strong mayor poll

8/3/2019 Strong Mayor Poll

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10 East Doty Street. Suite 830 1999 Harrison Street Suite 1290

Madison, WI 53703 Oakland, CA

Phone: (608) 204-5877 Phone: (510) 451-9521

Fax: (608) 441-5707 Fax: (510) 451-0384

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Paul Maslin and Shakari Byerly

Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates

RE: Survey Results Concerning Checks and Balances Plan

DATE: December 27, 2011

From October 29-November 1, 2011, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates (FM3)

conducted a telephone survey among 504 likely voters in the City of Sacramento to assessattitudes toward proposals to improve the effectiveness and accountability of city government.1

The survey results demonstrate a strong prospect for electoral success for the Checks andBalances Plan of 2012. Of more than a dozen specific items that are either contained within the

proposal or are close in intent or specific meaning to provisions of the proposal, almost allreceived majority support from city voters, with most of the items supported by a two-thirds

majority or greater. The combination of changes to Mayoral and Council responsibilities,ethics/transparency reforms and public re-approval is a very popular mix and produced anoverall support level of more than 60 percent once all the proposed provisions had been read to

respondents.

DETAILED SURVEY FINDINGS

Current Mood of the City

Opinions of Mayor Kevin Johnson are favorable. Sixty-three percent say they approve of the

mayors job performance. In contrast, only 21 percent disapprove. However, the current moodin the City is somewhat depressed. A predominant share of voters (47%) feels that the City is off

on the wrong track, compared with only about one-third (34%) who say things are headed in theright direction.

1The margin of sampling error associated with the full sample is +/4.4%.


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Sacramento Voter Survey Summary of Key FindingsNovember 2011

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Voters feelings about city government mirror this trend, with only 41 percent holding afavorable opinion compared to 45 percent who say they have an unfavorable view. In particular,

voters express negative feelings in two key areas: slightly less than one quarter (24%) express

satisfaction with the Citys management of its budget and finances, and slightly less (23%)express the same opinion of the Citys promotion of job growth and economic development.

Mayoral/Council Authority

Voters express a high degree of interest in implementing a system of checks and balances as it

relates to mayoral and city council responsibilities. There is particularly strong support for

granting the mayor more authority with the City Council providing an important check andbalance to that expanded role. Voter reactions to specific items concerning mayoral or council

authority appear in Figure 1 on the following page.

Figure 1: Voter Support for Increased Checks and Balances on

Mayoral and Council Authority

Provision Support Oppose

Mayoral authority to prepare and present the annual budget,

subject to Council approval67% 24%

Mayoral veto authority on budget items, subject to Council

override67% 24%

Joint Mayoral and Council authority to appoint City

Manager66% 19%

Create position of Independent Budget Analyst 62% 26%

Mayoral authority to appoint and remove City Manager,

subject to City Council approval61% 32%

Mayor to step down as member of Council to create checksand balances

61% 27%

City Council as independent body with responsibilities

separate from Mayor55% 28%

Mayor as chief executive with ability to align city leadership

behind shared vision for the City52% 37%

Increase the number of city council districts from 8 to 9 37% 40%


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Sacramento Voter Survey Summary of Key FindingsNovember 2011

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Voters also demonstrate strong support for voter re-approval of reforms after the measure hasbeen in place for a trail period. As part of the reforms detailed in the survey, we also included a

voter re-approval item, which produced strong support:

Require that all proposed changes to the city charter contained in

this proposal be enacted for an 8 year trial period, after which it mustbe placed before the voters again for any further extension

Sixty-eight (68) percent of likely voters support this provision, with only 26 percent opposed.

Ethics/Transparency

As a part of the survey voters were also asked to judge a series of ethics and transparencyprovisions, with all receiving huge levels of support, as detailed in Figure 2 on the following

page. There is particularly strong support for increased transparency and public access to

information about city decision making and public meetings, with more than 85 percent of votersin favor of both of these provisions.

Figure 2: Voter Support for Ethics and Transparency Provisions

Provision Support Oppose

Require audio and video recordings of all city meetings 89% 7%

Sunshine ordinance making it easier for public to access

information about city decision making and public meetings86% 9%

Establish mandatory, publicly available independent audits

of city finances85% 10%

Independent citizens redistricting Commission to redrawCouncil District boundaries

74% 16%

Ethics committee to oversee enforcement of all ethics and

campaign laws69% 24%

The provisions of the Checks and Balances Plan combine to produce a potent electoral mix of

ethics and transparency reform that the public strongly supports. It should be no surprise that

after these provisions were read to the public, they supported the overall proposal by a 63%majority, with less than a quarter (23%) of voters in opposition.

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