public opinion in anne arundel county: recent trends and findings march 14, 2006 presented by
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends and Findings March 14, 2006 Presented by Dan Nataf, Ph.D Director, Center for the Study of Local Issues Anne Arundel Community College 101 College Parkway Arnold, MD 21012 (410) 777-2733 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends and Findings
March 14, 2006
Presented by
Dan Nataf, Ph.DDirector, Center for the Study of Local Issues
Anne Arundel Community College101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012(410) 777-2733
(410) 777-4733 fax
www2.aacc.edu/csli
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends and Findings The Center for the Study of Local Issues
Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends and Findings The Center for the Study of Local Issues
• CSLI conducts public interest surveys each semester (since 1978)
• Respondents randomly chosen from universe of listed telephone numbers combined with computer generated numbers
• Typical sample size: 300-525 respondents; students used as interviewers
• Each survey includes demographic and attitude/behavior questions
• Surveys themes include: – Growth/Development– Transportation– Economic conditions– Education– Tax and spending preferences– Policy preferences
• Visit CSLI’s web site for previous surveys (www2.aacc.edu/csli)
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Public Opinion in
Anne Arundel County: Recent
Trends and Findings
CSLI Web Site
www2.aacc.edu/csli
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Public Opinion in
Anne Arundel County: Recent
Trends and Findings
The Center for the Study
of Local Issues: Web Site- Search
page
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• Economic optimism – “Thinking about our county's economy, how would you rate economic conditions in Anne Arundel County today -- excellent, good, only fair, or poor?”
Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends Focus on the Economy: Optimism with Cost of Living Anxieties
Economic Conditions: Local and National
3826 27 22
34 34 31 28 38
74717474625655
74 76
0
20
40
60
80
100
Spring 2002
Fall 2002
Spring 2003
Fall 2003
Spring2004
Fall2004
Spring2005
Fall2005
Spring2006
AACounty -Exc+Good
Nation -Exc+Good
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends Economic Optimism - Perception of Issues in 2010
Negative expectations for all major issues except economy
B
etter
About the same
Worse
Fall 2004 Better-Worse
Unsure
No answer
The overall quality of life in the County 33 43 20 13 3 1
Spiritual or religious life 27 47 15 12 7 4 Economic conditions 33 40 23 10 3 1
Family life 27 45 20 7 5 2 General responsiveness of County
government to citizens’ needs 23 47 20 3 8 1
Ethics in local government 20 44 26 -6 9 2 Public schools 28 28 36 -8 7 1
Health care 24 32 36 -12 8 1 Growth and development 30 20 46 -16 3 1
Crime 11 42 42 -31 4 1 Water and air quality 17 32 49 -32 2 1
Local taxes 5 26 64 -59 5 1 Traffic congestion 3 5 92 -89 0 0
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends Most Important Issues Facing AA County Residents –
1995-2006 - Trends for Major Issues Concern about the economy rises
Graph 1: Most Important Issue - Trends
2628
26
19
12
19 20
1315
1013
97 6
9 8
1518 18
24
31
26
31
2730
2225
21
26
18
3128
25
Crime 31%
8Crime
36%Growth/Transp
12
Education
TaxesEconomy
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Economic Anxiety: Concerns about the cost of living
Cost Very serious
Somewhat serious
Not very serious
No answer
The cost of housing 65 23 11 0
The cost of utilities such as electricity or natural gas
63 29 8 0
The cost of gasoline 62 30 8 0
The cost of health care 58 28 11 2
Not having enough money for retirement
57 24 16 3
The cost of education 51 29 16 5
The cost of property taxes 49 37 12 2
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Income and seriousness of housing and property taxes
Income and Seriousness of Housing CostsHousing Cost 0-
$50,000$50,001 to
$100,000
$100,001 to over $150,000
Overall
Very serious 76 66 61 67
Somewhat serious
15 24 23 21
Not very serious 10 10 16 12
Total 101 100 100 100Income and Seriousness of Property Taxes
Property Taxes 0-$50,000
$50,001 to $100,000
$100,001 to over $150,000
Overall
Very serious 53 55 40 49
Somewhat serious
31 38 42 38
Not very serious 16 7 18 13
Total 100 100 100 100
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Income and seriousness of health care and retirement $
Income and Seriousness of Health Care
Health Care 0-$50,000
$50,001 to $100,000
$100,001 to over $150,000
Overall
Very serious 79 63 46 60
Somewhat serious 15 32 32 28
Not very serious 12 5 22 13
Total 100 100 100 100
Income and Seriousness of Having Money for Retirement
Having enough money for retirement
0-$50,000
$50,001 to
$100,000
$100,001 to over
$150,000
Overall
Very serious 73 64 43 59
Somewhat serious 17 24 28 23
Not very serious 10 12 30 17
Total 100 100 101 99
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings
Age and seriousness of utility and property tax costs
Age and Seriousness of Utility Costs
Utilities Cost 18-29 30-44 45-59 60 or more
Overall
Very serious 52 57 64 77 64
Somewhat serious
31 37 28 18 28
Not very serious 17 6 8 5 8
Total 98 100 100 100 100Age and Seriousness of Property Tax Costs
Property Taxes 18-29 30-44 45-59 60 or more
Overall
Very serious 43 44 50 61 50
Somewhat serious
36 47 35 32 38
Not very serious 21 9 15 7 13
Total 100 100 100 100 100
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings
Seniors’ Most Pressing Needs
Need Percent
Health care 41
Affordable housing 12
Assisted living 7
Adequate income 7
Drug costs 6
Cost of living 6
Transportation 6
Taxes 4
Independence 4
Other 4
Social isolation 2
Seniors facilities/programs
2
Total 101
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends County’s Direction: Right or Wrong?
