their comments wouldn’t be tallied with the other random portion.
“Then why even send it on social media and make people think their voices matter?” she asked.
However, Andrew Spence, the county’s chief information services officer, said the inclusive comments are important in their own way, and that the supervisors can see them.
Wytinck said 251 people responded to the inclusive part of the survey, and that those responses reflected people who were probably fairly engaged with the county.
The “non-biased” portion of the survey was meant to get a representative sample of people who may not be as connected with Stafford, she said.
“They serve different purposes,” she said of the two parts of the survey.
Vanuch had other qualms with the survey, though, and she said she wanted to see information from the inclusive side presented to the board at a future meeting.
