Here is the second public opinion poll conducted by Ryan Robinson.
OAKLAND, NJ PUBLIC OPINION POLL ABOUT TOWN ISSUES (Taken 8/9/10- 8/10/10, 8/13/10, 8/16/10, and online since 8/10)
MARGIN OF ERROR IS +/- 9.62%
1. What is your age?
-18-25 –> 2.91%
-26-34 –> 1.94%
-35-45 –> 20.39%
-46-55 –> 33.98%
-56-70 –> 30.10%
-70+ –> 10.68%
2. Have you ever voted before?
-YES –> 93.20%
-NO –> 6.80%
3. What is your view of the Tea Party movement?
-Positive thing –> 28.16%
-Negative thing –> 30.10%
-No Opinion/ Haven’t heard of it –> 41.75%
4. Do you usually vote Republican, Democrat, or does it depend on the candidate?
-Republican –> 19.42%
-Democrat –> 23.30%
-Depends on candidate –> 53.40%
-Wish not to answer –> 3.88%
5. What should the town of Oakland do with the Stream House?
-Knock it down –> 31.07%
-Refurbish it/ Restore it –> 60.19%
-Nothing –> 7.77%
-Relocate it–> 0.97%
6. What should the town do with the Pleasureland property? (choose all that apply, final number in votes, not percent)
-Soccer and baseball fields –> 24
-Promenade (river path) –> 56
-Dog Park –> 30
-Town Pool –> 46
-Other Idea –> 24
7. How soon should the town do something about the downtown redevelopment plan?
-Now (ASAP) –> 47.57%
-In a year or two –> 32.04%
-3+ more years –> 10.68%
-Never redevelop downtown –> 9.71%
8. Do you watch Oakland TV?
-YES (On Cablevision) –> 39.81%
-YES (On FiOS) –> 20.39%
-NO/ I can’t watch it –> 37.86%
-Never knew about it –> 1.94%
9. How concerned are you with the town’s budget and money problems?
-Very concerned –> 60.19%
-Somewhat concerned –> 30.10%
-A little concerned –> 6.80%
-Not really concerned –> 2.91%
-Not at all concerned –> 0.00%
10. Will you vote for a different candidate (or different candidates) for town council?
-YES, vote differently –> 25.24%
-Sort of, vote one same person, one different –> 15.53%
-NO, same people/party I usually vote for –> 6.80%
-NOT SURE YET –> 52.43%
To view the results of Ryan’s first poll click here
This is an interesting and useful exercise. Local elections are too often determined by candidates playing to carefully nurtured interest groups that can produce a few dozen critical votes. This type of campaigning distorts the real issues most voters feel are important. I hope your effort helps to highlight the real issues in our local race, and perhaps create a little interest in the reluctant voter to make an effort to vote. A couple of suggestions: (1) It would be useful to know the gender of the respondent as women are more likely to answer some of your questions more accurately and (2) a longitudinal analysis would be useful if you asked some of the same questions the next time(s) you poll.
Thank you for taking this upon yourself.
Hey bob, thanks for your interest!
1) The male/female thing would be interesting to put down. Will consider that! 🙂
2) Interesting idea also, in next poll, it will be heavily focused on the council election, and I don’t want to make the poll super long, so maybe the one after that if I decide to keep the poll thing up.
The hard but most interesting poll will be this one coming up. School is starting for me, so I don’t have as much time to stand in front of the post office. Most of the results will have to be online and word of mouth. Please keep your interest and tell your friends in town about the polls!