Opinion: Telephone Poll on City Tax More Professional, Transparent

(This is a reaction to the city hiring a telephone survey firm to poll Pacificans about City Council and municipal tax increases.)

Hypothetically, hiring a firm to do a phone survey is more professional and less open to charges of bias or favoritism than other options suggested. These folks are PAID to stick to a script—no temptation to get chatty or skew the results.

TOM EDMINSTER

Comments

[Eric Steiner]

Did you know that the sewer tax rate increased was enacted because a majority of Pacifica's residents did not write back protesting the tax. This is rediculous. An increase should not go into effect unless a 2/3 majority votes for it. This opt out proceedure guarantees that every tax increase will go into effect. By the way, Pacifica does not call this tax a tax. They say it is a user fee so not covered by Prop 13. Thank Rose Bird for this scam to pick our pockets.

[todd bray]

(I sent this reply to a Council Member who answered verbatim as Tom has: meaning it's more professional to hire a pollster company to gauge public interest than build a grass roots effort. I think using it here to counterpoint Tom is just as valid. The council member who replied was not on the council when the decision to hire a pollster was made).

I appreciate your educational efforts here. I also appreciate your commitment. But Mary Ann, hiring a polling company is lazy. It distances everyone from being involved. It pushes the public farther away.

We all know there will be the usual yabbermouths calling for more services and less taxes, and we all know that math doesn't work. Pacifica is full of people that get how bad the city's revenue stream is and they also understand that we will need to pass some sort of revenue generator(s) and soon.

Hiring outside pollsters to gauge the public interest is a cop out. If we are going to tax ourselves we need to explain to each other why that has to happen. Outside minimum wage earners that are most likely state or federal inmates (not that it really matters) earning points isn't the way to do it.

Have we all forgotten how offensive it was to have all those pollster calls from Peebles Co during the L campaign. It lost him the election. I have had countless folks say to me they switched from a yes on L vote to a no on L vote because of the pollsters calling, that it was impersonal and creepy.