The results of the first-ever bloggingbelmont readers’ poll are in, and they show strong (if statistically suspect) support for the upcoming roads override vote on June 9, as well as for the likely debt exclusion vote for Wellington Elementary.
- Forty four readers responded to our survey over the past three days. Of those, 25 (56%) responded “yes” when asked whether they plan to vote in favor of the Prop 2 1/2 override vote to fund road reconstruction. Twenty five percent said they planned to oppose the override, and another 18% were undecided.
The news from our reader poll was even rosier for those who support a debt exclusion to pay for the construction of a new Wellington Elementary school.
- More than 72 percent of those surveyed (32 of 44) said they’d vote for that, as opposed to 20% who said they’d oppose it. 6.8% are undecided. In fact, when asked whether they’d vote to fund the construction of a new Wellington Elementary even without state funding, 45% of respondents said they’d be for that too — compared with 41% who wouldn’t. 13.6% are undecided on that.
Things also look good for a FY 2010 operational budget override, at least as far as the B2 readership is concerned.
- Fifty percent of respondents said they’d vote “yes” on that, comapred with 34% opposed and 15.9% still undecided. (Presumably, the size and details of this override will be important factors.)
Other survey results (note: some respondents reported problems with this question on the survey. I’ve provided the total number of responses for each question):
I feel Belmont does a good job:
funding its schools (35 ttl): strgly disagree 34.3% | disagree 22.9% | agree 25.7% | strgly agree 17.1%
funding town services (30 ttl): strgly disagree 34.3% | disagree 22.9% | agree 25.7% | strgly agree 17.1%
managing its finances (33 ttl): strgly disagree 18.2% | disagree 45.5% | agree 24.2% | strgly agree 12.1%
As for the respondents: 36% described themselves as residents of Belmont for 20+ years. Around 6.8% said they’d lived in town for between 15 and 20 years. 16% identified themselves as residents for between 10 and 15 years, 11.4% for 5-10 years, 13% for 3-5 years and 11.4% for 0-2 years.
Nice work on this poll, Paul. I can only hope that your limited sample is indicative of what will come in a couple of weeks (although I’m skeptical). With only a short time to go before the vote, I’m dissappointed that I’ve heard nary a peep from the RoadsNow committee. No signs, no bumper stickers, no phone calls. Unless I’m living in a part of town being neglected by a “push”, where is the publicity?
Steve,
If it makes you feel better I noticed signs being held in Belmont Center a week back supporting the Roads and at the Town Day event as well. It could be that less education is better for getting it passed. It seems the more we find out about how the Town operates the larger the No crowd grows.
I’m startled that not more than 50% expect to support the roads override at this point. What can they be thinking? Does this reflect PJ’s comment about distrust of town operations? This actually makes more sense than being fearful of rising taxes. My goodness.
Hooray! I was able to get 20 more signatures for the roads override in 15 minutes tonight. It looks like the support is strong and we need to pay for the delay and decay. What we need to learn from this is the longer you wait, the more expensive it gets.
Anne Mahon
[...] Despite a poll by B2 that showed strong support for the override, sentiment seems to have been strongly against it across the town. Only two Precincts: 1 & 6 voted in favor, with some lopsided votes against in Precinct’s 4 and 8 (my lawn sign, notwithstanding). [...]