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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

ddnataf@aacc.edu

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

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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

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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

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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