Phone Survey for the At-Large City Council Race

Tonight I received a call for an extensive phone survey done by one of the candidates for the At-Large City Council race. If you remember back, I received a similarly extensive survey in June for the Allston-Brighton District 9 race, which I reasoned, at the time, to be done for the Tim Schofield campaign. (A June expenditure for a phone survey showed up on his campaign finance report, so I appear to have guessed right on that one.)

I'm always happy to promote transparency in government -- and in election campaigns. So, here's the survey for everyone to see and gawk:

1. Are you registered to vote?
   
2. What is your party affiliation? [Dem, Rep, unenrolled/independent. Doesn't the candidate know there ain't no independents in Massachusetts, only unenrolled?]
3. How likely are you to vote in the November 6 election?
4. How often do you vote [on previous City Council races]?
5. Do you think that things in Boston are headed in the right direction, or off on the wrong track?
6. Are you proud to be a Bostonian?
7. In the past five years, have things changed for the better?
8. Have you ever thought about moving out of Boston? [I initially answered yes in order to hear the follow-up question... but I won't tell you my final answer.]
9. If yes, what is the [one] reason? [Open-ended, but appeared to have some specificity in the answers/categories]
10. In the next several years, is your outlook about Boston optimistic or pessimistic?
11. In your neighhborhood specifically, do you feel safe?
12. What is the number one problem you want a Boston City Councilor to address? [open-ended question]
13. Very favorable/somewhat favorable/somewhat unfavorable/very unfavorable/no opinion -- about the following people: Boston City Council; Tom Menino; Ron Consalvo; Stephen Murphy, John Connolly; Andrea Cabral; Sam Yoon; Michael Flaherty; Felix Arroyo; Paul Grogan; Ralph Martin; Chris Gabrieli; John Tobin; Deval Patrick. [The surveyor said that I was the first person to know all of them... she hinted that most people knew very, very few of these names.]
14. The mayor will be up for re-election two years from now. But if the election were instead held today, then would you vote to re-elect, definitely consider an alternative, ...?
15. In November, four At-Large City Councilors will be elected. Name who you will vote for (priority order for four): Michael Flaherty, Matthew Geary, Martin Hogan, Stephen Murphy, David Wyatt, Sam Yoon, Felix Arroyo, John Connolly, William Estrada.
16. Which two (in order) of these five issues should be the priorities for the next Boston City Councilor? (a) Affordable housing; (b) Neighborhood schools; (c) More police on the street; (d) Reduce property taxes; (e) Create more substance abuse programs. [Clearly a candidate who doesn't give a s#!t about Allston-Brighton's issues.]
17. Which of these attributes, applied to a candidate, would make you more or less likely to vote for him?

• Supported by the gay community
  
• Endorsed by several minority groups
• Has had a successful career in business and finance
• Has strong values forged from a life devoted to family and community
• Raised in a family with strong roots in public service
• Is a fresh face representing the new Boston
• Gets involved, is an activist, in uniting people and communities across the city
• Has young children in public school
• Is from South Boston
• Is from Back Bay
• Is a leader in the progressive community
• Worked his way through college as a member of labor
• Is young and energetic

18. Do you support or oppose a resort-style casino in Boston?
    
19. Do you support or oppose moving City Hall to the South Boston waterfront?
20. Do you support or oppose creating term limits for the Mayor?
21. [blah, blah, blah, wordy question...] ...Is access to opportunity the same depending on which neighborhood you live in?

And then the usual background questions:

22. Liberal/moderate/conservative
    
23. Age
24. How long have you lived in the City of Boston
25. Highest grade you reached
26. Own or rent your home
27. Do you have children (under 18) living at home?
28. What is your ethnic group/nationality? [the options were very odd: Caucasian was broken down to English, Irish, French, German, Polish, and Italian, too, I think. The surveyor said that this was the first survey she had ever had that broke down the Caucasian group into nationalities.]

One of these days, they're gonna put me on a do-not-call-list for campaign phone surveys...

Anyway, I've got my opinion as to who paid for this survey... I'll hold off on stating my opinion for a few days, though.

Now's your chance: who do you think paid for this survey? Choices are: Michael Flaherty, Matthew Geary, Martin Hogan, Stephen Murphy, David Wyatt, Sam Yoon, Felix Arroyo, John Connolly, and William Estrada.

Post a Comment [below] giving one name and a reason for your choice!