According to the 1999 Ames Resident Satisfaction Survey, 54 percent of residents want to see increased drug enforcement in the community.

Although 54 percent may seem like a large portion of the population, it is actually a drop from the previous year’s figure of 62 percent, said Clare Bills, public relations officer for the city.

“I don’t think this is an alarming number; 62 [percent] down to 54 percent is a significant drop,” she said. “Also, 39 percent wanted to see the same amount of emphasis on drug enforcement.”

Ames City Council member John Parks said the desire for increased drug enforcement may be due to recent busts in and around the city.

“Busts in the community color people’s responses; people like to see drug labs shut down,” Parks said.

City council member Sharon Wirth said she thinks the media also may push people to want increased drug enforcement.

“The media talks about drug abuse so much, and because people hear about it so often, they always feel they need more enforcement,” Wirth said.

Parks said the Ames Police Department already has significant resources committed to drug enforcement.

“I don’t anticipate an increase in drug enforcement in the community as a result of the survey, although we do like the input,” he said.

Bills said the satisfaction survey is representative of the community as a whole. It gives residents an opportunity to voice their opinions on where they would most like to see their property taxes spent, as well as asking them where they would like to see improvements in the community and if they’re willing to pay for them.

“The survey allows for a year-by-year measure of how the city is doing and is a way to look for trends in the community which may be cause for concern,” she said.

Drug abuse is always a problem and concern for everybody, Wirth said.

“Not only are there ramifications to the person using, there are always repercussions throughout the community,” she said.

A change in drug enforcement would occur only at the recommendation of the police chief and city officials, and it would have to be brought up to the city budget committee, Parks said.

Wirth said this is a possibility.

“I imagine we’ll be talking about it at budget time in January and be getting advice from our police force,” she said.

For the time being, Ames police is making the best of what it has.

“The drug task force in Ames is very good and is always looking at new tactics, even without increased funding,” Wirth said.

As for where the money will come from, should the city decide to increase funding, there are a number of routes to take, she said.

“There may be grant money available or we may decide to fund it through the city,” Wirth said.

Another option is for Ames police to decide on its own to apply for grant money, Wirth said, which could happen if the police decide before budget talks that they need to improve the task force.

The yearly resident satisfaction survey, which was conducted in March, covers a wide variety of topics. The 17th annual survey was sponsored by the city and distributed to a cross section of 500 Ames residents. Of those, 39 percent responded.