Positive feelings affected by perceptions of the economy
Graph 2: County - Right or Wrong Direction
66
575154 55
Wrong26
Unsure18
76
55
7474
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Right
Econ (good+xlint)
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Support for Various State and Local Policies
Yes to Another Bridge, Pollution Fee and Stem Cell Research (Fall 2005)
Policy (Fall, 2005) Support Oppose No answer
An annual $60 fee dedicated only to correcting the impacts of storm water erosion and pollution in county streams and rivers
56 38 6
Putting a large horse training and show facility in the Gambrills/Crownsville area
44 43 13
Building a third bridge span across the Chesapeake Bay
63 31 5
Lengthening the school day in county schools, at a cost of about $30 million
29 60 11
State funding for embryonic stem cell research 58 34 8
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Support for Various State Policies
Yes to “Wal-Mart Bill,” Smoking Ban, No to Gay Marriage
Policy Support Oppose NA
An amendment to the Maryland constitution defining marriage as only between a man and a woman
53 39 8
The General Assembly overrode Governor Ehrlich’s veto of the so called “Wal-Mart Bill” which makes employers with over 10,000 employees spend at least 8 percent of their payrolls on health benefits. Do you support or oppose this bill?
62 31 7
There is a bill facing the General Assembly that would eliminate all smoking in bars and restaurants – do you support or oppose this bill?
64 34 2
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Gas Prices: Solutions?
Renewal Energy, Hybrids and Transit Expansion Preferred (Fall 2005)
Policy Support Oppose NA
Tax incentives for the use of wind or solar power 78 16 6
Tax incentives for the purchase of hybrid/highly fuel efficient vehicles
74 23 3
Increasing bus and light rail service, even if it requires more subsidies from state government
70 26 4
Making it easier to develop nuclear power plants with the state of Maryland
43 47 10
Higher taxes on gasoline to encourage use of more fuel efficient vehicles
20 76 4
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings
County, State, Federal IssuesIssues County State Federal
Education 16.3 12.5 0
Control growth 9.1 7.9 0
Lower taxes 6.6 9.9 .6
Other 6.4 5.9 3.1
Environment 3.6 9.4 .7
Budget, funding 3.1 5.9 1.4
Economic development/economy 2.6 14.4 4.5
Property tax 2.5 0 0
Gay marriage, abortion, moral values 2.0 1.5 .5
Crime 1.1 9.8 0
Health care 1.1 5.1 3.9
Horse farm 0.7 0 0
Baltimore Port Sale 5.0 1.7
Utility bills 4.8 0
Gambling/slots 2.8 0
Homeland security 2.1 10.2
Gas prices 1.4 0
Immigrants .8 2.6
War/Iraq 40.9
Terrorism 9.5
Deficit 11.8
Social security 1.9
Partisanship .7
Bush leadership, competence 5.1
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends
How Prepared are Local Authorities in Event of Terrorist Strike - Trend
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Graph 4: Likelihood of Terrorist Attack in County
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Not very likely
Unsure
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends
How Prepared are Local Authorities in Event of Terrorist Strike - Trend
3022 24 27
44
33
121513 1511
Very prepared
4854
4847Somewhat prepared
Not very prepared
37
611
5 8Unsure 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Katrina
20
Characteristic Percent
Right Experience 3.8
Candidate Traits
Honesty 21.7
Integrity, ethical 4.3
Share vision, convictions 3.3
For the people 3.2
Competent, responsible 2.1
Other 1.8
Independent, open minded 1.5
Knows communities, knowledgeable
1.7
Partisan 1.1
Family values 0.4
Section total 41% of all responses
Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Reasons for voting for the next County ExecutiveCandidate Traits – Yes to the honest politician
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings
Support for Gubernatorial Candidates
Candidate Overall Democrats Republicans Independents Men Women
Robert Ehrlich Jr. 40 22 68 32 49 35
Martin O’Malley 23 39 10 18 18 29
Douglas Duncan 3 8 1 0 4 3
Undecided 30 31 22 50 29 33
Total 100 100 101 100 100 100
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Bush Job Approval
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings President Bush’s Job Approval
Majority Disapproves
Do you approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as President?
Fall 2005 Approve 45% Disapprove 48% Unsure 7%
Spring 2006 Approve 37% Disapprove 54% Unsure 8%
9/11Iraq Invasion
Saddam
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Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Findings Other Issues covered in Spring Survey
Cancer, Charities, Seniors
Other issues in Spring CSLI semi-annual survey
• Cancer – treatment, causes, satisfaction with services
• Charitable causes – name recognition, impression, contribution
• Seniors – familiarity with services